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Collection M 019:
Rio Grande Southern Railroad (Colo.) records
inventory (Note: this prints out as 25 pages)

Links to contents                Look for this symbol  below to listen to selected sound recordings in MP3 file format.
 

Preface

Introduction/ 
Scope and contents

Historical note 

 Administrative information

Railroad map

 Freight rates table

Series descriptions

Container list
 Nomad car

Photos

 Sounds Other RR collections
Center of Southwest Studies home

Introduction/ Scope and contents

Years this material was created: circa 1884-1997 (bulk 1890-1983)

Quantity: approximately 60 linear shelf feet (approximately 140 volumes and approximately 5,000 unbound items, in 80 document cases and flat lidded boxes)

This collection contains the historically significant records retained from the operations of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) and related railroad companies.  The RGS narrow gauge railroad ran from Durango to Hesperus, Mancos, Dolores, Rico, Telluride, and Ridgway where it joined with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.  It operated from 1890 to 1950 -- one of the narrow gauge lines assembled by Otto Mears.  In its later years the Rio Grande Southern developed the "Galloping Goose" to serve its region using a single motorized car on the narrow gauge rails.  The collection includes bound letters, claims and reports (1890-1914), photographs (in Collection P 026, half of which is visually accessibly on the Web), treasurer's records, coupons and other records.

This large collection contains documents of various types, predominantly bound into leather volumes (that binding was done before the Center acquired these, but after the documents ceased being in active use by the company). Some of the records are in good condition, but most are suffering from decay due to use of--or attachment to--acidic paper.  Many of the contents of the volumes are originals (or original letterpress copies) pasted onto construction paper.  The letterpress copies were produced on very thin paper, which one must turn carefully to avoid folding or tearing the sheets.  The leather bindings on some of the books are also rotting.  Thus, the collection must be handled with special care.

The collection content is wide ranging, including letters from railway pioneer/company president Otto Mears, inventories of equipment, lists of salaries, blueprints of track road­ways, and scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and memorabilia about some of the old private cars.  The collection is divided into seven main subgroups.  The first subgroup is of railroad printed materials; its series of materials include such items as tickets, freight rates and regulations, and official railroad system schedules.  The second subgroup consists of administrative records and correspondence of Otto Mears and other railroad officials.  The third subgroup contains financial records of the railroad, and is the largest grouping of the Rio Grande Southern archives.  The fourth subgroup within this collection is the personnel records.  The fifth consists of records from the railroad's daily operations.  This includes a scrapbook that was found with this collection but which actually pertains to the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad rather than the Rio Grande Southern: the VIP historic passenger car, the Nomad.  The Nomad car was not part of the RGS, but this specially restored car now makes its home in Durango as part of the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

The bound volumes were arranged and described ("processed") as part of a student project by Tom Barber in December 1993.  Anything noted as being in a green box still must be processed.  Please consult with the archivist for access to those parts of the collection.

Related historical materials in archival collections at the Delaney Library:

Papers of A. F. Lyons, who was at least partly responsible for the original preservation and arrangement of the records in this collection.  The papers consist of 12.5 document cases of historical records, 1882-2005 (bulk years 1940-1969), compiled by San Juan Basin narrow gauge railroad conductor Alva F. Lyons. Includes records and printed materials of the Order of Railroad Conductors. 

Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs, described at the end of the series list (CSWS collection P 026).

Sounds of narrow gauge railroads:

Transcribed interviews in the Southwest oral history collection:

Books about the Rio Grande Southern Railroad:

For RGS reference tips, visit  http://rgsrr.home.comcast.net/rgs/refs.html and http://rgs.railfan.net/reference.html .

