Chicago
Chicago the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois, as well as the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450, it is the most populous city in the Midwest. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area referred to as Chicagoland, the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States; the metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, the fourth largest in North America and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area. Located on the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed and grew in the mid-nineteenth century. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, the city made a concerted effort to rebuild; the construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, by 1900 Chicago was the fifth largest city in the world.
Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and zoning standards, including new construction styles, the development of the City Beautiful Movement, the steel-framed skyscraper. Chicago is an international hub for finance, commerce, technology, telecommunications, transportation, it is the site of the creation of the first standardized futures contracts at the Chicago Board of Trade, which today is the largest and most diverse derivatives market gobally, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures. O'Hare International Airport is the one of the busiest airports in the world, the region has the largest number of U. S. highways and greatest amount of railroad freight. In 2012, Chicago was listed as an alpha global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, it ranked seventh in the entire world in the 2017 Global Cities Index; the Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products in the world, generating $680 billion in 2017. In addition, the city has one of the world's most diversified and balanced economies, not being dependent on any one industry, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce.
Chicago's 58 million domestic and international visitors in 2018, made it the second most visited city in the nation, behind New York City's approximate 65 million visitors. The city ranked first place in the 2018 Time Out City Life Index, a global quality of life survey of 15,000 people in 32 cities. Landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Grant Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago's culture includes the visual arts, film, comedy and music jazz, soul, hip-hop and electronic dance music including house music. Of the area's many colleges and universities, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago are classified as "highest research" doctoral universities. Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams; the name "Chicago" is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more as ramps.
The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the eponymous wild "garlic" grew abundantly in the area. According to his diary of late September 1687:...when we arrived at the said place called "Chicagou" which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region. The city has had several nicknames throughout its history such as the Windy City, Chi-Town, Second City, the City of the Big Shoulders, which refers to the city's numerous skyscrapers and high-rises. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, who had taken the place of the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples; the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable arrived in the 1780s, he is known as the "Founder of Chicago".
In 1795, following the Northwest Indian War, an area, to be part of Chicago was turned over to the United States for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn and rebuilt; the Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis; the Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833. On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. Receiver of Public Monies; the City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city. As the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States.
Chicago's first railway and Chicago Union Railroad, the Illi
Rifle, Colorado
The City of Rifle is a Home Rule Municipality in Garfield County, United States. The population was 9,172 at the 2010 census, up from 6,784 at the 2000 census. Rifle is a regional center of the cattle ranching industry located along Interstate 70 and the Colorado River just east of the Roan Plateau, which dominates the western skyline of the town; the town was founded in 1882 by Abram Maxfield, was incorporated in 1905 along Rifle Creek, near its mouth on the Colorado. The community takes its name from the creek; the land that Rifle resides on was once in the heart of the Ute Nation, a classification of the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. The most common tribe in the area were the Tabagauche, who hunted and lived on the land to the east of Rifle in the Roaring Fork Valley. Due to their location, the Tabagauche were somewhat less exposed to white settlers, to some extent their ways remained less altered than other native peoples. In 1878 Nathan Meeker was appointed as the director of the White River Ute Agency.
Meeker had no training or knowledge of Ute culture, launched into a campaign centered on sedentary agriculture and European-American schooling. As this clashed with the culture of the nomadic Utes, he was met with resistance, it all came to a head when Meeker had the racetrack for the Ute's horses plowed under. The event that followed is known as the Meeker Massacre in 1879, during which Meeker and his 10 employees were killed. Aftermath of the conflict resulted in nearly all members of the Ute nation being forcibly removed from Colorado into eastern Utah, although the federal government had guaranteed them the land on which they were residing. Rifle became more settled as the 19th century gave way to the 20th. In 1889, the railroad cut through from the east and ended in Rifle for a while before connecting lines were completed; this opened up the floodgates for new travelers and trade. Long drives of cattle over the mountains towards the Front Range and Denver became a thing of the past. Rifle was now a thriving hub for commerce.
