Rio Grande Southern Railroad - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) was a narrow gauge railroad which ran from Durango

Durango, Colorado

The City of Durango is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau said that the city population was 16,887 in 2010 census.-History:...

to Ridgway

Ridgway, Colorado

The Town of Ridgway, coined Gateway to the San Juans, is a Home Rule Municipality in Ouray County, in the southwestern portion of the U.S. State of Colorado. The town is a former railroad stop on the Uncompaghre River in the northern San Juan Mountains...

in the western part of the US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

state of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. Its right of way can be traced by going west from Durango to Mancos on Rte 160, then to Dolores via Rte 184, north across Lizard Head Pass (10222 ft or 3,115.7 m) to Placerville using Rte 145, with the final leg Rte 62 to Ridgway.

History

The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) had built branch lines to the mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

towns of Silverton

Silverton, Colorado

The town of Silverton is a Statutory Town that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, San Juan County, Colorado, United States. Silverton is a former silver mining camp, most or all of which is now included in a federally designated National Historic Landmark District,...

and Ouray

Ouray, Colorado

The historic City of Ouray is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 813 at the U.S. Census 2000 and 1,000 as of the U.S. Census 2010...

, but the San Juan Mountains

San Juan Mountains

The San Juan Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and...

between Ouray and Silverton were too formidable to allow the building of a railroad directly connecting the two towns. The Silverton Railroad

Silverton Railroad

The Silverton Railroad, now defunct, was an American narrow-gauge railroad constructed between Silverton, Colorado and mining districts near Red Mountain Pass, Colorado. Construction of the line, a project of famed Colorado railway-builder Otto Mears, began in 1887...

, built north from Silverton, had reached within 8 miles (12.9 km) of Ouray, but the remaining stretch through the Uncompahgre Gorge

Uncompahgre Gorge

The Uncompahgre Gorge is a deep mountain canyon formed by the Uncompahgre River and Red Mountain Creek just south of Ouray, Colorado. At the north end of the Gorge the Uncompahgre River flows into a deep box canyon which is home to Ouray Ice Park . Access to the gorge is via U.S. Highway 550...

was considered too difficult. A cog railway

Rack railway

A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...

was briefly considered but was never built.

The RGS was founded in 1889 by Otto Mears

Otto Mears

Otto Mears was a famous Colorado railroad builder and entrepreneur who played a major role in the early development of southwestern Colorado....

, and construction began in 1890 from Ridgway

Ridgway, Colorado

(north of Ouray) and Durango

Durango, Colorado

(south of Silverton) to go around the most rugged part of the San Juan Mountains and also reach the mining towns of Rico

Rico, Colorado

Rico is a Home Rule Municipality in Dolores County, Colorado, United States. The population was 205 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rico is located at ....

and Telluride

Telluride, Colorado

The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains...

. The line was completed only a little time before the Silver Panic of 1893

Panic of 1893

The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...

which resulted in most of the mines closing overnight and the railroad losing most of its traffic. The railroad struggled to survive against all odds through the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

but was finally closed in 1951.

As the Rio Grande Southern was never a wealthy railroad, its locomotives were all second or more hand, mostly from the Denver and Rio Grande/Denver and Rio Grande Western, which owned the RGS for most of its history. Most of the locomotives that came to the road were old and worn out, some even being pulled off the scrap line and pressed into RGS service. The road only had one car built new for itself. In later years, most of its freight cars were retired cars from the abandoned Colorado and Southern narrow gauge system.

Today, much of the former D&RG and RGS rolling stock has new life in tourism, including the Western River Railroad

Western River Railroad

The Western River Railroad is Tokyo Disneyland's version of its steam-powered railroad. It does not circle the whole park; it instead passes through Advenutureland, Frontierland and Critter Country. Additionally, this railroad differs from other Disney railroads because its track gauge is 30" as...

and Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....

railways, as well as the famed Silverton Train (which has been in continuous steam service since 1881) and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. The Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm

trains are maintained with their original colors and railroad identification.

