Steam & Excursion > C&TSRR = Friends = Gramps Car

Thanks to the Friends Of The Cumbres Toltec a Gramp's Tanker car returns home.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff

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Was it at a farm nearby? I noticed lots of old rail cars on farms in that area when I visited.

dbesade Wrote:
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> Was it at a farm nearby? I noticed lots of old
> rail cars on farms in that area when I visited.


Yes it was South and East of Antonito. Now it is at the Friends facility in Antonito.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff

Any guess how many tanks were in the Gramps fleet?

Was it a refiner, somewhere?

W.

Posted from iPhone

wcamp1472 Wrote:
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> Any guess how many tanks were in the Gramps
> fleet?
>
> Was it a refiner, somewhere?
>
> W.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Sorry, I really don't know the history of them.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff

Wacky-roger1942 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wcamp1472 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Any guess how many tanks were in the Gramps
> > fleet?
> >
> > Was it a refiner, somewhere?
> >
> > W.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> Sorry, I really don't know the history of them.

Any trucks with the car or just the tank itself?

dbesade Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wacky-roger1942 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > wcamp1472 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Any guess how many tanks were in the Gramps
> > > fleet?
> > >
> > > Was it a refiner, somewhere?
> > >
> > > W.
> > >
> > > Posted from iPhone
> >
> > Sorry, I really don't know the history of them.
>
> Any trucks with the car or just the tank itself?


No trucks.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any guess how many tanks were in the Gramps
> fleet?
>
> Was it a refiner, somewhere?
>
> W.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Refinery was located in Alamosa, CO. The Friends group is in the process of restoring 10 tank cars. 7 UTLX cars and 3 Gramps cars. Plan is to operate a 10 car tank train this fall if all goes well with final few cars. They need the correct trucks for the one they just received. A donation to the Friends Group goes a long towards purchasing materials for the projects there working on.

Narrow Gauge pictorial, volume IV lists out of 25 UTLX tank cars, 15 cars were painted Gramps. There may have been others! Most were built in 1908, 1911 and 1912 so information might be a little spotty.



Valleyman



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 13:25 by Valleyman.

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Like the progress being made on the C&TS Gramps tank cars! Thanks for the update.

?!
 I had always thought the GRAMPS lettering was in silver.. 
Maybe when they were renumbered into the 880000 series?
SR

Valleyman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wcamp1472 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Any guess how many tanks were in the Gramps
> > fleet?
> >
> > Was it a refiner, somewhere?
> >
> > W.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> Refinery was located in Alamosa, CO. The Friends
> group is in the process of restoring 10 tank cars.
> 7 UTLX cars and 3 Gramps cars. Plan is to operate
> a 10 car tank train this fall if all goes well
> with final few cars. They need the correct trucks
> for the one they just received. A donation to the
> Friends Group goes a long towards purchasing
> materials for the projects there working on.
>
> Narrow Gauge pictorial, volume IV lists out of 25
> UTLX tank cars, 15 cars were painted Gramps. There
> may have been others! Most were built in 1908,
> 1911 and 1912 so information might be a little
> spotty. Item received quick and in perfect
> condition.
>
>
>
> Valleyman

Thanks for the information.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff

BoilingMan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ?!
>  I had always thought the GRAMPS lettering was in
> silver.. 
> Maybe when they were renumbered into the 880000
> series?
> SR


I have been told they were white.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff

Another great job Roger! That's really good news about the tank car. I belong to and support "Friends" with my checkbook but cannot join the work details due to geography. I sure do appreciate their efforts. They really seem to get stuff done.