If it needed to be shipped east to a buyer's market, or shipped west into ranching country, it came through town. The first major economy known to Rifle was ranching; the land surrounding the town was arid, much of it was unsuitable for farming without irrigation. Despite the large stretches of land available, tension arose and manifested between those who tended cattle and those who herded sheep. Good grazing practices were not in place, the summer pastures at the top of the Roan Plateau were contested over. One rancher lost two-thirds of his flock and went bankrupt when competing cowboys drove the sheep over the cliff. Rifle is located in the east portion of the Piceance Basin; the basin is home to different forms of fossil fuels, the largest quantity of, oil shale. The unreliability of this fossil fuel has left the city in the throes of a cycling boom and bust economy; as of 2007, an organization called the Campaign to Save Roan Plateau has been engaged in an effort to minimize oil and gas drilling on the top of the Roan Plateau, which locals call the Bookcliffs.
The Roan Plateau is accessible from the JQS Trail, located 3 miles north of Rifle, or from the Piceance Creek road. Rifle is located in the valley of the Colorado River. Most of the city is on the north side of the river. Interstate 70 passes through the city along the south side of the river, with access from Exit 90. I-70 leads east 26 miles to Glenwood Springs, the Garfield County seat, southwest 60 miles to Grand Junction. U. S. Route 6 runs along the north side of the Colorado River through Rifle, providing a local parallel route to I-70. Colorado State Highway 13 intersects I-70 and US-6, passing through the southern and western parts of Rifle leading north 41 miles to Meeker. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Rifle has a total area of 5.7 square miles, of which 5.6 square miles is land and 0.1 square miles, or 1.18%, is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 9,172 people, 3,221 households, 2,230 families residing in the city; the population density was 1,581.1 people per square mile.
There were 2,586 housing units at an average density of 602.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 81.0% White, 0.5% African American, 1.3% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 13.4% from other races, 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 30.4% of the population. There were 3,221 households, out of which 40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.8% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.8% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.35. In the city, the population was spread out with 30.6% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,734, the median income for a family was $48,714. Males had a median income of $36,517 versus $25,527 for females; the per capita income for the city was $17,376. About 3.4% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over. Rifle Mountain Park, located
Thompson Springs, Utah
Thompson Springs officially known for a time as just Thompson, is a small census-designated place in central Grand County, United States. The population was 39 at the 2010 census; the town is just north of the east-west highway route shared by Interstate 70, U. S. Route 6 and U. S. Route 50, between Crescent Junction and Cisco. Moab, the county seat, is 37 miles to the south. Thompson Springs is located in high desert country at an elevation of 5,246 feet, with the Book Cliffs just to the north; the town's ZIP code is 84540. Evidence of human habitation or use of the Thompson Springs area can be dated back to the Archaic Period, when beautiful pictographs were left in Sego Canyon. Subsequent Anasazi and Ute tribes have left their mark upon the area. Thompson Springs was named for E. W. Thompson, who lived near the springs and operated a sawmill to the north near the Book Cliffs; the town began life in the late nineteenth century as a station stop on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, completed through the area in 1883.
A post office at the site was established in 1890, under the name "Thompson's". The town was a community center for the small number of farmers and ranchers living in the inhospitable region, it was a prominent shipping point for cattle that were run in the Book Cliffs area. Stockmen from both San Juan and Grand counties used Thompson. Thompson gained importance in the early twentieth century due to the development of coal mines in Sego Canyon, north of town. Commercial mining in Sego Canyon began in 1911, that year the Ballard and Thompson Railroad was constructed to connect the mines with the railhead at Thompson; the railroad branch line and mines continued operating until about 1950. For many years the city was served by various D&RGW passenger trains, including the Scenic Limited, the Exposition Flyer, the Prospector, the California Zephyr, the Rio Grande Zephyr. Although Amtrak took over nearly all passenger rail service in the United States in 1971, the D&RGW continued service through the area until 1983.
Subsequently, for the next fourteen years, the city was served by various Amtrak trains, including the California Zephyr, the Desert Wind, the Pioneer. Construction of I-70 two miles south of Thompson Springs drew traffic away from the city as the former Old Cisco Highway was no longer used; the movement of the passenger train stop about 25 miles to the west in Green River in 1997 led to further economic hardship for Thompson Springs. The original name for this settlement was "Thompson Springs", a name, reinstated in 1985. Much of the town is uninhabited today, although there are still some operating businesses in the immediate vicinity of I-70; the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project is a uranium tailings removal and relocation project that promises to bring jobs to the area as tailings from the Atlas Mineral Company's tailings ponds outside of Moab will be moved to Crescent Junction, about 6 miles west of Thompson Springs. As of the census of 2010, there were 39 people residing in the CDP.
