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Rio Grande in Color Vol 3 by James Sandrin Morning Sun Books w/ dust jacket
Rio Grande in Color Vol 3 by James Sandrin
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket Reflection from lights on some photos
Copyright 2001
128 Pages
In Rio Grande in Color Volume Three, we attempt to understand the Rio Grande during the transition years of steam to diesel, give a pocket chronology of the evolving diesel fleet and glimpse scenes around the system. The photos are arranged in the approximate sequence of the events depicted.
CONTENTS
1947page 6
1949page 7
1950page 12
1951page 36
1952page 38
1953page 40
1954page 44
1955page 45
1956page 48
1957page 52
1958page 54
1959page 58
1960page 60
1961page 61
1962page 64
1963page 70
1964page 71
1965page 76
1966page 86
1967page 90
1968page 97
1969page 106
1970page 111
1971page 114
1972page 117
1973page 119
1974page 120
1975page 121
1977page 124
1980spage 127
A Postscriptpage 128
TRANSITION YEARS ON THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE Vol 3
Railroad operations, by definition active, are difficult to capture in n momentary vignettes granted by photographs. It might seem that attempting to study operations on the Denver & Rio Grande Western by way of photography, would be difficult at best. By limiting coverage to only those images recorded on color film, it would appear that we would have made our initial task even more difficult. Until the late 1940s, only a few individuals experimented with color films in the field, mostly professional photographers working for industrial clients.
Fortunately, this technological leap coincided with the emergence of the Rio Grande from years of receivership, manifested in the purchases of new equipment, the consolidation of various properties into one and the introduction of new trains, specifically the jointly operated CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR and the lightweight, overnight PROSPECTOR. To make the photographic hunt easier, these years also witnessed the rapid improvement of mountain highways, allowing photographers freedom to drive to locations previously accessibly only by rail. This development proved a double edged sword however. Opening the way for outsiders and local residents alike to travel by road, paved highways freed them of a dependancy on the railroad for travel and local express shipments, to the degradation of such services.
Change in the nature of how the Rio Grande served its territory can be mapped by changes made to the fixed plant. Operating bottlenecks, long suffered due to facility shortcomings and a lack of funds, were finally cleared by new construction. In Denver, North Yard eliminated the interchange delays of set outs and pickups at Fox Junction and replaced the small D&SL yard at Utah Junction. East Yard, the new classification yard at Grand Junction, allowed sorting of east- bound traffic to expedite interchange through Denver and Pueblo. In Salt Lake City, the steam facilities at Fourth South were dismantled and all trains and motive power dispatched from the Roper Yard complex at Twenty-First South. Not all such obstacles could be so readily dealt with however. Some lingering problems, such as interchange through the Ogden gateway with arch rival Union Pacific, would have to wait years for a resolution by the courts.
At the local level, traditional services considered the very essence of railroading, at least to a historian or fan, began to pass from the scene during this postwar period. The local depot and freight house, regularly assigned switch engines at division point yards, branch line locals, and most important, the personal services offered by a local agent/operator, were all phased out in the name of economic efficacy. These came to be characteristics of the stripped down, struggling to survive version of the Rio Grande. That railroad, its merger with the Southern Pacific and its final disappearance into the rival Union Pacific system, is not the focus of this consideration.
In Volume Three, we attempt to understand the Rio Grande during the transition years of steam to diesel, give a pocket chronology of the evolving diesel fleet and glimpse scenes around the system, some common, some rare, hopefully all of interest. A chronology does present one problem for those accustomed to the usual layout of books depicting the Rio Grande. Typically, the Rio Grande is presented in a geographic format, starting at Denver and progressing through Colorado and Utah. Since this presentation is chronologic, the photos are arranged in the approximate sequence of the events depicted. This is most easily seen in the changes in the operating and motive power departments as new power was brought on line and older locomotives were relegated to secondary assignments. Other aspects depicted concern such iconoclastic events as the shift from train orders to Centralized Traffic Control and the introduction of pool power and interline unit coal trains.
Ross Grenard, author of Volume 1, once commented that, if America did not have a railroad icon, the Denver & Rio Grande Western would have to do until one came along. It is in this spirit of respect and admiration that we present Volume Three, a time line along the Rio Grande.
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