Western Railroad Discussion > D&RG 5654 Stock Car - Denver Stock Show

Denver & Rio Grande 5464 stock car at the National Western Complex, Denver, CO, 19 January 2020.  Due to the Denver Stockyards redevelopment stock car was moved to the far north end of the Denver Stockyards.  The need for more cattle pens found cattle getting close to the stored stock car for the first time in many years.

Background history; Denver & Rio Grande 5654 was restored by Jason Midyette for the Great Western Stock Show 100th anniversary celebration. There was a lot of work to be done to get it ready:Over a few hectic weeks in November 2005, 5654 received new doors and had the missing parts of its body replaced.

A set of 1904 as-built plans reproduced in Victor Stone’s book “Taking Stock” were used to build the new doors and determine the placement of the side boards on the car. A set of couplers and a fresh coat of boxcar red paint completed the car’s transformation into “D&RG 5654”.

On December 2, 2005 the car was moved to its new home in Denver. 5654 was placed on a section of track in the original stockyards, across from the Stock Exchange Building and alongside the BNSF mainline. One of the rails was pulled up and moved in to convert the original standard gauge track to three foot gauge to accommodate the narrow gauge car. Lettering was applied to 5654 by the Stock Show’s sign painter and the car was ready for the 100th Annual National Western Stock Show in January of 2006.  D&RGW 5654 was moved into position for unloading as Stock Show workers finish up its track December 2, 2005.

5654 remained on display in the stockyards for the next several years and faired pretty well. Around 2013, the car and its track were uprooted and moved about a block to the west and placed on display in a dirt parking lot. The car’s new location is much more visible and has not been kind to it. The local scrap scum have been systematically removing any metal part that will come off of the car (including the brake cylinder/reservoir), causing no small amount of structural damage in the process.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/20 04:33 by cozephyr.

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When working on DRGW narrow gauge cars as a Friend of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Ry, the difference between the box and stock cars was remarkable.  The metal roofs of the box cars have preserved almost all of the wood siding and structure of those cars.  By comparison the plain wood plank roofs of the stock cars are quite leaky and their wood components are more decayed.  I guess the business case can be made for metal roofs if the freight being hauled cannot tolerate water whereas everyone knows cows and sheep tolerate rain all their lives.

Thanks cozephyr for sharing the image and background on D&RG#5654 ...
The Denver stock show area is certainly changin' dramatically.  Good job
documenting the numerous changes over this past couple of months!

Odyssey
Evergreen, CO

dtoeppen Wrote:
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> Heartbreaking story. Let's get that car inside.

with the change of the stock show, the whole neighborhood is going to change into more of amusement park entertainment venue, so there  will be improvement