There were 43 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 94.9% White, 5.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0% of the population. Thompson Springs is the site of several well-preserved groups of pictographs and petroglyphs left by early Native Americans; the Fremont culture thrived from A. D. was contemporary with the Anasazi culture of the Four Corners area. There is rock art from the Archaic period dating from 7000 B. C. the Barrier Canyon period from around 2000 B. C. and the Ute tribe dating from A. D. 1300. List of census-designated places in Utah Utah State Route 94 Media related to Thompson Springs, Utah at Wikimedia Commons
Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad is a freight hauling railroad that operates 8,500 locomotives over 32,100 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago and New Orleans. The Union Pacific Railroad system is the second largest in the United States after the BNSF Railway and is one of the world's largest transportation companies; the Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of the Union Pacific Corporation. Union Pacific is known for pioneering multiple innovative locomotives the most powerful of their era; these include members of the Challenger-type, the Northern-type, as well as the famous Big Boy steam locomotives. Union Pacific ordered the first streamliner, the largest fleet of turbine-electric locomotives in the world, still owns the largest operational diesel locomotive; the Union Pacific legacy began in 1862 with the original company, called the Union Pacific Rail Road, part of the First Transcontinental Railroad project known as the Overland Route. The railroad would subsequently be reorganized thrice: as the Union Pacific Railway, as the Union Pacific "Railroad", as a renamed Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
The current Union Pacific corporation began in 1969 as the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, itself created in a reorganization of a railroad whose legacy dated to 1865. Over the years it would grow to include the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, in addition to its eponymous railroad; the 1998 Union Pacific-Southern Pacific merger was not UP's first: Union Pacific had merged with Missouri Pacific Railroad, the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, the Western Pacific Railroad and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. However, because the merger with Southern Pacific changed the scope of the Union Pacific railroad, this article will refer to the unmerged system as Union Pacific, the merged system as Union Pacific. Union Pacific's main competitor is the BNSF Railway, the nation's largest freight railroad by volume, which primarily services the Continental U. S. west of the Mississippi River. Together, the two railroads have a duopoly on all transcontinental freight rail lines in the U.
S. The original company, the Union Pacific Rail Road was incorporated on July 1, 1862, under an act of Congress entitled Pacific Railroad Act of 1862; the act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln, it provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River to the Pacific as a war measure for the preservation of the Union. It was constructed westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet the Central Pacific Railroad line, constructed eastward from Sacramento, CA; the combined Union Pacific-Central Pacific line became known as the First Transcontinental Railroad and the Overland Route. The line was constructed by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, the first rails were laid in Omaha; the two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah, 53 miles west of Ogden on May 10, 1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America.
Subsequently, the UP purchased three Mormon-built roads: the Utah Central Railroad extending south from Ogden to Salt Lake City, the Utah Southern Railroad extending south from Salt Lake City into the Utah Valley, the Utah Northern Railroad extending north from Ogden into Idaho. The original UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872; as detailed by The Sun, Union Pacific's largest construction company, Crédit Mobilier, had overcharged Union Pacific. In order to convince the federal government to accept the increased costs, Crédit Mobilier had bribed congressmen. Although the UP corporation itself was not guilty of any misdeeds, prominent UP board members had been involved in the scheme; the ensuing financial crisis of 1873 led to a credit crunch, but not bankruptcy. As boom followed bust, the Union Pacific continued to expand; the original company was purchased by a new company on January 24, 1880, with dominant stockholder Jay Gould. Gould owned the Kansas Pacific, sought to merge it with UP.
