Alva Lyons papers: inventory of collection at SW Studies Center

Years this material was created: 1882-2005 (bulk years 1940-1969)

Quantity: 5.2 linear shelf feet (in 12.5 document cases)

This collection contains the historically significant papers of San Juan Basin narrow gauge railroad conductor Alva F. Lyons. It includes records pertaining to the Order of Railroad Conductors. At right is a photo of a well-dressed group in front of a Denver and Rio Grande Railroad passenger car, circa 1893-1895, possibly at the Durango depot (click on picture for a larger view).

Related historical materials in archival collections at the Delaney Library:

Rio Grande Southern Railroad records: Alva Lyons was at least partly responsible for the original preservation and arrangement of these records (CSWS collection M 019).

Sounds of narrow gauge railroads:

Circa January 1959. (CSWS recording no. 462.) Contents: Reel side A (on both sides of audiocassette tape 1): engine music. Reel side B (on both sides of audiocassette tape 2): engine music, Durango to Farmington, caboose, Farmington to Durango (485 and 489), and Chama to Durango. Undated, but circa early 1959. According to the note on the master reel box, the recording was poorly done and needs editing. This reel was with the railroad collection assembled and maintained by Alva Lyons. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel. Copied (May 1996) from one 7" reel tape onto two 90 minute audiocassette tapes.
7/27/1958 - 3/14/1959. Sounds of narrow gauge railroads (CSWS recording no. 461). Digitized! Click here to listen online: Side A ~ Side B. Contents: Reel side A (copied onto audiotape 1, sides a and b): Rio Grande, 0 to 42, told by Bruce Aker (sp?). Reel side B (copied onto both sides of audiocassette tape 2): narrow gauge to Silverton. According to the note on the master reel box, Bruce Aker sent this tape to Alva Lyons on March 14, 1959; John Braggs made the record between Alamosa and Chama; Jim Stevens recorded the sounds from Romeo to Antonito with Engines 480 and 490. With the Alva Lyons collection. Copied onto two 90 minute audiocassette tapes in May 1996 from one 7" magnetic tape reel. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel. Digitized 5/1/2006 through the Center's grant with the Collaborative Digitization Project (Todd Ellison, Project Director).
4/28-30/1966. Additional sounds of narrow gauge railroads, apparently recorded by Alva Lyons (CSWS recording no. 460). Copied from one 7" 1.5 mil acetate reel onto two 90-minute audiocassettes, May 1996. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel.
8/14/1966. Sounds of narrow gauge railroads (CSWS recording no. 459). Digitized! Click here to listen online: Side A ~ Side B. Contents: Reel side A: voice of Bill Fletcher, President, Railroad Club, on Durango and Rio Grande Western narrow gauge railroad, Durango to Hermosa, August 14, 1966. Reel side B: Leadville to Climax climb; 0 to 74, by Elolte Larsen; Engine #641, 2-8-0 10 car drag, standard gauge...; Engine #478, 95 to 150; Engines #476 and 483, 150 to 210; thunderstorm, 223 to 320; 321 to end, organ music (see reel box for more details), April 17 (1967?). Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel. Copied (May, 1996) from one 5" 1.5 mil acetate reel tape onto one 90-minute audiocassette. (Digital recording contents note: the first seconds of Side A is the voice of Gayle Maloy or Louis L'Amour at the Ignacio peace treaty ceremony; skip past that to hear Mr. Fletcher's introduction to his compilation of railroad sounds.)

Transcribed interviews in the Southwest oral history collection:

