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A Century + Ten Of D&RGW Narrow Gauge Freight Cars, 1871-1981
A Century + Ten Of D&RGW Narrow Gauge Freight Cars, 1871-1981
BY Robert E Sloan
Spiral bound 304 pages
Copyright 2000
Table of ContentsPage
Forward1
Ch. 1 Introduction3
Ch. 2 The First D&RG Freight Cars 1871- 187219
Ch. 3 D&RG/D&RGW NG Refrigerator and Ventilated Boxcars27
Ch. 4 D&RG/D&RGW NG Boxcars45
Ch. 5 D&RG/D&RGW NG Stock Cars71
Ch. 6 D&RG/D&RGW NG Flat Cars89
Ch. 7 D&RG/D&RGW NG Gondolas 117
Ch. 8 D&RG/D&RGW NG Cabooses 171
Ch. 9 D&RG/D&RGW NG Work Cars215
Ch. 10 Colorado Narrow Gauge Tank Cars.289
FOREWORD
The history and development of D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge freight cars is partly known, especially for the period of the 1930s to the end of operations in March, 1981, when the Silverton branch was sold to the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The earlier period is still full of mystery, despite the efforts of William N. Cohen and John W. Maxwell, with their lettering guides and plans. This book is designed to fill a need for historians who wish to date photographs, for modelers of vintage narrow gauge equipment who would like to be consistent in their modeling of a given period and that vast array of Rio Grande fans who just cannot learn enough about their favorite railroad. I have included copies of original D&RG/D&RGW plans as well as plans created by modern fans.
The Denver and Rio Grande - Denver and Rio Grande Western, in keeping with the fact that at 1,670 miles it was the largest narrow gauge network in the country, had a large number of narrow gauge freight cars. My best estimate (and for reasons which will become obvious it is only an estimate) is that from 1871 to 1965 the total number of revenue freight cars was 10,428. These were 8 classes of boxcars totaling 3,961, 22 classes of gondolas totaling 3,111 cars, 6 classes of stock cars totaling 903 cars, 6 classes of refrigerator and ventilated box cars totaling 192 cars, 28 classes of flat cars totaling 2,139 cars and 8 classes of cabooses totaling 122 cars. In addition, some 102 tank cars were not owned by the railroad but ran on it. Out of 543 work cars only 27 were purchased as such, the rest were old revenue cars.
It would seem simple merely to count up car numbers, but it is anything but simple. That is the bean counter's approach, which accounts for many of the misconceptions about Rio Grande cars. The first reason is shown by the well-known 3000 series of boxcars that survived to the end of the line. What few realize is that they were the 7th Class and group of cars to have the 3000 numbers! The first two were 8-ton and 10-ton stock cars, renumbered in 1881 so that boxcar numbers could continue on from the 2000 series as the biggest class of box cars, the 24', 10-ton cars. The third was a series of Class 3 boxcars. Ten of these 3000 boxcars (3000 to 3010) were converted to the first refrigerator cars, at first keeping the same numbers, now the fourth set of cars to hold 3000 numbers. Some more of these 3000 series boxcars (the fifth group) were converted to 27' 20-ton cars, involving a total rebuild from the ground up, but with the same old numbers. Then, in 1904, a new Class of cars, (the sixth series) the all wood 30', 25-ton cars, were ordered from American Car and Foundry. These lasted until 1926 when they were totally rebuilt from the ground up with all new wood, steel carlines, detail hardware, and Murphy steel roofs to form the final group, the seventh series, that still survive. They were the same size as the sixth series but were significantly different in detail.
The second reason is purely financial. When a car wore out, it was often replaced by a car with the same number but of different style. For tax reasons "rebuilding" a fully depreciated car was more
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