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RIO GRANDE
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN RAILROAD |
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Denver, Colorado, January 1, 1927
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No. 1
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THE NEW DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN |
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The year 1926 marks an epoch in the history of the fifty-five years' existence of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. Gigantic strides were made during that year in the upbuilding and reconditioning of its physical properties. |
Red Hill tunnel, near Salida, and the three tunnels in the Canon of the Colorado just east of Glenwood Springs were enlarged, permitting the handling of standard equipment of any size. The work of reducing curvature and grades on the main line was carried on during the year at a cost of over $1,000,000.
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The aim of the management was to build up the main line of the railroad, placing it on an equality with the best of transcontinental roads. To that end, its 1926 activities were largely devoted to the 782 miles of track between Denver and Salt Lake City and Ogden. However, the branch lines and the narrow gauge districts were not neglected, all parts of the system having been included in the 1926 improvement program. Some of the major improvements were as follows: Up to the end of the year there were 183 miles of track in Colorado ballasted with slag and 194 miles in Utah ballasted with gravel, making a total of 377 miles on the main line. One hundred and ten miles of new 90-lb. rail, made by Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, Pueblo, replaced lighter weight rails in Colorado and Utah. The cost of this improvement exceeded a million dollars. Five hundred thousand dollars was spent on bridges and new openings to improve drainage. |
The elimination of important grade crossings was featured. Ten new three-cylinder passenger locomotives, the most powerful in the world, were purchased at an expense of $800,000. Two hundred automobile cars and five hundred gondolas, costing $1,600,000, were added to the freight equipment. Four new all-steel lounge observation cars were provided. Fifty-five hundred freight cars (automobile, stock, box, gondola and flat) were re-built during the year at a cost of $2,700,000. The Kenilworth coal branch, in Utah, Kenilworth Junction to Kenilworth, six miles, was relocated and rebuilt at a cost of $500,000. Additional yard tracks and sidings were built at a cost of $500,000. These and other improvements, such as widening of banks, new fuel stations, shop improvements and new machinery brought the grand total for the year up to over $9,000,000. |