(The following story by Berny Morson appeared on the Rocky Mountain News website on December 21.)
DENVER — Union Pacific railroad gave out coffee and scones Thursday morning at two Regional Transportation District light-rail stations that lost service last week when a coal train derailed in Littleton.
“It’s something we thought to do to say thank you for the commuters’ understanding during last week’s service interruption,” said UP spokesman Mark Davis.
The railroad ordered enough Starbucks coffee for 5,000 commuters and an equal number of scones, Davis said. Commuters also chose orange juice or candy canes.
The coffee began flowing at 5:30 a.m. at both stations that lost service.
Twenty-five cars went off the tracks last week, spilling equipment and coal onto RTD’s parallel light-rail tracks.
A light-rail train hit the pileup and derailed, but no one was injured.
Service was cut to the last two stations on the line, Littleton and Mineral.
Repairs were completed Sunday night and service resumed Monday morning.