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Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Varnish Colorado Rail Annual No 25 by Herbert Danneman
Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Varnish Colorado Rail Annual No 25 by Herbert Danneman
A Denver & Rio Grande passenger car roster 1871-1981
Hard Cover BUMPED CORNERS, Reflections on back cover photo
328 pages
Copyright 2003
CONTENTS
Dedication and Acknowledgments8
Introduction 9
Summary Roster23
1 Postal, Mail & Baggage Cars 1-6624
2 Baggage Cars 100-12960
3 Express Cars 150-16983
4 Coach & Baggage Cars 200-21798
5 Coach & Mail Cars 240-242123
6 Coaches 250-327 128
7 Chair and Parlor Cars 400-410 217
8 Covered Observation Cars 400-405248
9 Tourist Sleeping Cars 450-470 252
10 Open Observation Cars 500-502261
11 Provision Cars 525-527264
12 Excursion Cars 550-573266
13 Pullman Cars (Named)272
14 Business Cars A-X281
15 D&RGW (Utah) Equipment310
Appendices313
INTRODUCTION
Car builder Billmeyer & Small (B&S) provided the iron work and trucks for construction of some of the early cars. The D&RG provided the necessary woodwork and completed assembly of the cars and was then regarded as the builder. Where appropriate B&S is shown as the provider of iron work.
Much of the early rolling stock of the D&RG was financed by rolling stock trusts and not initially owned by the railroad. The railroad took ownership when the trust certificates were redeemed through annual payments to the rolling stock trust. The rolling stock trusts are shown as the "car owner" in the equipment roster. The first trust was named Philadelphia & Colorado Equipment Trust and is abbreviated P&CET. An additional series of trusts was named Colorado Rolling Stock Trust series A, B, C, etc. These are shown in the roster that follows as CRSTA or CRSTB.
As the D&RG passenger car fleet developed, each type of car was identified starting with No.1. As a result, it became increasingly probable to have a train with duplicate car numbers in the consist. This was obviously very confusing and was resolved in mid-1885 when the following renumbering plan was adopted:
1-49Postal cars
50-99Mail & Baggage cars
100-149Baggage cars
150-199Express cars
200-249Coach & Baggage cars
250-399Coaches
400-449Chair cars
450-499Emigrant Sleeping cars
500-549Observation cars
550-599Excursion cars
A-ZBusiness cars
(named)Pullman cars
Several additional subgroups were developed later, such as the 240 series coach & mail cars and the 525 series provision cars.
While the 1885 renumbering was under way, several cars were rebuilt into different car types, while others were retired. This has made tracking the renumbering of some cars very difficult. A complete official documentation of the 1885/1886 renumbering is not known to exist.
There are also many conflicts of information as published in Rio Grande annual reports, official rosters, listings in the Official Railway Equipment Register and other inventories prepared at various times (for example, as a part of court case settlements). This contradictory information has complicated the task of accurately preparing an historical record.
Another complexity was the inclination of the D&RG to reuse numbers of retired cars. For example, in 1885 a total of five new mail & baggage cars were constructed. Two cars used numbers from retired cars 50 and 53. Here again, the 1885 renumbering is puzzling as the two cars that originally were 50 and 53 had been retired by July of 1884, presumably due to wrecks. Perhaps their hulks were still on the property and renumbered only on paper for accounting purposes. The three net additional cars were numbered 61, 62, and 63 at the end of the series.
The equipment roster is presented in the sequence the cars were in after their 1885 renumbering. Cars retired or rebuilt prior to renumbering are shown in their correct original construction sequence, but without an 1886 number. The source of all specification information on cars as built (unless otherwise indicated) is from "Equipment Catalogue / Denver and Rio Grande Railway" dated October 1883. Specifications for cars constructed after that date are primarily from equipment rosters and folio sheets.
In the 1920s most cars were put through the shops to have their underframes reinforced. Also, carbodies and platforms were lowered to safeguard against derailments. The carbodies were riding too high on their trucks, allowing them to rock so much that they occasionally derailed.
The folio sheets (small blueprint type drawings) are from Folio 6 dated September 1904. A word of caution is appropriate regarding this source. As the individual cars were modified in subsequent years, the folio sheet was usually, but not always, updated with the revised information but remained part of Folio 6. As a result there are often several variations of the same car bearing the Folio 6 identification.
The photographs in this book have been selected to complement those found in the excellent photograph book about D&RG passenger cars Narrow Gauge Pictorial, Volume II by Robert L. Grandt.
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
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