Nostalgia & History > RGZ: Happy New Year 1977 @ Rifle, CO

Westbound Rio Grande Zephyr @ Rifle, CO on Jan. 1, 1977 by Bruce Black. Here's the timetable from Feb. 1977

---

---

Operating crews on the old Rio Grande Zephyr show in the shot above were based out of Denver and worked between Denver and Grand Junction (conductors and brakemen only) and both Grand Junction and Denver passenger enginemen worked to Bond and return.

I believe there is a similar photo in Never on Wednesday or Zephyrs thru the Rockes, where the Dome-lounge is subbing for the Dome-obs, which was being shopped.

I rode the eastbound Amtrak Zephyr on this route in the early 90s when Rifle was not longer a stop. The crew found a lady of the evening plying her trade in mid-morning (another story) aboard the train, and conductor first planned just to put her off at the next stop in Denver. They took her up to the crew compartment in the transition car, and while there she was really profane and NASTY to the entire crew....told them they were all jerks working for chump change. With that, the conductor quietly called ahead and arranged for an unscheduled stop to let her off at Rifle, where the police met the train and walked her in tight slit skirt, heels and handcuffs past the coaches and down the ballast to their squad car and then to the local jail. Quite a show; she walked with difficultly and almost fell a couple of times.

As the train pulled out, the conductor quietly commented that since there was no scheduled bus service or other transportation into Rifle, so that after spending the night in jail she'd have to find her own way to Denver.
I learned a lot about the wide discretionary authority of a conductor that day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/13 13:17 by hazegray.

Sometimes better to just shut up....Got out of a couple speeding tickets that way.

silence is golden...

lotta power for a short RGZ

As I read this thread I'm watching an episode of the great Comedy Central production "Reno 911!." I can see the eastbound CZ stopping in Reno and
putting this "lady of the night" in the custody of Lt. Jim Dangle or Officer James Garcia. Wish I were a screen writer.

Posted from BlackBerry

And interesting they're running with just two domes, but a flat top coach.

in the 2 dome coaches, at this point every passenger could have a dome seat, after G Jct crew may out number the pax