Thanks for posting!
Roark

Gramps Oil
Around 1935, oil was discovered approximately 13 miles NNW of Chama, NM, due east of Chromo, at what would become known as the "Gramps Oil Field". The field was owned by Lafayette "Gramps" Hughes. His company moved oil from these wells by pipeline across the Continental Divide to holding tanks and a narrow gauge loading dock at Chama. The system was largely a siphon, with no en-route pumping stations. There are reports that the pipe actually travelled in a wooden box for large sections, insulated with sawdust, to keep the oil warm and fluid enough to make the trip.
At Chama, the oil was loaded into narrow gauge UTLX tank cars for the trip to the Oriental Refinery (sometimes called the Gramps Refinery) in Alamosa, CO. The cars were then sent back light to Chama. When the field was at peak production (1100-1300 bbl/day), this would amount to a fully-loaded 11-car oil train to Cumbres Pass daily.
The operation continued until late 1964. At some point in 1964, the refinery apparently suffered a fire, and repairs/replacement on such a small facility was considered uneconomical. The refinery closed down during September of 1964, and the oil traffic over Cumbres Pass ceased.1 The loss of traffic was a significant blow to all-season operations on the narrow gauge, as the winter of 1964 was the first time the line was shut down.
Oil from the field from 1964 until production ended in the 1980s-1990s was sent by truck to Farmington, NM instead.

Oriental Refinery Notes
The Oriental Refinery in Alamosa operated from ??? until September of 1964.1
As a side note, the refinery used the boilers of two ex-D&SL 2-6-6-0s to provide steam.2

Gramps Oil Tank Cars
Gramps Oil never actually owned any of the tank cars carrying their oil over the narrow gauge. Gramps leased a number of the cars of Union Tank Car (UTLX). Numerous reports claim that Lafayette Hughes had them painted "Gramps" so that his grandchildren would know which cars belonged to their grandfather (aka the namesake "Gramps" in Gramps Oil).

I'm sure most may know this history but for those that don't I found this on DRGW.net and pasted it here.

pilotblue Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another great job Roger! That's really good news
> about the tank car. I belong to and support
> "Friends" with my checkbook but cannot join the
> work details due to geography. I sure do
> appreciate their efforts. They really seem to get
> stuff done.
>
> Thanks for posting!
> Roark

Thanks for your nice post.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff

UPRR3985 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gramps Oil
> Around 1935, oil was discovered approximately 13
> miles NNW of Chama, NM, due east of Chromo, at
> what would become known as the "Gramps Oil Field".
> The field was owned by Lafayette "Gramps" Hughes.
> His company moved oil from these wells by pipeline
> across the Continental Divide to holding tanks and
> a narrow gauge loading dock at Chama. The system
> was largely a siphon, with no en-route pumping
> stations. There are reports that the pipe actually
> travelled in a wooden box for large sections,
> insulated with sawdust, to keep the oil warm and
> fluid enough to make the trip.
> At Chama, the oil was loaded into narrow gauge
> UTLX tank cars for the trip to the Oriental
> Refinery (sometimes called the Gramps Refinery) in
> Alamosa, CO. The cars were then sent back light to
> Chama. When the field was at peak production
> (1100-1300 bbl/day), this would amount to a
> fully-loaded 11-car oil train to Cumbres Pass
> daily.
> The operation continued until late 1964. At some
> point in 1964, the refinery apparently suffered a
> fire, and repairs/replacement on such a small
> facility was considered uneconomical. The refinery
> closed down during September of 1964, and the oil
> traffic over Cumbres Pass ceased.1 The loss of
> traffic was a significant blow to all-season
> operations on the narrow gauge, as the winter of
> 1964 was the first time the line was shut down.
> Oil from the field from 1964 until production
> ended in the 1980s-1990s was sent by truck to
> Farmington, NM instead.
>
> Oriental Refinery Notes
> The Oriental Refinery in Alamosa operated from ???
> until September of 1964.1
> As a side note, the refinery used the boilers of
> two ex-D&SL 2-6-6-0s to provide steam.2
>
> Gramps Oil Tank Cars
> Gramps Oil never actually owned any of the tank
> cars carrying their oil over the narrow gauge.
> Gramps leased a number of the cars of Union Tank
> Car (UTLX). Numerous reports claim that Lafayette
> Hughes had them painted "Gramps" so that his
> grandchildren would know which cars belonged to
> their grandfather (aka the namesake "Gramps" in
> Gramps Oil).
>
> I'm sure most may know this history but for
> those that don't I found this on DRGW.net and
> pasted it here.

Thanks a BIG bunch for the information.

Roger Hogan
Chama, NM
Train Stuff