Spiral

The route passed over Dallas Divide

Dallas Divide

Dallas Divide is a high mountain pass in the United States state of Colorado located on State Highway 62 about west of the town of Ridgway....

west of Ridgway and over Lizard Head Pass

Lizard Head Pass

Lizard Head Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass in Colorado traversed by State Highway 145. It is located 12 miles south of the Telluride turnoff. The pass is named for a prominent nearby peak that is said to look like a lizard's head, the spire of Lizard Head...

north of Rico. The most famous structure on the route was the Ophir Loop near Ophir

Ophir, Colorado

The historic town of Ophir is a Home Rule Municipality located in San Miguel County, Colorado, United States. Ophir was the site of the world's first commercial system to generate and transmit alternating current electricity, the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant...

. At this point the railroad was built up a narrow mountain valley and looped

Spiral (railway)

A spiral is a technique employed by railways to ascend steep hills.A railway spiral rises on a steady curve until it has completed a loop, passing over itself as it gains height, allowing the railway to gain vertical elevation in a relatively short horizontal distance...

back up the other side to gain elevation over several tall trestle

Trestle

A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...

s.

The RGS filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission

Interstate Commerce Commission

The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...

for abandonment on 24 April 1952.

Present Right of Way Conditions

In Durango the terminus of the Rio Grande Southern was at the West end of the railroad Bridge over the Animas River, just South of Lightner Creek. This bridge no longer exists and the West side of the Animas River is now Durango's dog park. Due to contamination at the smelter site (just south of the dog park) much grading and remediation has been done in this area, as well as large boulders added for rip-rap along the riverbank. As a result nothing of the RGS exists in this area, the first traces you will find are at the West edge of the dog park, there the soil goes from red to tan and you will start finding coal.

Galloping Goose

The most famous aspect of the RGS was its fleet of Galloping Geese

Galloping Goose

Galloping Goose is the popular name given to a series of seven railcars, built in the 1930s by the Rio Grande Southern Railroad and operated until the end of service on the line in the early 1950s....

. During the Great Depression

Great Depression

it became increasingly expensive to operate trains over the mountain railroad. The RGS came up with a concept to build a rail car out of a car or bus body front end and a box car rear end. Seven Geese were built for the RGS, all but one of which survive to this day. The front of no. 1 is on the front of number 6. A Goose was built by RGS for the San Cristobal Railroad in 1933. It was returned to the RGS in 1939 and dismantled, with parts going to rebuild Goose #2. The Goose at Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm

still operates in the function it was designed for -- to run a cost-effective rail service on days when demand does not require full-size trains (mostly weekdays during Fall, Winter and Spring in this year-round theme park).

Goose	Built	Type	Current Location
#1	1931	Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	Replica at the Ridgway Railway Museum
#2	1931	Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	Colorado Railroad Museum Colorado Railroad Museum ‎The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum The museum is located on at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado....
#3	1932	Pierce-Arrow Pierce-Arrow Pierce-Arrow was an American automobile manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901-1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.-Early history:The forerunner... orig, Wayne Bus Body	Knotts Berry Farm
#4	1932	Pierce-Arrow Pierce-Arrow Pierce-Arrow was an American automobile manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901-1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.-Early history:The forerunner... orig, Wayne Bus Body	Currently undergoing restoration in Ridgway, Colorado Ridgway, Colorado The Town of Ridgway, coined Gateway to the San Juans, is a Home Rule Municipality in Ouray County, in the southwestern portion of the U.S. State of Colorado. The town is a former railroad stop on the Uncompaghre River in the northern San Juan Mountains...
#5	1933	Pierce-Arrow Pierce-Arrow Pierce-Arrow was an American automobile manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901-1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.-Early history:The forerunner... orig, Wayne Bus Body	Dolores, Colorado Dolores, Colorado The town of Dolores is a Statutory Town in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 936 at the 2010 census. It is one of three incorporated municipalities in the county....
#6	1934	Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	Colorado Railroad Museum Colorado Railroad Museum ‎The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum The museum is located on at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado....
#7	1936	Pierce Arrow	Colorado Railroad Museum Colorado Railroad Museum ‎The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum The museum is located on at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado....

External links

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