The denver and rio grande railroad allows us to step back into the heyday of the american west and explore one of the most imposing and inspiring landscapes on the planet. John denver memorial stone with the lyrics to rocky mountain high in rio grande park, aspen, colorado on september 24, 2007, the california friends of john denver and the windstar foundation unveiled a bronze plaque near the spot where his plane went down near pacific grove. The railroad arrived in durango on august 5, 1881 and construction on the line to silverton. The denver rio grande train instead of leaving new castle at 11. Mar 28, 2016 this train accident never did happen in san antonio, but rather in salt lake city, utah. Real locomotives used in rio grande train crash scene train. Denver and rio grande railway company, denver and rio grande railway company publisher colorado springs, colo. Denver and rio grande western railroad company american. May 18, 20 an epic video of two trains captured on tennessee pass in may of 1992. If you like trains and beautiful scenery, this is a decent movie. When the two trains are on a collision course vesser tells gil to stop the train. Carving a railroad bed from the steep, rugged and extremely hard rock walls made for some of the most difficult and hazardous work.
Both films followed an entirely fictional depiction in the 1950 western a ticket to tomahawk, which was shot on the same silverton line trackage as denver and rio grande. The plot is the old one about the two competing railroads trying to outdo the other by nook or by crook. The denver and rio grande western railway company entered utah by second choice. Athearns intimate knowledge of the west has enabled him to write a gripping account of the famous narrowgauge denver and rio grande robert g. Today, interstate 70 crosses the tracks just around the first corner.
Although the moffat tunnel opened in 1928, denversalt lake city trains could not use it until the dotsero cutoff was. The robert runyon photograph collection of the south texas border area numbers over 8,000 images of the lower rio grande valley during the early 1900s. Rio grande scenic railroad offers a unique concert experience accessible only by train. Other predecessor roads particularly the rgw are less well represented. The location picked for the headon crash was 23 miles north of durango, co at a place the crews soon dubbed scrap iron junction. Victims of school bustrain crash remembered 75 years later. Rio metro is closely monitoring the coronavirus covid19 situation.
Denver and rio grande features a spectacular headon collision between two denver and rio grande western locomotives that were slated for retirement and scrapping, filmed july 17, 1951. Reportedly, two actual trains were used in the sequence. The film is a dramatization of the building of the denver and rio grande railroad, which was chartered in 1870. Brown and the growth and development of the rio grande valley. The railroad started as a narrow gauge line running south from denver, colorado in 1870. This area is well known for its scenic vistas, historic towns and mines, fishing, hunting and just a wonderful getawayfromitall place. Denver and rio grande railway memorabilia value guide. Denver and rio grande 1952 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Outline map of colorado and new mexico showing major relief by hachures, major drainage, cities and towns, and county boundaries.
See grammyawardwinning artists and top western folk artists perform at 9,400 feet at a green concert venue built by and for the railroad. Fantastic train crash scene, from denver and rio grande 1952, starring edmond obrien, sterling. Jul 01, 2019 in 1951, two steam locomotives were wrecked in colorado in front of the cameras for the movie denver and rio grande, a westernthemed film about the construction of the railroad of the same name. There are a few oddball units missing, and ill be adding those in the near future. Denver and rio grande railroad great rail journeys.
This is an unofficial fan page of the fallen flag, outofbusiness denver and rio grande western railroad. Narrow gauge railroad through black canyon curecanti. Stationed at the railroad offices in salida, bob was in a unique position to get first word of any accidents on the line. It served mainly as a transcontinental bridge line between denver, and salt. With edmond obrien, sterling hayden, dean jagger, kasey rogers. Value of railroad antiques from denver and rio grande. The last train to operate into durango from the east was on december 6, 1968. Just named by usa today as a top 10 outdoor concert venue in the country. You can find more information about the movie itself in its entry in imdb. Papb set of drgw 6001 and 6002, as well as a five car train, shows. Durango and silverton narrow gauge railroad wikipedia. This movie is loaded with colorful railroad action culminating in a spectacular headon collision of two trains.
Built to lower the operating costs of the railroad, they kept the rgs going for an additional 20 years. With some elements taken from films like union pacific and saratoga trunk, denver and the rio grande is entertaining, but not consistently. In 1896, goulds empire was handed over to his son, george, who continued his fathers transcontinental ambitions. Includes photographs of the mexican revolution, the u. The big boy is a 4884 singleexpansion articulated type steam locomotive manufactured by the american locomotive company in schenectady, new york for the union pacific railroad between 19411944. One boiler exploded, so its fortunate the crash was filmed with telephoto lenses. Denver and rio grande railroad trek across the dramatic peaks and deep ravines of the rocky mountains to grand junction, in the heart of the colorado wine region.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Teen killed after getting run over by train following rollover crash in puebloan 18yearold man was killed when he was run over by a train after being ejected from an suv in a rollover crash in. A true story of a san antonio railroad tragedy the sisters. A freight train hit a semi truck early wednesday morning in weld county and nearly 20 train cars derailed from the tracks. This beautiful location is along the animas river in colorado on the line to silverton. At its peak mileage in 1917, the rio grande was operating nearly 6,000 miles of track. An epic video of two trains captured on tennessee pass in may of 1992. Jun, 2012 the galloping geese were car train hybrids that ran on the rio grande southern railroad rgs in southwestern colorado between 1931 to 1952. The line was being built by william jackson palmer to connect denver to the resort community he had just founded, colorado springs. Denver and rio grande is a technicolor western film, directed by byron haskin and released. Two passenger trains on the denver arid rio grande railroad met in a headon collision near florence, colorado, shortly after 2 o clock yesterday morning, and in the disaster thirtyfive persons were killed and twentythree injured. Model trains used as visual effects in movies model. Historic railroad sets stage for lone ranger movie. Athearns intimate knowledge of the west has enabled him to write a gripping account of the famous narrowgauge denver and rio grande as it inched its way south, then turned west into the rockies.