Oral history interview of Alva Lyons by Robert W. Delaney, June 25, 1982 (CSWS interview no. 463). Digitized! Click here to listen online: Side A ~ Side B. Transcribed by Catherine Conrad on April 3, 1996; edited by Todd Ellison on April 4, 1996. Release signed by Dr. Delaney and Center of Southwest Studies 1/98. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel. Also, click to read the transcription of this interview: 6/25/82. (Requires Adobe Reader free downloadable software, version 6.0 or more recent.)
Oral history interview of Alva Lyons by Robert W. Delaney, June 29, 1982 (CSWS interview no. 464). Digitized! Click here to listen online: Side A ~ Side B. Transcribed by Catherine Conrad on March 26, 1996; edited by Todd Ellison on April 4, 1996. Release signed by Dr. Delaney and Center 1/1998. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel. Also, click to read the transcription of this interview: 6/29/82. (Requires Adobe Reader free downloadable software, version 6.0 or more recent.)
Oral history interview of Alva Lyons by Robert W. Delaney, July 1, 1982 (CSWS interview no. 465). Transcribed by Catherine Conrad on March 29, 1996; edited by Todd Ellison on April 4, 1996. Release signed by Dr. Delaney and Center of Southwest Studies 1/1998. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel.
Oral history interview of Alva Lyons by Robert W. Delaney, July 7, 1982 (CSWS interview no. 466). Transcribed by Catherine Conrad on April 2, 1996; edited by Todd Ellison on April 4, 1996. Release signed by Dr. Delaney and Center of Southwest Studies 1/1998. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel.
Oral history interview of Alva Lyons by Robert W. Delaney, July 12, 1982 (CSWS interview no. 467). Topics included Masonic origins, his enjoyment of being a trainman, and advice for the Durango and Silverton railroad. Stopped at 204 on counter. Transcribed by Catherine Conrad on April 3, 1996; edited by Todd Ellison on April 3, 1996. Release signed by Dr. Delaney and Center of Southwest Studies 1/1998. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel.
Oral history interviews of Alva Lyons by Rae Haynes, September 20, 1989 through November 24 (CSWS interview nos. 159 - 163). Topics include the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Transcribed by Catherine Conrad at the Southwest Studies Center, Nov. 12, 1990; edited by Todd Ellison on April 4, 1996. Release signed 10/24/2005 by Alva Lyons' daughter Martha McDaniel, and by Rae Haynes on 3/14/06. Archival intern Renee Morgan updated the transcripts in January/February 2008 using comments written by Martha McDaniel in 1991. Click to read the transcription of the following interviews: 9/20/89, 9/27/89, 10/26/89, 11/10/89, and 11/24/89. Also, several typed pages of Rhodes / Ent family history genealogical notes made later by Martha Lyons McDaniel, daughter of Alva Lyons, when she edited the transcriptions in 1991. (Requires Adobe Reader free downloadable software, version 6.0 or more recent.)

Biographical note

Alva F. Lyons was a Four Corners narrow gauge railroad conductor. For detailed biographical information about this beloved man of Durango, Colorado, see the records in Sub-series 8.2 regarding the memorial in his name.

Administrative information

Acquisition information: The Center of Southwest Studies acquired these materials as a series of gifts from Alva F. Lyons in 1966 (accessions 1966:02224, and 1999:01009A). Lyons also donated an 1882 conductor's bag and hat, ticket stamps, rubber stamps, a copper-plated gold railroad spike, a telegraph, brochures and tickets, Modern American Railway Practice (10 volume set) (accession 1967:03003A), a railroad switching lantern (accession 1971:02052), a pair of Denver & Rio Grande Western kerosene lamps which were most probably used by the railroad crews for checking the tracks (accession 1972:11001), and a scale model of the railroad depot at Rico, Colorado (accession 1973:10001.01).

Included in Mr. Lyons' gift of railroadiana (1966:02224) was a battery-powered speaker which he used as the conductor aboard the Durango-Silverton train; the speaker was given to him by the staff of the Hollywood movie Night Passage in October of 1956 (according to information printed in white paint on one side of the red battery box). Lyons used this speaker for a number of years to tell Rio Grande Railroad passengers about the Silverton Branch, until the Railroad installed in two of its trains a speaking and music system, which was operated from the baggage car. Dimensions: red metal box is 5.25" high x 6.75" wide x 5.5" deep; its silver-colored metal handle (on top of the red box) is 2.6" high x 5" wide; the attached gray metal speaker amplifier (made by University, USA) above the red box is 8.25" at its greatest width (at the end of the bell) x 9" wide x 8.25" diameter; the hand held microphone is 1.5" high x 2.25" in diameter, and attaches to the red box by a coiled black rubber cord which is approximately 1' long without being extended. It is well used, but in good condition. Lyons used the speaker for a number of years to tell Rio Grande Railroad passengers about the Silverton Branch.

Processing information: Center of Southwest Studies archival volunteers Bud Davis and Paula Wiseman, and student archival assistant Gretchen Gray assisted with the processing of this collection in 2007/08, under the supervision of Archivist Todd Ellison. Student archival assistant Elizabeth De Jong keyboarded the folder list and Ellison prepared this inventory (last revised February 1, 2008).

Subject cataloging access points:
Baker, A. F.
Haynes, Rae, compiler
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (Colo.)
Lyons, Alva F.
Narrow gauge railroads--Colorado
Railroads--Colorado--Records and correspondence
Railroads--Colorado--San Juan Basin--History--20th century
Railroads, Narrow-gauge
Order of Railroad Conductors of America
San Juan Basin (N.M. and Colo.)--History

Series descriptions

Materials within most subgroups are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest, or from most general to most specific, and/or from oldest to most recent. For the most part, items within each series and within each box and folder are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise.

