Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad by Robert Athearn 1977 Soft cover

Description: RailroadTreasures offers the following item: Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad by Robert Athearn 1977 Soft cover Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad by Robert Athearn The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Rebel of the Rockies Robert Athearn Soft Cover 395 Pages Copyright 1977 Bison Book Contents Prefacevii List of Illustrationsxiii List of Mapsxv 1. The Road to Little London 2. I Communicate with Everybody I Ever Knew28 3. A Noisy but Bloodless War49 4. The Enemy Watch Our Every Movement70 5. In Search of Undiscovered Realms92 6. Our Army of Reliefof Rescue113 7. God Almighty and Frederick Lovejoy132 8. You Cannot Afford Not to Build154 9. The Sick Man of Wall Street189 10. We Will Attempt Nothing Radical216 . After Murder Singing Generally Follows239 12. We Built the Tunnel!257 13. Disaster Confronts the Rio Grande274 14. On the River of Doubt300 15. The New Rio Grande328 Bibliography363 Index373 Back Cover, Nowhere better than in the history of its railroads is the growth of the Old West revealed, and for Colorado the development of the Denver and Rio Grande Western epitomizes the changes that took place between 1870 and the present. Mr. Athearn's intimate knowledge of the West has enabled him to write a gripping account of the famous narrow-gauge Denver and Rio Grande as it inched its way south, then turned west into the Rockies. By 1883 it had joined with the Rio Grande Western to become Colorado's only line across the mountains. The Dotsero Cutoff and the six-mile Moffat Tunnel put Denver on a transcontinental line for the first time. Twelve specially drawn maps and fifty-five illustrations help to tell the story. Preface MUCH HAS BEEN PUBLISHED about the nation's railroads and the men who ran them. In recent years the attention of writers often has turned to some of the smaller and more colorful roads now out of existence. There is a mounting interest in the "age of steam," an era remembered by many older people but one that is history to some of the younger folk. The story of railroading in the Colorado Rockies has been the subject of several recently published books, yet none has been about the Denver and Rio Grande, a railroad that provided all the glamour and excitement of the Frontier, and today is one of the most modern and up-to-date lines in the nation. It was the desire of the late Wilson McCarthy, president of the Denver and Rio Grande Western, that the story of his company be told, and with that in mind one of his representatives came to the University of Colorado history department to find a person who would undertake the work. I agreed to complete such a study provided no control of any kind would be exercised and that all interpretations and conclusions would be mine alone. During the period of research and writing, the company provided me with subsistence and ordinary expenses, much in the manner that foundations offer grants to those engaged in similar projects. It provided every possible assistance in the search for materials. Most of the original sources required for such a book as this are housed in the State Archives and Public Records of Colorado and are available to the general public. Documents still in the possession of the company were placed at my disposal without hesitation, and no door was closed. G. B. Aydclott, president of the Railroad, was exceedingly frank on this point: "If you find any skeletons in our closet, drag 'em out." Carlton T. Sills, director of publicity and the man with whom I worked most closely, took a similar point of view. "Tell the truth," he urged. "We can stand it." It is a pleasure to be able to record that none of the company officers whom I came to know ever showed the slightest desire to color the story. They were interested in providing factual information and correcting obvious errors, but at no time did anyone try to do more. The viewpoints, the organization of the book, and the selection of a publisher were matters left entirely in my hands. It wouldn't do any good to try to 'sell' you on the railroad," one of the officials told me with a grin. "College professors are such damned contrary critters you'd probably take the other side if we did." So the book took shape as the professor roamed the railroad property at will, from the offices of the chairman of the board and the president, down to the friendly cabs of the locomotive engineers with whom I rode. The only question ever asked was: "What can we do for you?" I owe my thanks also to the University of Colorado not only for its generosity in relieving me of my teaching duties so that I might go railroading each summer but also to its Council on Research and Creative Work for a leave of absence that provided time for writing. Jerome DeSanto, Billie Barnes Jensen, Jane Furey, and Duane Smith helped in the arduous search through newspaper files, as did my colleagues Howard Lee Scamehorn and William Pctrowski, who were at work on related topics. Virginia Grieder kept her typewriter going to turn out copy as fast as it came to hand, as did Robert Clendenen, who also made valuable editorial suggestions. Marcus "Mike" Bosco and Mrs. Perry Malaby, both of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, were patient about giving interviews. Mrs. Malaby, who as a young bride had come over Independence Pass to Aspen in a stagecoach, watched the first D&RG train enter Glenwood Springs in 1887. Maurice Leckenby, of Steamboat Springs, offered both the files of his newspaper, the Pilot, and his personal knowledge of the railroad that serves his community. Richard Overton, author of several notable railroad histories, and the late Ralph Budd, former president of the Burlington Railroad, answered a number of questions and helped to make clear several complicated problems pertaining to Rio Grande history. S. J. Norris, consulting engineer, now living at Oroville, California, provided fresh information about the origins of the Western Pacific Railroad and its relations with the Rio Grande, as did Gilbert H. Kneiss of the Western Pacific. Of course, it is to the librarians and archivists, that rare breed of people, that I owe much more than thanks. A. Russell Mortensen, formerly director of the Historical Society of Utah, and A. William Lund, assistant church historian, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Library, Salt Lake City, were extremely friendly toward the project. So were Dolores Renze, State Archivist of Colorado; Alys Freeze, Denver Public Library; and Lucile Fry, University of Colorado Western History Collections librarian. Gertrude Hill of the Museum of New Mexico Library made available the William Blackmore papers and other pertinent documents. I wish to thank also those kind people at the British Museum who offered both a warm welcome and a helping hand in the search for materials relating to British interests in the Rio Grande. Also in Britain, Professor Charles Mowat of the University College of North Wales was helpful in locating material relating to the Festiniog Railway of Wales. In the search for pictures I enlisted the help of Laura A. Ekstrom, State Historical Society Library, Denver; Gil W. Bauer, Colorado State Archives and Public Records; and Margaret Shepherd, Curator of Photographs, Utah State Historical Society. Jackson C. Thole, Rio Grande railroader, found a number of excellent items in the railroad's archives. Map-maker Clarence 0. Froid of the Rio Grande engineering staff spent an untold number of hours laboring over maps that would help tell the Colorado railroad story. William G. Prescott, secretary to the company, explained a number of points not made entirely clear by the documentary evidence at hand. Finally, my sincere thanks go to artists Dale R. Roylance and Howard I.. Fogg, Jr., for their close cooperation in providing chapter illustrations and a dust jacket for the book. Several of the earlier chapters were published as articles in the Colorado Magazine, the Utah Historical Quarterly, and the University of Colorado Studies in History. All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. 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Price: 15 USD

Location: Talbott, Tennessee

End Time: 2024-12-26T17:43:07.000Z

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