Showing posts with label Rio Grande Zephyr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rio Grande Zephyr. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Rocky Mountaineer - Rockies to the Red Rocks of Moab

Something that railroads do much better than roads or airways is taking many people to a common destination while letting them see the country in which they're traveling. It combines the rugged beauty of driving with the ability to get up and stretch one's legs, interact with and meet more people than you would normally. We've lost touch with that. Luckily, the Rocky Mountaineer is giving those who can afford it a chance to travel from Denver to... wait, Moab? Let the RM make its case.


Jeb Brooks takes you on a 30 minute tour 

I won't say this is a renewal of the Rio Grande Zephyr by any stretch. The RGZ was more old school passenger train than this train crew ever dreams about. Nonetheless, it is inspiring to see the Rocky Mountaineer opening up the western slope to those minds looking for something more than the next Ibiza or Parksville.⚒

Friday, March 27, 2015

POTD - Portrait of a Silver Lady in Glenwood Canyon

Having ridden the Rio Grande Zephyr only once from Denver to Glenwood Springs, the weekend of its demise, I am no expert on the experience, but I can say that my trip on the last run of the last remnant of the Silver Lady far exceeded the usual type of magic that a train trip always seems to conjure.

Was it riding behind Grande gold F9s that--like the stainless steel cars behind them--were the last of their kind? Was it passing through the amazingly scenic Glenwood Canyon that inspired the creation of the very Vista-Dome I was riding in, condensing all the majesty inside my 9 year-old brain? Was it something else, or all of it together? I do not know.

Photo of the Day: Chris Nuthall
What I do know is that ever since that wild weather'd day in April 1983, I have never been able to find an experience that could rival such a fine ride aboard the Rio Grande Zephyr. Nearly two years prior to that day, photographer Chris Nuthall activated the shutter to capture this near-perfect, linear shot of the Zephyr in the canyon. What could be considered irony is that Mr. Nuthall was attempting to recreate a shot of the original California Zephyr. I think the RGZ looks just fine in her own right, don't you?◊

Monday, February 9, 2015

POTD: Piercing The Flatirons With Silver and Gold

In 1978, more years lay behind the Rio Grande Zephyr in its brief existence than in front of it. A truncated version of a prestigious and luxurious train, passengers bemoaned the state of rail transportation where the RGZ was, if not a dimming reflection of the glory days, a reminder of the past that was herself quickly fading. Certainly, she was the last survivor of intercity passenger rail that was not swallowed up in the Nixon-Ford era Amtrak.

Running tri-weekly it was possible to use one train set and run it between Denver and Salt Lake City, Thursday, Saturday, and Monday, and Salt Lake City to Denver Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday, and never on Wednesday, which was when the cars received their maintenance. Only 5 years from the snap of this picture, Rio Grande would pull the plug on this last, tri-weekly gasp of private passenger rail service. Had she lived to be a hundred, I don't think anyone would have found the Zephyr to be worse than her successor.

Photo of the day: James Belmont
Photographer James Belmont says of this photo, "One of my all time favorite photos of the Rio Grande Zephyr..."     He went on to add that the fill the train is crossing over was washed out during the floods of September 2013. This washout disrupted service over the Moffat Route from Denver to Grand Junction for 17 days, and considering it's location, it's a testament to the maintenance and repair crews how fast they got the work done!

Interested in the Rio Grande Zephyr? Check out my friend James Griffin's very artful web treatment of the Silver Lady's last days.◊

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

POTD - A Silver Lady Passes Her Castle Gate

Drew Jacksich makes his debut here with Photo of the Day. Mr. Jacksich gets around if a quick tour of his flickr site is any indication. His photos appear in Wikipedia articles, and with good reason, because not only do they have some historic significance, but the bulk of them have some real beauty.

D&RGW 5771 EB Castle Gate June 1975x4
Photo of the Day: Drew Jacksich
Such is the case with his photograph of the Rio Grande Zephyr at Castle Gate, Utah in June 1975, just 40 years ago this year. The last remnant of the Silver Lady and the last privately controlled inter-city passenger train was 4 years into her proud, tri-weekly service following the demise of the popular California Zephyr, begun in 1949 by the Burlington, Rio Grande and Western Pacific railroads as a Chicago to San Francisco train timed to view Colorado's Rocky Mountains in the daylight.◊