Thusly was the original "Union Pacific Rail Road" transformed into "Union Pacific Railway."Extending towards the Pacific Northwest, Union Pacific built or purchased local lines that gave it access to Portland, Oregon. Towards Colorado, it built the Union Pacific and Gulf Railway: both narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Rockies and a standard gauge line that ran south from Denver, across New Mexico, into Texas; the Union Pacific Railway would declare bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. Again, a new Union Pacific "Railroad" was formed and Union Pacific "Railway" merged into the new corporation. In the early 20th century, Union Pacific's focus shifted from expansion to internal improvement. Recognizing that farmers in the Central and Salinas Valleys of California grew produce far in excess of local markets, Union Pacific worked with its rival Southern Pacific to develop a rail-based transport system, not vulnerable to spoilage; these efforts came culminated in the 1906 founding of
Metra
Metra is a commuter railroad in the Chicago metropolitan area. The railroad operates 242 stations on 11 different rail lines, it is the fourth busiest commuter rail system in the United States by ridership and the largest and busiest commuter rail system outside the New York City metropolitan area. There were 83.4 million passenger rides in 2014, up 1.3% from the previous year. The estimated busiest day for Metra ridership occurred on November 4, 2016—the day of the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series victory rally. Using Chicago's rail infrastructure, much of which dates to the 1850s, the Illinois General Assembly established the parent Regional Transportation Authority to consolidate all public transit operations in the Chicago area, including commuter rail; the RTA's creation was a result of the anticipated failure of commuter service operated and owned by various private railroad companies in the 1970s. In 1984, RTA formed a commuter rail division to focus on rail operations, which branded itself as Metra in 1985.
Freight rail companies still operate some Metra routes under contracted service agreements. Metra owns all rolling stock and is responsible for all stations along with the respective municipalities. Since its inception, Metra has directed more than $5 billion into the commuter rail system of the Chicago metropolitan area. Since its founding in the 19th century, Chicago has been a major Midwestern hub in the North American rail network, it has more trackage radiating in more directions than any other city in North America. Railroads set up their headquarters in the city and Chicago became a center for building freight cars, passenger cars and diesel locomotives. By the 1930s Chicago had the world's largest public transportation system, but commuter rail services started to decline. By the mid-1970s, the commuter lines faced an uncertain future; the Burlington Northern, Milwaukee Road and North Western and Illinois Central were losing money and were using passenger cars dating as far back as the 1920s.
To provide stability to the commuter rail system, the Illinois General Assembly formed the Regional Transportation Authority in 1974. Its purpose was to plan the Chicago region's public transportation. In the beginning the Regional Transportation Authority commuter train fleet consisted of second-hand equipment, until 1976 when the first order of new EMD F40PH locomotives arrived; that F40PH fleet is still in service today. The companies that had long provided commuter rail in the Chicago area continued to operate their lines under contract to the RTA. Less than a decade the Regional Transportation Authority was suffering from ongoing financial problems. Additionally, two rail providers, the Rock Island Line and the Milwaukee Road, went bankrupt, forcing the RTA to create the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation to operate their lines directly in 1982. In 1983 the Illinois Legislature reorganized the agency; that reorganization left the Regional Transportation Authority in charge of day-to-day operations of all bus, heavy rail and commuter rail services throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.
It was responsible for directing fare and service levels, setting up budgets, finding sources for capital investment and planning. A new Commuter Rail Division was created to handle commuter rail operations; the board of the RTA Commuter Rail Division first met in 1984. In an effort to simplify the operation of commuter rail in the Chicago area, in July 1985 it adopted a unified brand for the entire system–Metra, or Metropolitan Rail; the newly reorganized Metra service helped to bring a single identity to the many infrastructure components serviced by the Regional Transportation Authority's commuter rail system. However, the system is still known as the Commuter Rail Division of the RTA. Today, Metra's operating arm, the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation, operates seven Metra owned routes. Four other routes continue to be operated by Union BNSF under contract to Metra. Service throughout the network is provided under the Metra name. Metra owns all rolling stock, controls fares and staffing levels, is responsible for most of the stations.
However, the freight carriers who operate routes under contract use their own employees and control the right-of-way for those routes. In the late 20th and early 21st century Metra experienced record ridership and expanded its services. In 1996 Metra organized its first new line, the North Central Service, running from Union Station to Antioch. By 2006 it added new intermediate stops to that same route, extended the Union Pacific / West Line from Geneva to Elburn and extended SouthWest Service from Orland Park to Manhattan. In 2012 it boasted 95.8% average on-time performance. It posted its fourth highest volume in its history despite decreases in employment opportunities in downtown Chicago. Metra continued to improve passenger service. Over the past three decades, Metra has invested more than $5 billion into its infrastructure; that investment has been used to purchase new rolling stock, build new stations, renovate tracks, modernize signal systems and upgrade support facilities. In addition to core improvements on the Union Pacific Northwest and Union Pacific West routes, planning advanced on two new Metra routes, SouthEast Service and the Suburban Transit Access Route.