Historical note

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad (1890-1960)

"A narrow-gauge line built by Otto Mears and investors in Denver, the Rio Grande Southern Railroad served the western area of the San Juans, with its circuitous route passing through Telluride, Ophir, Lizard Head Pass, Rico, Dolores, and Hesperus.  This route was necessitated by the rugged terrain of the mountains and Uncompahgre Gorge, and it advantageously served important mining areas, lumber operations, and a coal mine.  Its operation was dependent on connections with the D&RG on the north at Ridgway and on the south at Durango.  It reached Rico in 1891, thereby eliminating most traffic on the former Rockwood and Rico Wagon Road, and it reached Durango from the west in 1893.  The line was abandoned in 1951.  Its trains carried freight and passengers, usually with a mixed train.  Between 1931 and abandonment, the line’s seven Galloping Geese provided passenger and mail service with cars built with automobile engines and rail wheels.  Treasured by nostalgic rail fans today, they were important to the way of life of local people and businesses along the line during the Depression and World War II.  Galloping Goose No. 5, restored and operational, is kept at Dolores, while five others still exist elsewhere.  Several short lines connected lumber camps and mines to the Rio Grande Southern.  A spur of the RGS operated at Parrott (Mayday) from 1906 to 1926. The spur began west of Hesperus."  (Source: Living in the San Juan Mountains: Prospectus on Traditional Cultural Properties on the San Juan National Forest and adjacent public lands: San Juan Traditional Cultural Properties Team Scoping Document/ Working Paper, edited by Dr. Andrew Gulliford, March 2003).

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad map of railroads in Southwestern Colorado and Northwestern New Mexico

(click on map to open a larger image):

 

 

Also of interest and available on the Web:

Digital images of approximately 367 photoprints from the Center's collection of  Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs  are accessible online.

Rates of freight (see page 4 for transportation through Durango, Colorado) 
(click on item to open a larger image):

Administrative information

Acquisition information:  The Center of Southwest Studies acquired these materials as a series of gifts from Dr. Alfred G. Chione of Morton, Illinois (accessions 1968:02009, 1994:05003, and 1999:01009A).

Processing information: Center of Southwest Studies student archival assistant Tom Barber assisted with initial processing of this collection in December of 1993, under the supervision of Archivist Todd Ellison, including preliminary assignment of series titles and series numbers.  The Center's archival volunteers Paula Wiseman and Dr. Bud Davis devoted most of their hundreds of work hours to this project in 2007, and completed the arrangement of the collection.  (As a result of changes in the series organization, some of the series numbers we originally assigned are no longer used.)  Professional Native American Archival Assistant Renee Morgan typed up the folder list and produced the box labels in the winter of early 2008. This inventory was prepared by Fort Lewis College archivist Todd Ellison (last revised in February of 2008).

Subject cataloging access points:
Railroads--Colorado--Records and correspondence
Railroads, Narrow-gauge

Provenance of this collection: This was one of the very first archival accessions of the new special collections repository/ museum at the Center of Southwest Studies.  Dr. Chione had been visiting Durango since the 1940s.  He worked on the railroad from high school days and continuing through his medical school studies and his medical work, coming to Colorado each February while he was in the early phases of his medical training and riding the narrow gauge trains on the Western Slope.  Dr. Chione’s father was an engineer on the Burlington Railroad.

These records were maintained by the general offices of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad in Ridgway, Colorado.  Due to the demise of that company after World War II (when its business was boosted by transporting uranium ore south to Durango for processing at the smelter), the Railroad was about to take the records to the dump in 1952, and (Ed Randall, the manager) gave Dr. Chione permission to look through two narrow-gauge boxcars where all the records had been moved from the offices, and permission to take whatever he wanted.  Dr. Chione spent three days in the box cars with a flashlight selecting a representative and useful sample of the records, and  took a carload of them (those which he saw that seemed to have the greatest historical value) back to his home in southern Illinois where he organized them.  He had much of the correspondence and other sequentially ordered records bound in hardcover volumes in Bloomington to preserve their original order.  To quote Dr. Chione's son Al Chione, Jr. (interviewed by Todd Ellison by phone on Sept. 27, 1996), "the crumbs were scattered to the four winds."  Among those whom Dr. Chione beat to the punch in retrieving the best records were Bob Richardson, who is a former director of the railroad museum in Golden, Colorado.  He took some of the "crumbs".  According to Mr. Chione, Jr., Mr. Richardson "flew into a rage when he heard that Fort Lewis College got [the records] in 1968."   Richardson's book, Chasing Trains, contains some words regarding this incident which are disputed by the Chiones.

Looking for a suitable repository to house these materials, he considered Durango--the southern terminus of the railroad--a logical choice.  Through a series of correspondence with the Center's first director, Dr. Robert Delaney, Dr. Chione shipped the materials to the Center in 1967-1968.

