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The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad generally referred to as the Rio Grande, became the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1920, and is today a fallen flag (a railroad that has been absorbed into a larger system -- Union Pacific -- as the result of a merger). The D&RGW served mainly as transcontinental bridge line between Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, and a major origin of coal and mineral traffic with a motto of Through the Rockies, not around them. The Rio Grande was the epitome of mountain railroading, operating the highest mainline rail line in the United States over 10,240 ft (3121 m) Tennessee Pass in Colorado and the famed routes through the Moffat Tunnel and the Royal Gorge. At its height around 1890, the D&RG had the largest operating narrow gauge railroad network in North America. Known for its independence, the D&RGW operated the last private long haul passenger train in the United States, the Rio Grande Zephyr. History
Royal Gorge Route The D&RG built west from Pueblo reaching Canon City in 1874. The line through the Royal Gorge reached Salida on 20 May 1880 and was pushed to Leadville later that same year. From Salida, the D&RG pushed west over the Continental Divide at 10,845 ft (3305m) Marshall Pass and reached Gunnison on 6 August 1881. From Gunnison the line entered the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River passing the famous Curecanti Needle seen in their famous Scenic Line of the World Herald. The tracks left the ever increasingly difficult canyon at Cimmaron and passed over Cerro Summit reaching Montrose on 8 September 1882. From Montrose a line was laid north through Delta reaching Grand Junction in March 1883 and a rail connection with the Rio Grande Western Railroad for a narrow gauge transcontinental link to Salt Lake City, Utah. The line from Pueblo to Leadville was upgraded in 1887 to three rails to accommodate both narrow gauge and standard gauge operation. Narrow Gauge branch lines were constructed to Crested Butte, Lake City, Ouray and Somerset. San Luis Valley Route The D&RG also pushed west from Walsenburg, Colorado over Veta Pass reaching Alamosa in 1878. From Alamosa a line was pushed south through Antonito eventually reaching Santa Fe, New Mexico and west as far as Creede, Colorado. A line containing one of the longest tangent tracks in US railroading (52.82 miles)also linked Alamosa with Salida to the North. From Antonito a line was built over 10,015 ft (3052m) Cumbres Pass along the Colorado-New Mexico boarder reaching Durango, Colorado in August 1881 and continuing north to the rich mining areas around Silverton in July 1882. A line was also constructed south from Durango to Farmington, New Mexico (See also Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad). Tennessee Pass The D&RG built west from Leadville over 10,240 ft (3121m) Tennessee Pass in attempt to reach the mining areas around Aspen, Colorado before its rival railroad in the area, the Colorado Midland, could build a line reaching there. The D&RG built a line through Glenwood Canyon to Glenwood Springs reaching Aspen in October of 1887. The D&RG then joined with the Colorado Midland to build a line from Glenwood Springs connecting with D&RG at Grand Junction. Originally considered a secondary branch route to Grand Junction, the entire route from Leadville to Grand Junction was upgraded to standard gauge in 1890, and the original narrow gauge route via Marshall Pass became a secondary route. Denver and Rio Grande Western
The Moffat Road In 1931, the D&RGW acquired the Denver and Salt Lake Western Railroad (a company in name only), a subsidiary of the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad (D&SL) which had acquired the rights to build a 40 mile (64km) connection between the two railroads. After years of negotiation the D&RGW gained trackage rights on the D&SL from Denver to the new cutoff. In 1932, the D&RGW began construction of the Dotsero Cutoff west of Glenwood Springs to near Bond on the Colorado River, at a location called Orestod (Dotsero spelled backward). Despite the common misconception that Dotsero is a shortening of "Dot Zero," the station name exists from the construction of the Standard Gauge line to Glenwood Springs in the 1890s. Construction completed in 1934 giving Denver a direct transcontinental link to the west. The D&RGW though slipped again into bankruptcy in 1935. Emerging in 1947 it merged with the D&SL on 3 March 1947 gaining control of the "Moffat Road" through the Moffat Tunnel and a branch line from Bond to Craig, Colorado. "Fast Freights" and the California Zephyr, 1950-1983
Merger with Southern Pacific In 1988, Rio Grande Industries, the company that controlled the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, under the direction of Philip Anschutz, purchased the Southern Pacific Railroad. The combined company took the Southern Pacific (SP) name due to its name recognition among shippers. In time, the D&RGW's "fast freight" philosophy gave way to SP's long-established practice of running long, slow trains. A contributing factor was the rising cost of diesel fuel, a trend that set in after the 1973 oil crisis, which gradually undermined the D&RGW's fuel-consuming "fast freight" philosophy. By the early 1990s, the D&RGW had lost much of the competitive advantage that made it attractive to transcontinental shippers, and became largely dependent on hauling the high quality coal produced in the mine fields of Utah. Merger with the Union Pacific On 11 September 1996 Anschutz sold the combined company to the Union Pacific Railroad, partly in a response to the earlier merger of the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe which formed the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. As the Union Pacific absorbed the D&RGW into its system, signs of the fabled mountain railroad's existence are slowly fading away. As of September 5, 2006 the DRGW 5371 is the last operating original D&RGW locomotive on the Union Pacific today. The DRGW 5371 runs helper service out of Helper, Utah. Union Pacific recently unveiled UP 1989, an EMD SD70ACe painted in DRGW colors. Passenger trains This is a partial list of D&RGW passenger trains since 1947. Westbound trains had odd numbers, while eastbound trains had even numbers. Today, the D&RGW's Ski Train serves the city of Winter Park, Colorado, out of Union Station in Denver. The Silverton, which has been operating since 1881, provides scenic day trips from Durango. See also | |||||||||||||
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