Series

Series	Box	Folder	Folder title	Date
1	1	1	Newspaper ads for various railroads in local newspapers	1899-06-22/ 1901-08-24
1	1	2	Photocopied newspaper ads for various railroads in local newspapers	1899-06-22/ 1901-08-24
1	1	3	Newspaper articles dealing with narrow gauge railroad and related	1951-01-31 / [circa 1950s]
1	1	4	Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad records various newspaper clippings regarding trains and railroads (advertisements and otherwise)	1911-09-23 / 1960
1	1	5	Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad records news clippings - photocopied	1948-05-24 / 1981-02-19
1	1	6	Correspondence and newspaper clippings pertaining to/ from Marguerite Clark	1949-12
1	1	7	Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad news clippings	1950 /1952
1	1	8	Correspondence regarding the ‘nomad’ and Durango and Silverton railroad	1950-1965
1	1	9	Ramsey, KostKa and Association correspondence and records, newspaper clippings regarding Durango/ Silverton narrow gauge railroad sale, and related	1954-02/1965
1	1	10	Narrow gauge train to yesterday: Durango to Silverton by Milford E. Shields, poem and congressional record – appendix	1959-07-28
1	1	11	Narrow gauge records, newspaper clippings regarding sale of narrow gauge and white foundation	1959-12
1	1	12	With train, press release	1959-12-04
1	1	13	Railroad related news clippings, various newspapers	1960
1	1	14	Various printed materials regarding the Nomad on the Durango and Silverton railroad	1950/1961
1	1	15	Newspaper clippings regarding the Nomad on the Durango and Silverton railroad	1950-06-15
1	1	16	The Durango-Silverton railroad: A ‘new enterprise report’ for Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, report by Rodger L. Hall	1961-01
1	1	17	The Silverton narrow gauge – yesterday’s train today, address by Alexis McKinney	1964-07-16
1	1	18	Memories of a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad railroader, by Helen Andria Hendson, independent study fulfillment	1964/1965
1	1	19	The golden era of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in the San Juan County, by Janice Strahan, independent study fulfillment	1965-04-05
1	1	20	Sixty years on the Durango-Aztec-Farmington branch (1905-1965), by Elinor M. McGinn, independent study fulfillment	1965
1	1	21	Talk for Lake Navajo campground, Arboles, spiral bound notebook by Alva F. Lyons	1979
1	1	22	A talk by Alva F. Lyons, railroader, [15 pages]	[1979]
1	1	23	Railroad related photocopied news clippings, newspapers	unknown
1	1	24	Brother of Railroad Trainmen History, [14 pages]	[1964]
1	1	25	Railroad management featherbedding, by Lou Corsi, The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen	[1957]
2	2	1	Order of railway conductors of America, books of constitution, statutes and rules	1931/1966
2	2	2	Official freight shippers guide and directory of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Railroad	[circa 1935]
2	2	3	Proceedings of the grand Division of the order of railway conductors; sessions 42, 43, (Chicago, Ill.)	1941-05 / 1946-02-14
2	2	4	Report of officers and committees to the forty-third grand Division order of railway conductors of America; supplement ‘A’, (Report covering the wage movement of 1943), approved; supplement ‘B’	1945-05-07 / 1946-09-02
2	2	5	Forty-third special session of the order of railway conductors of America; minutes	1946-09-02 / 1946-09-14
2	2	6	Report of officers and committees to the forty-fourth grand Division order of railway conductors of America; amendments, minutes, ladies auxiliary	1950-05-01 / 1950-05-12
2	3	1	Various railroading manuals	1916-1958
2	3	2	Advertising handbooks; tourist’s handbook; special edition cinders & smoke: a mile by mile guide for the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge trip	1903-1981
2	3	3	Railway publications: the motorman conductor and motor coach operator; the railway conductor; railway progress	1946-04 / 1952-07
2	3	4	Pamphlets regarding narrow gauge trial rides and excursions	1947/1980
2	3	5	Narrow gauge news, (Alamosa, Colo.)	1954-01 / 1954-12
2	3	6	Various railroad publications	1957
2	3	7	Green light, newspaper for the employees of the Rio Grande railroad; Vol. 18, No. 4	1957-07-15
2	3	8	Railroad magazine: the magazine of adventurous railroading – founded 1906; Vol. 69, No. 4	1958-06
2	3	9	Publications; Night passage, books, screenplay, magazine	1950
2	3	10	Caravan chronicle, by Barb Lynch [2x]	1962-06
2	3	11	Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Co. records, railway historical society of San Diego, inc, newsletter; New Mexico historical review, railroads, Issue XLII:I	1965-07/1967
2	3	12	Various railroad publications: Our ‘rush to the Rockies’, Crosscurrents	1976/1989
2	3	13	The Rio Grande Green Light, Vol. 43, nos. 1-3, through vol. 45, nos.3	1982-01 / 1984-12
3	4	1	Organization, protest, and meetings on proposed abandonment proceedings on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad narrow gauge lines	[circa 1967]
3	4	2	Refinancing and rebuilding of the central pacific: 1899-1910, report, by David F. Myrick	1969-04-07

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	Collection M 238: Alva Lyons papers inventory (Note: this prints out as 18 pages)

Collection M 238: Alva Lyons papers inventory (Note: this prints out as 18 pages)

Collection M 238:
Alva Lyons papers
inventory
(Note: this prints out as 18 pages)