The odds of getting a ride on the always-sold-out annual Denver Post Cheyenne Frontier Days Train are better than ever this year, because reservations will be sold using a lottery.
Through 7 p.m. on May 24, people hoping to hitch a ride to the July 21 opening of Frontier Days rodeo can submit a Reservations — one per household and no more than four tickets per request — will be filled using a computerized random selection process.
Passengers will be notified of their status for tickets by email before June 1. Tickets, wristbands and itineraries will be mailed by July 1.
Once again, this year’s 17-car train will be pulled by the Union Pacific’s historic steam locomotive No. 844, a Northern-class built for passenger service in 1944 and never taken off the railroad’s active roster. Weighing in at 486,000 pounds, the 844 will make numerous trips this year to celebrate the UP’s 150th anniversary.
Begun in 1908, the Post train ran until 1970 when rising costs and lack of passenger equipment led to its abandonment. It was revived in 1992 to celebrate the newspaper’s 100th anniversary as a one-time-only event.
“We did it to remind ourselves of our 100-year history,” Post chairman and publisher William Dean Singleton said last year. “There’s a lot of history there. We decided to bring it back for just one time. We had a wonderful time. It was so good we decided to do it again and again.”
Through the years, numerous political figures, including Denver mayors and Colorado governors, have been onboard. Wendell Willkie rode in 1940 as Republican presidential candidate and Lyndon Johnson was a guest when he ran for vice president in 1960.
The trip, which will leave Denver at 7 a.m., includes a continental breakfast on the trip north, the traditional parade through downtown Cheyenne, a private, catered barbecue, tickets to the “Daddy of ’em All” rodeo in Cheyenne and a light supper on the way home Onboard entertainment is provided by the bluegrass bands Southern Exposure and Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams. The latter plays for dancing in the baggage car.
The train is expected to be back in Denver by 9 p.m.