Mr. Chione, Jr. has told Ellison that "we wouldn't want this [collection] in any place than where it is, at [the Center of Southwest Studies]."  Dr. Chione, age 82 as of this writing [Oct. 1996; since then, deceased], is a retired physician.  He signed a deed of gift retroactively to document his donation.  His son Al has had a residence near the tracks of the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad by the Rockwood slope north of Durango, and markets railroad scenes slides.  Dr. Chione sold the negatives of this collection years ago to Dr. John Hubbard, a Decatur, Illinois retired neurosurgeon [now also deceased] who (according to Mr. Chione), "knows more about the Rio Grande Southern than anyone else."  Todd Ellison conducted a 55-minute oral history long-distance phone interview with Dr. Chione on November 21, 1996, in which Dr. Chione discussed his first involvements with railroads, his experiences riding in the caboose and (later) in the Galloping Goose converted railroad bus car, his associations with RGS employees in Ridgway, how he acquired the collection, and how he worked with it and donated it to the Center of Southwest Studies.  The tape and transcript are in the Southwest oral history collection at the Center, interview number 487.

Series descriptions 

Note:  Subgroups (SGs) of the Rio Grande Southern archives, shown in boldface, are numbered consecutively.  The lower levels of organization, following the SG number, are the series (e.g., data sheets, payrolls, correspon­dence, and reports from a given office).  Box numbers start with 1 in each in each subgroup.

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.

Subgroup 1: Railroad printed materials

1.1              Rio Grande Southern legal documents, 1890-1920, 2 folders, in box 1.  Includes two items: (1) the executed copy of a federal agreement that was a printed contract (18 pages) between the Director General of Railroads and the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, 1920 Feb. 28 (1 volume) and (2) agreement to establish the railroad terminal that became Ridgway, Colorado.

1.2              Railroad rules and regulations, 1906-1937.  3 folders, in box 1.

1.3              Railroad bulletins, 1902-1951.  7 folders, in box 1.

1.4              Railroad timetables, 1939-1950.  5 folders, in box 2.

1.5              Rio Grande Railroad system fare rates, freight rates, and schedules, 1884-.  1 folder, in box 2.

1.6         Rio Grande Southern passenger tickets and ticket stubs, 1894-1950.  16 folders, in box 3.

1.7          Other railroads’ tickets, circa 1922-1935.  9 folders, in box 4.

1.8          Rio Grande Southern blank forms and reports, 1890-1959.  31 folders, in boxes 4 and 5.

1.9          Rio Grande Southern and other railroads’ newspaper clippings, newsletters, advertisements, and pamphlets, circa 1901-1982.  14 folders, in boxes 5 and 6.

1.10          Books, about railroad operations, 1897-1961, 2 folders, in box 7.  Note: this series also includes the following, not shelved with this collection:

·                    Modern American Railway Practice: A complete system of practical instruction in railway transportation, by the National Institute of Practical Mechanics, 1913, 10 volumes.  (Call number TF7.S9 -- these are shelved with the regular books in the Robert Delaney Southwest Research Library.)

 

Subgroup 2:  Administrative records and correspondence 

2.1              Construction company correspondence, 1890-1893.  3 folders, in box 8.  Includes some barely legible telegrams relating to railroad construction, including bridges and buildings.

2.2        Otto Mears records and printed materials, 1891-1962.  6 folders, in box 9.  Includes 1 volume of his receipts, 1891-1892, and 1 volume about his passes, 1892-1893.  Otto Mears was the president of the railroad company.  The volume contains 38 pages of vouchers, correspondence, etc. related primarily to the silver filigree passes, but other types of passes such as The Leather Pass are also mentioned.   Items specifically related to the silver filigree pass include vouchers from The Rio Grande Southern Railroad Company to S. Spitz, manufacturer of Mexican Filigree Jewelry for the purchase of passes.  For example, the first page is Voucher #139 dated July12, 1892 for 32 silver filigree passes @$4.00 for a total of $128.00.  This voucher also includes a credit for one pass for M. Frost bringing the total to $124.00.  On another page there is a bill for Voucher #531 dated September 30, 1892 for 11 silver filigree passes @ $4.00 for a total of $44.00.  Other pages include letters of correspondence between the two companies regarding credits for gold not used, vouchers for purchases of other types of passes, vouchers for engraving passes, and small narrative descriptions added to each page.  An example of the narrative is a voucher from December 28, 1892 for five silver filigree passes.  The narrative mentions the purchase of the passes in December, the date the passes were paid for, and that this raises the number of silver filigree passes to 539.

