Everything about The Rio Grande Southern Railroad totally explained
The
Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) was a
narrow gauge railroad which ran from
Durango to
Ridgway in the western part of the
US state of
Colorado.
History
The
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) had built branch lines to the
mining towns of
Silverton and
Ouray, but the
San Juan Mountains between Ouray and Silverton were too formidable to allow the building of a railroad directly connecting the two towns. The
Silverton Railroad, built north from Silverton, had reached within 8 miles (13 km) of Ouray, but the remaining stretch through the
Uncompahgre Gorge was considered too difficult. A
cog railway was briefly considered but was never built.
The RGS was founded in
1889 by
Otto Mears, and construction began in
1890 from
Ridgway (north of Ouray) and
Durango (south of Silverton) to go around the most rugged part of the San Juan Mountains and also reach the mining towns of
Rico and
Telluride.
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
Disneyland and
Knott's Berry Farm railways, as well as the famed
Silverton Train (the sole surviving D&RG rail line, which has been in continuous steam service since 1881).
Spiral
The route passed over
Dallas Divide west of Ridgway and over
Lizard Head Pass north of Rico. The most famous structure on the route was the
Ophir Loop near
Ophir. At this point the railroad was built up a narrow mountain valley and
looped back up the other side to gain elevation over several tall
trestles.
The RGS filed with the
Interstate Commerce Commission for abandonment on
24 April 1952.
Galloping Goose
The most famous aspect of the RGS was its fleet of
Galloping Geese. During the
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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Rio Grande Southern Railroad'.
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