Nostalgia & History > WAG Wednesday: Rio Grande varnish ala 1960!

55 years ago this summer Bill Gibson shot a Kodachrome slide that can be admired from multiple railfanning angles. And oh my, what a photograph! Rio Grande fans are in. Passenger train fans are in. Fans of 1st generation diesels are in. And if you’re one of those fans (pick me!) who enjoy a passenger train that has that classy, uniform look from front to back… well just take a look:

1. D&RGW 5481 leads train #8 at Salt Lake City, UT on August 29, 1960. Bill recorded the engine consist: 5481, 5483, 5532 & 5731.
Photo by William A. [Bill] Gibson Sr. (this is a re-post with a much better scan!)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/22 20:53 by santafe199.

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Looks like a UP car second or third from the rear, did Bill get a going away shot?

mopacrr Wrote: > did Bill get a going away shot?

If he did, it's not in his original Kodak box...

I hadn't realized that Rio Grande FT's had couplers on both ends.

Great Photo and SCAN!

Thanks

Bob Jordan

Holy. Smokes.

What a fabulous shot and scan! Thanks for sharing!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

mopacrr Wrote:
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> Looks like a UP car second or third from the rear,
> did Bill get a going away shot?


Looks like a tour or other extra group is in the consist. There seems to be other offline cars in the consist at the rear.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/15 08:53 by ATSF3751.

The paint schemes don't match, the body profiles don't match...it just ruins the whole train and photo. Probably ruined the trip for all the passengers too. (I jest, this is a not so subtle dig at all the people on the passenger train forum who are put out by Amtrak using different paint schemes and body profiles on their equipment.)
Cheers,
Nick

According to the roster (from DRGW.net below) it's an FT FTB F3B F7 combo. Did Rio Grande modify their FT's? How come the lead unit doesn't have the FT porthole arrangement like the B unit?

5401-5514 EMD FT 1950-1965
5521-5544 EMD F3 1950-1966
5551-5764 EMD F7 1950-1968
5753-5774 EMD F9 1955-1996

The lead unit is an F7, not an FT. I wonder if it was built as a wreck replacement for the original? The Utah Rails roster doesn't mention that.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/15 09:23 by CPR_4000.

According to the internet, 5481 was wrecked in 1950 and rebuilt by EMD as an F-7.
In the Gibson photo, it certainly does not look like an FT.

The_Chief_Way Wrote:
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> According to the internet, 5481 was wrecked in
> 1950 and rebuilt by EMD as an F-7.

Ah, so! That apparently makes it a real rarity . . . a drawbar-connected F7.

Many thanks for this nice photo.

But - is this really SLC? I was there in 1983 and in my head rumor many rows of platforms with platform roofs?

Erwin from Austria

Yes, this is an afternoon shot at the joint DRGW-WP station in Salt Lake City.

The_Chief_Way Wrote:
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> According to the internet, 5481 was wrecked in
> 1950 and rebuilt by EMD as an F-7.
> In the Gibson photo, it certainly does not look
> like an FT.

Thanks, that explains it. Rebuilt to an F7 but kept it's number in the FT sequence.

woo hoo! great stuff! thanks bunches!

Jamie Yeager
Santa Fe, NM

pandfecerwin Wrote:
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Many thanks for this nice photo.
But - is this really SLC? I was there in 1983 and in my head rumor many rows of platforms with platform roofs?
Erwin from Austria
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Erwin, You may be remembering Denver Union Station. Gerry

While it is Number 8 here, it is really 8/2. Between SLC & GJ the Prospector & the sole remaining portion of the Royal Gorge (at this point, the WP's Royal Gorge (which became. in a sense the Zephyrette) and the MP's RG were long gone) were combined - this an artifact of the coal strike that required some combining all across the country, not a few of which turned into a permanent thing (not unlike the two way traffic on the WP/SP and the Joint Line). The third car back is one of the combines - made more famous on the RGZ & Ski trains. Bargain cars the equal of anyone's (thanks R. Young for over reaching!). Once at GJ, the RG will take the LOOONG way around to Denver...

The cars in the rear could well be (at least one) Thift-T-Sleeper (variously used HW TOWER series, and NE 6-6-4s among others). A streamstyled car is back there, looking for all the world like GLENWOOD CANON.

One of 99.9999999999999% of photos where I wish people would NOT focus on the power.

rswebber Wrote:
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> While it is Number 8 here, it is really 8/2.
> Between SLC & GJ the Prospector & the sole
> remaining portion of the Royal Gorge (at this
> point, the WP's Royal Gorge (which became. in a
> sense the Zephyrette) and the MP's RG were long
> gone) were combined - this an artifact of the coal
> strike that required some combining all across the
> country, not a few of which turned into a
> permanent thing (not unlike the two way traffic on
> the WP/SP and the Joint Line). The third car back
> is one of the combines - made more famous on the
> RGZ & Ski trains. Bargain cars the equal of
> anyone's (thanks R. Young for over reaching!).
> Once at GJ, the RG will take the LOOONG way around
> to Denver...
>
> The cars in the rear could well be (at least one)
> Thift-T-Sleeper (variously used HW TOWER series,
> and NE 6-6-4s among others). A streamstyled car
> is back there, looking for all the world like
> GLENWOOD CANON.
>
> One of 99.9999999999999% of photos where I wish
> people would NOT focus on the power.

RS, I'm with you 100% on this one....but those who are more interested in the whole train....especially those of the passenger variety....are disappointed most of the time....because most photographers are only/mostly interested in the power, even those with movie cams. AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> I hadn't realized that Rio Grande FT's had
> couplers on both ends.


The Rio Grande FTs came in two groups and one had drawbars and the earlier group had couplers. I think the 540-547 had couplers and the 548-551 had drawbars.

Rob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/15 14:52 by SilvertonRR100.