2.3          General Office correspondence, 1892-1915.  18 bound volumes, in 18 folders in boxes 9-13.

2.4          General and miscellaneous correspondence, 1891-1917.  24 bound volumes, in 24 folders in boxes 14-18.

2.5          Vice President's correspondence, 1904-1914.  3 bound volumes, in 3 folders in box 19.  Missing/ gap: 1907-1909.

2.6          General Superintendent's correspondence, 1897-1913.  15 bound volumes, in 15 folders in boxes 20-23.  Includes one volume of Assistant Superintendent’s correspondence, 1891-1895.

2.7          General Manager's correspondence, 1907-1908.  1 volume, in box 24.

 

Subgroup 3: Financial records

3.1              Accounting Department and Treasury Department instructions, 1916.  1 folder, in box 25.

3.2              Distribution of expenses, 1892-1895.  3 bound volumes, in 3 folders in box 25.

3.4              Auditor's records, 1892-1917.  4 folders in box 26.

3.6              Financial statements, 1893-1898, 9 bound volumes.  9 folders, in boxes 27 and 28.

3.7              Stock and bond records, circa 1890-1918.  6 folders, in boxes 28-31.  Includes a stock register, circa 1890-1923, 1 volume, 2 document cases of bond coupons.  Listing, by stockholder, of capital stock share ownership.  Volume is 3/4 blank.  Also, certificates of stock shares, 1890-1893 and 1917.

3.9              Income and operating expenses records, 1891-1928.  16 folders, in boxes 32 and 33.  Includes profit and loss statements, income and disbursements records, assets statements, and income and expenditures reports.

3.10          Cashbooks, 1893-1913, 13 bound volumes.  13 folders, in boxes 34-40.

3.11          Journals, 1893-1932, 11 bound volumes.  11 folders, in boxes 41-46.

3.12          Jeffery receivership records, 1890-1896.  8 folders, in box 47.   Includes a volume of legal papers (including trial expense sheets) for the case of Denver & Rio Grande Railroad vs. Rio Grande Southern Railroad and a similarly bound report to the receiver, both in 1893, and a volume entitled "memo balance book" which is full of lists of railroad agents, stations, and passenger and freight statistics for the period 1894 Aug.- 1896 Aug.  Edward T. Jeffery was the court-appointed receiver.

3.13          Ledgers, 1895-1921, 1929, 13 volumes.  13 folders, in boxes 48-53.  Includes a volume labeled "corporate ledger," 1918-1920, and a volume labeled "federal ledger," 1917-1920.  This list railroad accounts and expenses. Missing/gap: 1899-1902. 

3.15          Federal journal, 1918-1923, 1 bound volume, in box 54.  This volume, written in Denver, contains financial accounts.

3.17          Record of vouchers, 1892-1895, 2 bound volumes.  2 folders, in box 55.

3.18          Vouchers, billing records, and bills for vouchers, 1890-1899, and 1906-1922, 7 bound volumes, and unbound records.  65 folders, in boxes 55-58.  These were requests for payment from the Rio Grande Southern for supplies and services it received, including a wide scope of things such as rental of locomotives, purchase of meals for employees, and refunds of freight payments.  Includes general releases.

3.19          Claims, 1892-1918, 7 bound volumes, and unbound records.  16 folders, in boxes 59-60.  These include claims for livestock killed by the trains, and for damaged or lost goods.  Includes correspondence about claims, bills collectible, rent collection records, and certificates for payments due.

