Nostalgia & History > California Zephyr in Glenwood Canyon - 1967

Army service in Vietnam afforded me the opportunity to travel to Oakland, California from Chicago in a roomette on the California Zephyr.  As a young 20 year old, this was my first transcontinental train ride, which nicely eased the thoughts of whatever may lie in wait for the year ahead.  Anyway, here is a glimpse of Glenwood Canyon as God intended it to look, taken on Friday the 13th of January, 1967.

By good fortune, I returned home from Vietnam, also on the California Zephyr, a year later.

---

What car is that between the four F units? 

steam generator.

ExStarlightHog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What car is that between the four F units? 

An Alco PB with it PM and electrical gear removed.  In this scene it is serving only as steam generator.

tomstp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> steam generator.
I thought it might be something like that, but I thought the individual F's had their own.  I guess not on the D&RGW.  I know SP had one in every passenger unit. 

ExStarlightHog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tomstp Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------

> I thought it might be something like that, but I
> thought the individual F's had their own.  I
> guess not on the D&RGW.  I know SP had one in
> every passenger unit. 

Some of the Rio Grande F  A and B units did have boilers, but not all.

Old Rio Grande RR Grand Junction, CO based passwenger train and engine crews worked to and from Bond, CO.
 

A stunning photograph!

I am glad you made it back and could share this photo with all.  You know, if you look at the mountain in the background it looks like a face with a widow's peak hairline, two big eyes and a subtle grin looking down on the train.  Nice shot.

A stunning image.
Bob

Thanks for your service in Viet Nam

Wekcome Home!

There were a number of B units with steam generators in 1967, but for some reason the D&RGW removed the prime mover in 1965 and turned them into steam generators.

From UtahRails.net:Steam Generators

A total of 34 units were equipped with steam generators for passenger service, including:

FTBs 5482, 5483, 5492, 5493, 5502, 5503, 5512, 5513 (8 units)
F3Bs 5522, 5523, 5532, 5533, 5542, 5543 (six units)
F7Bs 5552, 5553, 5562, 5563, 5572, 5573 (six units)
F7As 5571 and 5574 (replaced by water tanks in early 1950s)
F7Bs 5582, 5583 (added in about 1953)
F9Bs 5762, 5763, 5772, 5773 (four units)
PAs 6001, 6003, 6011, 6013 (four units)
PBs 6002 and 6012

The two early F7 cab units, D&RGW 5571 and 5574, were the only D&RGW EMD cab units built with steam generators; they had small water tanks located directly beneath their steam generators. This feature allowed the unit to be used alone in passenger service (a single F unit on a passenger train), which was planned on D&RGW but apparently happened very seldom. Sufficient water supply for steam generators was a chronic problem on the long distances on many western railroads, so when each of these two units were wrecked in May 1952 (5574) and November 1953 (5571), the steam generators were replaced by water tanks that fed water to the steam generators in adjacent booster units. These later, larger water tanks are evident by their water fills located on the bottom of the car bodies, just to the rear of the units' rear side door.

Steam generators were removed from six FT cabless booster units 5492, 5493, 5502, 5503, 5512 and 5513 in mid 1953, and the units converted to freight service; of the six removed steam generators, two were installed in F7 cabless booster units 5582 and 5583, and two each were installed in steam generators cars 250 and 251 in May and June 1953. (The AFE for the conversion of the two steam generator cars states that the steam generators came from "549 & 550 series Diesel Road Locomotives.")

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/21 10:52 by SPDRGWfan.

Thanks for your service and a beautiful shot.

RC Lundgren
Elgin, TX

I am glad that you made it back home.  I lost a couple of very good friends over there.  I got a low lottery number in the draft but got lucky and got into an Army Reserve Unit in Jersey City, NJ.  I spent six years there from 1971 to 1977 and got to watch them build the Twin Towers from our vantage point across the river.

Ron

Awesome photo!!! Thanks for sharing it.