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Helper, Utah--
An overview of downtown, seen from the hill to the west. There are four Rio Grande tunnel motors present, though one is hidden behind the engine shed. (11/10/2001)
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The View From Crescent-- The Continental Divide is seen over the top of an eastbound coal train on October 9, 2000.
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Upper Arkansas Valley-- an SPL double-stack train
is westbound, just below Granite, on October 6, 1992. The kiddo is my oldest daughter.
This was on the original D&RGW standard-gauge main line over Tennessee
Pass, and was mothballed by Union Pacific in August 1997. The rails
are still there, but have not been used at all since 1999. |
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Signal Mast on the Joint Line, North Colorado Springs. Looking south towards Cheyenne Mountain on
the chilly morning of October 11, 1996-- barely after the UP merger.
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The Royal Gorge, looking straight down at an SP train
on 8/16/1996.
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The Hanging Bridge, at the bottom of the Royal Gorge,
one of the most famous locations on the Rio Grande system. (3/1993)
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Bridge South of Kobe--
This bridge spans the Arkansas River, a couple of miles north of Granite on the Tennessee Pass mainline. Even in August of 2001, it still carries the Rio Grande herald. (8/04/2001)
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The classic stone-and-red-tile Glenwood Springs Station, on June 29, 1995, with a westbound autorack train for flavor.
(The train included some Rio Grande autoracks, but I only have that on video,
not film...) |
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Cliffs near Cameo dwarf the eastbound "Minturn Local" on October 10, 2000.
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The bridge over Colo 72 at Coal Creek Canyon, seen through the fog from
Tunnel 1 on July 20, 1994. Within months, the Rio Grande sign was replaced with a SPL meatball. Now even that is gone.
Note the intermediate signals on the right-hand end of the bridge, pointing
around the curves in each direction.. |
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Tunnel Motor in the Mist-- On July 20, 1994. An Espee SD45T-2, running light, is seen from atop tunnel 1 on its way down to Denver.
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West Portal of the Moffat Tunnel. (3/1993)
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At Fraser -- Two SP tunnel motors push a D&RGW Maintenance-of way car up the 2% grade towards West Portal
on 12/29/1994. |
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Bridges Near Red Cliff-- On the west side of Tennessee Pass, a spectacular arrangement of bridges hang over the track. This view is from July 1995.
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Tolland is the next-to-last siding east of the Moffat
Tunnel, and was a base for helpers during the Rollins Pass days of the D&SL. Very
little of that history is visible now. Here we see three new SP SD70M's with a coal train. The first rung of the Giant's Ladder is visible;
so is the old Tolland schoolhouse (over the second unit's cab). East Portal is just up the valley in the center. (11/2219/94)
(By the way, Tolland is pronounced with a long O-- it rhymes with
Poland.) |
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East
Portal of Moffat Tunnel-- looking in as an eastbound train approaches (note the
distant headlight). Taken in March 1978 using a 126 instamatic, this is
one of my oldest photos. Too bad I didn't also shoot the train when it
came out... Note that the west switch of the East Portal siding has been
removed from the tunnel mouth by this time. Also note that this photo precedes
the rebuilding of the early 1980's. The fan house is original, and the
curtain is right at the tunnel mouth. |
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East Portal of Moffat Tunnel -- Five SP units lead an empty BN coal set into the tunnel in November 1994.
This is a decade after the rebuilding project. Although the facade hasn't
changed much, everything behind it is very different. |
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Denver's North Yard, in a drizzle on September 19, 1999.
Visible at center are D&RGW GP40-2's 3105 and 3100. To the left is the
sanding facilities; to the right are the ladder tracks at the south end of the
main yard. Taken looking North-northwest from the 48th Avenue bridge.
The yard dates from the late 1940s, and for a while was also used as Rock
Island's Denver service facility. The Rio Grande nearly purchased The
Rock, before its bankruptcy and dissolution. |
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