Friday Tour 1 - (7:30 am to 5 pm) - Gold in Them Thar' Hills: Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining District
GOLD IN THEM THAR’ HILLS - Spend the day in Cripple Creek and Victor, historic gold mining towns, as you explore the Molly Kathleen Mine, take a tour of the Ashanti Mine, visit the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railway and the Victor Lowell Museum. Take the Historic Trail Walk as you learn about the history and mining operations in this important industry in the mountains of Colorado. Gold was discovered here in 1878 and spawned hundreds of mines and brought in millions of dollars before the end of the gold rush half a century later. This tour requires you to wear closed toe shoes.
Friday Tour 2 - (7 am to 5 pm) - Royal Gorge Route
ROYAL GORGE ROUTE - Ride Colorado’s oldest scenic train as you watch the Arkansas River flow past your window and listen to railroad staff share the fascinating history of the Gorge and point out interesting sites. Marvel at the world’s highest suspension bridge, constructed in 1929, hanging 1,050 feet above the tracks. This tour includes the world’s longest single-span aerial tram and the world’s steepest incline railway. This tour requires you to wear closed toe shoes.
Update and change of factory sites on Tour F3 on Friday
Friday Tour 3 - (8:00 am to 5 pm) - Manufacturing Tour (Friday #3)
Will will now be visiting the Springs Fabrication’s 60,000 square-foot manufacturing plant -- one of the largest custom milling centers in the Rocky Mountain states -- serves a variety of manufacturing industries in the region with state-of-the-art design, machining, finishing, assembly and testing.
This Friday tour will also include both the original (established 1899) and current (established 2009) manufacturing facilities of the Van Briggle Pottery & Tile Company, one of the oldest active arts-and-crafts-style potteries in the United States.
We will also be visiting the Xcel Energy’s Comanche Station, a coal-fired steam-electric facility near Pueblo, is composed of three operating units with a total production capacity of 1,410 MW. It first went on line in 1973.
This tour requires you to bring your hard hat and safety glasses and wear closed toe shoes.
Friday Tour 4 - (7:30 am to 5 pm) - Steel City: Mills and Men; same as Thursday Tour 2
STEEL CITY: MILLS AND MEN - Take a behind-the-scenes tour of Rocky Mountain Steel Mill, formerly Colorado Fuel & Iron. Founded in 1892, this company was largely owned and operated by John D. Rockefeller and Jay Gould by the turn of the century. In 2007, it was purchased by Oregon Steel, now Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. Here you can see blast furnace/open hearth steel making and both oxygen-based and electric arc furnaces. You will visit at least one of the three rolling mills. Also take a tour of the Steel Works Museum of the Bessemer Historical Society which houses archives of Colorado Fuel & Iron and the surrounding Pueblo neighborhoods and businesses. Also visit the Weisbrod Aircraft Museum. Note: This tour is full. This tour requires you to bring your hard hat and safety glasses and wear closed toe shoes.
Show and Tell on Friday evening (Starts at 7pm)