Metra has been marred by allegations and investigations of corruption. In April 2002, board member
Colorado
Colorado is a state of the Western United States encompassing most of the southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. It is the 8th most extensive and 21st most populous U. S. state. The estimated population of Colorado was 5,695,564 on July 1, 2018, an increase of 13.25% since the 2010 United States Census. The state was named for the Colorado River, which early Spanish explorers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains; the Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28, 1861, on August 1, 1876, U. S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed Proclamation 230 admitting Colorado to the Union as the 38th state. Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because it became a state one century after the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, Oklahoma to the southeast, New Mexico to the south, Utah to the west, touches Arizona to the southwest at the Four Corners.
Colorado is noted for its vivid landscape of mountains, high plains, canyons, plateaus and desert lands. Colorado is part of the western and southwestern United States, is one of the Mountain States. Denver is most populous city of Colorado. Residents of the state are known as Coloradans, although the antiquated term "Coloradoan" is used. Colorado is notable for its diverse geography, which includes alpine mountains, high plains, deserts with huge sand dunes, deep canyons. In 1861, the United States Congress defined the boundaries of the new Territory of Colorado by lines of latitude and longitude, stretching from 37°N to 41°N latitude, from 102°02'48"W to 109°02'48"W longitude. After 158 years of government surveys, the borders of Colorado are now defined by 697 boundary markers and 697 straight boundary lines. Colorado and Utah are the only states that have their borders defined by straight boundary lines with no natural features; the southwest corner of Colorado is the Four Corners Monument at 36°59'56"N, 109°2'43"W.
This is the only place in the United States where four states meet: Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains of North America. Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County and into Cheyenne County, Kansas, is the lowest point in Colorado at 3,317 feet elevation; this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than half of Colorado is flat and rolling land. East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from 3,350 to 7,500 feet; the Colorado plains are prairies but include deciduous forests and canyons. Precipitation averages 15 to 25 inches annually. Eastern Colorado is presently farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages and towns.
Corn, hay and oats are all typical crops. Most villages and towns in this region boast both a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from subterranean sources. Surface water sources include the South Platte, the Arkansas River, a few other streams. Subterranean water is accessed through artesian wells. Heavy use of wells for irrigation caused underground water reserves to decline. Eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as hog farms. 70% of Colorado's population resides along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado; the "Front Range" includes Denver, Fort Collins, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and other townships and municipalities in between. On the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction and Montrose.
The Continental Divide of the Americas extends along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. The area of Colorado to the west of the Continental Divide is called the Western Slope of Colorado. West of the Continental Divide, water flows to the southwest via the Colorado River and the Green River into the Gulf of California. Within the interior of the Rocky Mountains are several large parks which are high broad basins. In the north, on the east side of the Continental Divide is the North Park of Colorado; the North Park is drained by the North Platte River, which flows north into Nebraska. Just to the south of North Park, but on the western side of the Continental Divide, is the Middle Park of Colorado, drained by the Colorado River; the South Park of Colorado is the region of the headwaters of the South Platte River. In southmost Colorado is the large San Luis Valley, where the headwaters of the Rio Grande are located; the valley sits between the Sangre De Cristo Mountains and San Juan Mountains, consists of large desert lands that run into the mountains.
The Rio Grande drains due south into New Mexico and Texas. Across the Sangre de Cristo Range to the east of the S
Rolling stock
The term rolling stock in rail transport industry refers to any vehicles that move on a railway. It includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars and wagons. In the US, the definition has been expanded to include the wheeled vehicles used by businesses on roadways. Note that stock in the term is business related and used in a sense of inventory. Rolling stock is considered to be a liquid asset, or close to it, since the value of the vehicle can be estimated and shipped to the buyer without much cost or delay; the term contrasts with fixed stock, a collective term for the track, stations, other buildings, electric wires, etc. necessary to operate a railway. In Great Britain, types of rolling stock were given code names of animals. For example, "Toad" was used as a code name for the Great Western Railway goods brake van, while British Railways wagons used for track maintenance were named after fish, such as "Dogfish" for a ballast hopper; these codes were telegraphese, somewhat analogous to the SMS language of today.
List of railway vehicles Great Western Railway telegraphic codes Great Western Railway wagons Media related to rail vehicles at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of rolling stock at Wiktionary
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