Through The Rockies, Not
Around Them Was the motto of the Denver and Rio Grande Western
Railroad also known as D&RGW. D&RGW operated from 1870 to
1988. In 1988, the D&RGW's parent company, Rio Grande
Industries and Southern Pacific Transportation Company merged. The
larger Southern Pacific name was chosen as the name of the new
company marking the end of D&RGW. The railroad served mainly as
a transcontinental bridge line between Denver and Salt Lake and was
a major origin of coal and mineral traffic betweent the two cities.
The D&RGW also operated the last private longhaul passenger
train in the US, the Rio Grande Zephyr. The D&RGW also operated
the famed California Zephyr.
The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) was founded in
1870 by General William Jackson Palmer and Dr. William Bell with
the intention of connecting Denver with Mexico City. Narrow gauge
was selected because it was quicker and cheaper to construct and
maintain than standard gauge rail lines. The route was to be
constructed over Raton Pass in northern New Mexico. Competitive
construction provoked the 1877–1880 war over right of way
with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Both rivals hired
gunslingers and bought politicians. During the rail line wars Sante
Fe won the right to Raton Pass so D&RG ended up paying $1.4
million for rights through Royal Gorge leading to Leadville,
Colorado. As a result, the D&RG focused on exploiting the
lucrative mining service opportunities to the west.
To jump ahead to more modern times…
“On September 11, 1996, then company president Anschutz sold
the combined company to the Union Pacific Railroad, partly in
response to the earlier merger of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe
which formed the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. As the
Union Pacific absorbed the D&RGW into its system, signs of the
fabled mountain railroad's existence are slowly fading away.
D&RGW 5371, the only original D&RGW locomotive in full Rio
Grande paint on the Union Pacific, was retired by UP in December,
2008. As previously promised by UP, the D&RG 5371 was donated
to the Utah State Railroad Museum at Ogden's Union Station on
August 17, 2009, and will reside in the Eccles Rail Center at the
south end of the building. The museum is located at 25th Street and
Wall Ave in Ogden, UT.”
For more interesting and detailed history of D&RGW please
see the references.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_Railroad
http://www.american-rails.com/denver-and-rio-grande-western.html
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/geology/publications/bul/707/index.htm