Background:

The Prospector (trains 7 & 8) had four distinct iterations.

The first Prospector was an innovative pair of two-car self-propelled train sets produced by Budd. Initiating service on November 17, 1941, the trains were scheduled to make the trip between Denver and Salt Lake City over the Moffat route in 13 hours. They were so successful that they quickly became unsuccessful. The inability to expand the consist was one major problem as the demand far exceeded supply. The trains were rather unreliable as well. They were simply not robust enough for the service. By July 5, 1942, the trains had been removed from the time tables. While a failure in many ways, the trains did provide invaluable experience in diesels, streamlined equipment and Budd products, as well as insight into the ability of innovations to attract traffic.

The second Prospector was a result of renaming the Advanced Exposition Flyer to The Prospector and equipping the train with standard (heavyweight) cars. The Advanced Exposition Flyer was inaugurated in January, 1944. It became the coach and tourist car portion of the Exposition Flyer (which became "all Pullman"). In October, 1945, the train was renamed The Prospector and rescheduled to an overnight train, similar to the schedule run by the first Prospectors.

The third Prospector was a refurbishing and repainting of many of the cars involved in the Exposition Flyer. With these cars no longer needed for the Exposition Flyer (as a result of the new California Zephyr cars [domes and 10-6s] being used on the Exposition Flyer before the start-up of the CZ), many of the cars were refurbished and repainted into a glossy black exterior with four "Grande Gold" stripes arrayed along the full length of the car below the windows. The Pullmans that were assigned to the service also were painted in the scheme, making this (in theory) the first train that carried one color scheme from front (the locomotives) to rear. This version started May 30, 1948.

The fourth Prospector was a completely new train, with brand new streamlined equipment. This version entered service in May, 1950. The cars were all purchased directly from Pullman, and they had been ordered by the C&O as part of a massive order to re-equip their trains. When the C&O reconsidered their purchase, other buyers were found for the cars at drastically reduced costs. Never a railroad to let a good deal pass by, the D&RGW purchased 25 cars, enough to re-equip the Prospector completely, while adding new cars to the Royal Gorge and allowing for some contingency cars. These cars took their paint scheme from the narrow gauge equipment that had been displayed at the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1949. The scheme was Grande Gold above the windows, aluminum below the belt rail with 4 black stripes separating the colors. A new operational aspect presented itself as a result of the coal miners' strike in 1950, as the Royal Gorge equipment was combined with the Prospector between Grand Junction and Salt Lake City. The arrangement worked well enough that it continued for the service lives of the two trains. The Prospector was discontinued in the Spring of 1967.

Images of The Prospector:

• Train #7, The Prospector, stopped for minor repairs; 2 cars. Photographed: West of Arvada, Colo., May 24, 1942.
  Date 1942.
  
• Train #7, The Prospector, rear view; 2 cars. Photographed: near Arvada, Colo., May 24, 1942. Date 1942.
  
• Train #7, The Prospector, stopped for repairs; 2 cars. Photographed: West of Arvada, Colo., May 24, 1942. Date 1942.
  
• Train #8, The Prospector; 6 cars. Photographed: near Denver, Colo., October 28, 1945. Date 1945.
  
• Train #8, The Prospector; 6 cars. Photographed: near Arvada, Colo., April 5, 1948. Date 1948.
  
• Train #8, The Prospector; tunnel 29. Photographed: near Pinecliff, Colo., August 15, 1948. Date 1948.
  
• Train #8, The Prospector. Photographed: near Plainview, Colo., August 22, 1948. Date 1948.
  
• Train #7, The Prospector; 10 cars. Photographed: near East Portal, Colo., 1958. Date 1958.
  
• Train #8, The Prospector; 8 cars. Photographed: near Leyden Junction, Colo., ca. 1960. Date [1960]
• Train #8, The Prospector; 5 cars. Photographed: near Leyden Junction, Colo., ca. 1960. Date [1960]
  
• Train #8, The Prospector; 10 cars, two "piggyback" cars at rear. Photographed: Plain, Colo., 1963. Date 1963.
  

Equipment Notes:

As with any passenger train, modeling the Prospector must be determined by the year and season that you plan on modeling. In terms of Rio Grande passenger trains, this is perhaps truer for the Prospector than any train.

Note that the following conditions are factors in determining equipment:

• Year - obvious as to which version of the train, but with the 4th variation, the equipment began getting the single stripe scheme around 1961. Around 1963, some cars had their skirts removed for ease of maintenance.
• Location - East of Grand Junction, it would be a smaller train, West of Grand Junction, it was combined with the Royal Gorge (see above).
• Era - after 1962, the decline in passenger loads hit the train, and there wouldn't be a need to reserve two sleepers and 2 of the 52-seat coaches for the Prospector. After this period, some of the P-S built sleepers could also appear on the Royal Gorge, and coaches on the Yampa Valley.

JOHN EVANS - DAVID MOFFAT

HEBER C. KIMBALL - BRIGHAM YOUNG

2 car self powered trainsets

Budd built trainsets, scrapped 1945

CASTLE PEAK

PIKES PEAK

SOPRIS PEAK

TWIN PEAK

MT. ANTERO

JAMES PEAK

MT. HARVARD

MT. MASSIVE

MT. YALE

MT. PRINCETON

MT. TIMPANOGOS

SPANISH FORK CANON

GRANITE CANON

Rebuilt from 1910 coaches

GLENWOOD CANON

RUBY CANON

OGDEN CANON

EAGLE CANON

ROYAL GORGE

Rebuilt from 1910 buffet-library cars - GLENWOOD CANON further modernized

CASTLE PEAK

PIKES PEAK

SOPRIS PEAK

TWIN PEAK

MT. ANTERO

JAMES PEAK

MT. HARVARD

MT. MASSIVE

MT. YALE

MT. PRINCETON

MT. TIMPANOGOS

SPANISH FORK CANON

GRANITE CANON

70' Steel Observation-Lounge

Rebuilt from 1910 coaches

GLENWOOD CANON

RUBY CANON

OGDEN CANON

EAGLE CANON

ROYAL GORGE

Rebuilt from 1910 buffet-library cars - GLENWOOD CANON further modernized

Palace Car (brass), NKP Car, Union Station Products

1280 MT. TIMPANOGOS

1281 JAMES PEAK

1290 CASTLE GATE

1291 ROYAL GORGE

1270 - JOHN EVANS

1271 - DAVID MOFFAT

1272 - BRIGHAM YOUNG

1273 - HEBER C. KIMBALL

Palace Car (brass), NKP Car, Union Station Products

Note: This page is still under construction and will likely be continually updated as models and more information come forward.