Its only fair that theyre acknowledged for their valuable efforts. Rio metro has suspended three bus routes and pace abq bike share. For 40 years, crashing trains was one of americas favorite. Later in the year, a second accident resulted in ten injuries, with two of them. Rand mcnally and company denver and rio grande railway company date. Denver and rio grande is a technicolor western film, directed by byron haskin and released by paramount pictures in 1952. They traveled the narrow gauge rails carrying freight, mail and passengers from durango to ridgway with a spur to telluride.
The location picked for the headon crash was 23 miles north of durango, co at a. One terrific railroad film that didnt use scale models for the wreck scenes was the train. Most of the wreck information i have is from the public records of the interstate commerce commission reports, as posted by the department of transportation here. This article needs additional citations for verification. Obviously, not all derailments warranted investigation, and i dont think the usdot has all of the old icc reports on line, but these are the ones that are available. Roaring emds on tennessee pass, colorado 1992 youtube. Map of colorado and part of new mexico showing relief by hachures and shading, drainage, cities and towns, counties, stage roads, and railroads with the main line emphasized. The picture begins with a wonderful look at 1950s era operations on the denver and rio grande western railroad. Jan 23, 2017 rio grande railroad workers show us the right and wrong way to work near trains. Construction of the fifteen miles of denver and rio grande narrow gauge railroad through the black canyon of the gunnison, from sapinero to cimarron continued throughout the winter of 188182. The lead unit is none other than f unit 5771 which is thankfully preserved at the colorado railroad museum in nearby golden.
What makes this film somewhat unique is the headon collision of two trains engineered. It began with a narrowgauge line extending from denver, colorado, south to new mexico and west to salt lake city, utah. Map of the denver and rio grande railway and connections. At one point it reaches the location where the denver and rio grande movie is being made. Palmer, a union veteran of the civil war, the rio grande started building a narrow gauge line south from denver in 1871 toward mexico. Denver and rio grande western railroad videos facebook. The climax involves a headon crash between two actual trains, a fact that earned the film plenty of press coverage back in 1951. After the civil war railroads exploded in the us with hundreds of lines starting service all over the country. The ski train served the winter park, colorado ski resort area west of denver, colorado.
Dec 02, 20 the collision killed 23 students and the bus driver. The film is beautifully shot in technicolor, with an excellent cast, solid plot and action, and great production values. Denver and rio grande 1952 denver and rio grande 1952. Grande, and the colorado mountains it ran through, you will love this movie. The denver and rio grande western classic streamliners. That was especially true in 1986 when this show was originally filmed. Newspaper images of the accident show mangled metal twisted beyond recognition around the front of the freight train, which was operated by the denver and rio grande railroad.
Denver and rio grande features a spectacular headon collision between two. It ain t a typical ordinary day at denver union station as the final run of the rio grande zephyr heads for the moffat tunnel route on april 23, 1983. The denver and rio grande railway started operations in 1870 and stopped service in 1886 for a total period of operations of 16 years. Part of the plot is where the baddies convince edmond obrien he killed don haggerty. The galloping geese of the rio grande southern railroad. Denver and rio grande railroad battle with the canyon city and san juan line. Drama, comedy, and adventure are the themes of movies filmed in the durango area. At that time, the railroad was still an independent entity and most of its trains were pulled by pure sets of rio grande power, many with cabooses. Today, interstate 70 crosses the tracks just around the first corner, but was not built until 30 years after the movie was made. It has extensive coverage of the actors at work and especially the day for night cinematography being used for some of the movie s night scenes. Two memorable hollywood productions with filming in durango include national lampoons vacation 1983 with chevy chase and city slickers 1991 with billy crystal. It also shows the preparation work for the filming of the train collision right up to the collision itself.
These cars derrick cranes and various cable, block or tool cars, etc were assembled into wreck trains, ready to be sent out to clear the tracks and recover derailed equipment. Directions to the rio grande scenic railroad alamosa and the san luis valley are located in southcentral colorado, about 200 miles south of denver, 220 miles north of albuquerque, and 90 miles west of pueblo. Denver and rio grande western railroad home facebook. A similarly scaled model of a denver and rio grande k27 was wrecked for a scene in a very funny 1970s western called the good guys and the bad guys. Such accidents might have a specific adverse effect on transportation safety in the united states.
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