The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

was a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

that operated from 2006 to 2019 in and around the

San Luis Valley The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately long and wide, making it the largest alpine valley in the world. It extends from the Continental Divide on ...

as a subsidiary of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. The heritage railroad ceased operating excursions following a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

that damaged some of their facilities, as well as the parent company SLRG entering

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

bankruptcy in late 2019.

History

The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was chartered in 1870. The line over La Veta Pass to Alamosa and Antonito was originally envisioned as part of an ambitious and never-realized narrow gauge line linking

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

with

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. The narrow gauge tracks crossed the pass in 1877 and reached Alamosa on July 6, 1878. The railroad was pushed on to Antonito by 1880 and ultimately to Santa Fe and Silverton. The D&RG built west from Alamosa, completing the line to South Fork and its terminus at Creede in 1881. The D&RG converted the La Veta Pass and the Creede lines to standard gauge around 1900. The line to Antonito was also converted to standard gauge, but a third rail, laid to three-foot gauge, remained to Alamosa until the end of regular narrow gauge operation in 1968. Coincident with the conversion to standard gauge, the D&RG realigned the route over La Veta Pass to lower the summit, straighten curves, and reduce grades. In 1908, the D&RG was consolidated with the Rio Grande Western to form the Denver and Rio Grande Western. In 1988, the DRGW merged with the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

; the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

purchased and merged the SP in 1996. In June 2003, the UP sold the Walsenburg – Alamosa line and its other lines in the San Luis Valley to shortline railroad conglomerate

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it t ...

. RailAmerica sold the SLRG to

Iowa Pacific Holdings Iowa Pacific Holdings was a holding company that owned railroad properties across North America and the United Kingdom, as well as providing services such as railcar repairs, leasing, management and consulting services to other operators. The comp ...

in December 2005. Iowa Pacific established the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad in 2006. Trains operated over the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish language, Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost mountain range, subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountai ...

via Veta Pass and from Alamosa to Antonito, where passengers could connect with the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Cumbres and Toltec. Between 2007 and 2013, the fan trips would often be pulled by a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

. First, there was Ex-

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. T ...

“Mogul” type No. 1744, but it was taken out of service quickly due to firebox issues. The only other steam locomotive that operated on the SLRG was Ex- Lake Superior and Ishpeming

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

“consolidation” type No. 18. The Fir Concert Series featured many well-known musical acts. Popular western music singer/songwriter Syd Masters and Michael Murphy appeared on the stage more than any other performers. Great players such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ricky Skaggs, Asleep at the Wheel and Riders in the Sky also made the journey up the mountain to play live music. The San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad discontinued the passenger excursions in 2019 following a

that damaged the Fir Concert Grounds, and then later when the railroad entered bankruptcy and began liquidating unnecessary assets. This liquidation involved the sale of locomotives and rolling stock to the Colebrookdale Railroad and the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Locomotives

The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad collection included both vintage

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

and

diesel locomotives A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

. Notably, they operated former

Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad The Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad , is a Class iii railroad, Class III railroad U.S. railroad offering service from Marquette, Michigan, to nearby locations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It began operations in 1896. The LS&I continues to ...

locomotive #18, built by the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

at its Pittsburgh works in 1910. This locomotive previously operated on the

Grand Canyon Railway The Grand Canyon Railway is a heritage railroad which carries passengers between Williams, Arizona, and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The railroad, built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, was completed on September ...

and the

Mount Hood Railroad The Mount Hood Railroad is a heritage and shortline freight railroad located in Hood River, Oregon, east of Portland, Oregon, United States. The majority of the railroad's revenue is generated from passenger excursions although a few smal ...

, and following the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad's dissolution, it is now owned by the Colebrookdale Railroad in

. They also owned former

locomotive #1744, which was sold to the

Pacific Locomotive Association The Pacific Locomotive Association, Inc. (PLA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the physical aspects and atmosphere of West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast Rail transport, railroading during the period from 1 ...

and moved to the

Niles Canyon Railway The Niles Canyon Railway (NCRy) is a heritage railway running on the first transcontinental railroad alignment (1866, 1869) through Niles Canyon, between Sunol and the Niles district of Fremont in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay ...

Rolling stock

The Rio Grande Scenic operated a collection of historic passenger cars in their excursion service, including: * Five remodeled

dome car A dome car is a type of railway Passenger car (rail), passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a Coach (rail), coach, lounge c ...

s for railroad sightseeing, with a glass roof on top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train; * 1920s-era Pullman built modernised Heavyweight archroof “open-window” cars with bench-style seating for passengers and the option of opening windows. These cars were built for the Southern Railway between 1924 and 1926 and came to the Rio Grande Scenic from Mount Hood; * 1920s-era Pullman built Heavyweight Open Air Observation No 1056 “Lookout Mountain”. This open air observation car was built for the Southern Railway as coach 1595 and later rebuilt into an open air observation (eventually 2 other open air coaches (without rear platforms) followed No 1069 “Missionary Ridge” and 1070 “W. Graham Claytor”) and was heavily used on the Southern Railway Steam Specials between 1966 and 1987, finally coming to the Rio Grande Scenic from Mount Hood.; * 1950s-era restored Pullman Coaches with large sealed windows, heating, air conditioning, and concessions; * Lounge Car ‘Mardi Gras’ restored first-class lounge car with floor-to-ceiling observation windows in a rounded end observation lounge. This car was rebuilt from a coach by the Illinois Central for use on the ‘City of New Orleans’. Legend has it this was the car that the song of the same name was written in. After a stint in service behind N&W 611 the car returned to Illinois Central livery around 2010.; * Lounge Car ‘Calumet Club’ restored first-class lounge car with flat (or “blind end”) observation windows in a flat end observation lounge. * Dining Car 448 Former New York Central stainless steel fluted side lightweight dining car, restored and used in food service.

Special events

The Rio Grande Scenic operated a variety of special events, including Mother's Day Brunch in the dome cars, Rails & Ales Brewfest, Jazz on the Tracks mountain concerts, Oktoberfest, fall foliage and pumpkin patch rides; and the Train to Christmas Town.

References

External links