3.20          Freight records and correspondence, including freight waybills, 1884-1949, 2 bound volumes, and unbound records.  27 folders, in boxes 61 and 62.  One of the volumes is a fragile letterpress copybook of financial figures from October 1891 through January 1898, including rail reports, train service figures, fuel balance sheets, reports of coal received, inventories of tools and supplies, inventories of track material on line, joint inspector's monthly reports, receiver's reports, material distribution reports (by station--largest section of the volume), list of locomotives and the condition of each on March 28 ,1896, descriptive list of buildings and bridges etc., and annual report (with supplementary schedules) to the State Board of Equalization on December 31, 1895.  This series also includes post card bills for coal and other freight shipments, and freight waybills.  Also, ore transportation requests, billing records, notices of freight on hand, and livestock contracts.

3.21          Receipts and other completed financial forms, 1943-1944.  1 folder, in box 62.

3.22          Interline checks, circa 1892 - circa 1930, 3 bound volumes and unbound records.  77 folders, in boxes 62 and 63.  These are checks written to and from the Rio Grande Southern and associated railroads.

3.24         Distribution of materials including: rails, bridges, and real estate, 1891-1896.  1 folder, in box 64.

3.25         General store reports, 1892-1904.  2 folders, in box 65.

 

Subgroup 4: Personnel records

4.1              Payroll checks and vouchers for severance pay, 1891-1931.  10 folders, in box 66.

4.2              Unclaimed wages records, 1890-1895, 2 bound volumes.  2 folders, in box 66.  See also Series 3.12 (receipts for wages under the Jeffery receivership, June – August, 1916.

4.3              Payroll identification records, 1916.  1 folder, in box 66.

4.4              Pinkerton investigation records, circa 1891. 1 bound volume in 1 folder in box 66.  Records pertaining to a legal investigation of company employees.

4.5              Assignments and garnishments records, 1929.  1 folder in box 66.  See also Series 3.12 (records of the Jeffery receivership

4.6              Time rolls, overtime statements, and receipts for payment for services, 1932 and 1950.  2 folders in box 66.

 

Subgroup 5: Railroad operations records

5.1                           Right of way records, circa 1908-1951, 1 bound volume and unbound records.   14 folders, in boxes 67 and 68.  Maps, blueprints, and statements of claims pertaining to Rio Grande Southern routes, and abandonment records.

5.2              Inventories and rosters, circa 1893-1939, 4 bound volumes and unbound records.  6 folders, in box 69.  Includes summaries of railroad equipment, track, and mileposts and stations information.

5.3              Interstate Commerce Commission / interstate and intrastate railroad operations records and correspondence, 1931 and 1936.  2 folders, in box 69.  These include records of tariffs and Colorado inter-railroad traffic.

5.4              Motive power correspondence, 1891-1892, 1 bound volume.  1 folder, in box 69.

5.5              Train orders, 1892 Apr. 12 - May 28 and 1936-1951 with many gaps, in 1 bound volume and unbound records.  2 folders, in boxes 69 and 70. Daily instructions for engine runs.

5.6              Return of time/ train report books, 1891-1951, 5 bound volumes and unbound records.  10 folders, in box 70-72.  These are records of passenger and freight mileage etc. statistics for individual runs.   Also includes conductors’ trip reports, trip records, and notes (most, of Alva A. Lyons).

5.7              Tally sheets, 1902-1903, 1 bound volume.  1 folder, in box 73.  These records contain such facts as train arrival and departure times and daily engine mileage figures.

5.8              Railroad ties correspondence, 1901-1906, 1 bound volume.  1 folder, in box 74.  Documents pertaining to the company's contracts and purchases of railroad ties.

5.9              Accident reports, 1890-1928, 4 bound volumes and unbound records.  13 folders, in boxes 74 and 75.   Also flood reports and damage reports.  Includes Peake accident investigation records, 1919, 2 bound volumes: records relating to inquiries after the accident when a train ran off a damaged bridge, causing the death of Engineer Peake.  Also in this series: video of 1921 train derailment, by Jim Jarvis.

5.10          Personal injury record and stock book, circa 1893-1894 (?), 1 bound volume.  1 folder, in box 76.

5.11          Livestock injury correspondence, 1912-1918, 1 bound volume.  1 folder, in box 76. Documents relating to railroad accidents in which livestock was injured; includes valuations of the animal's condition and value, etc.

5.12          Master mechanic's correspondence, 1903-1904 and 1912-1916, 3 bound volumes.  3 folders, in box 76.  Communications to and from the Master Mechanic, Assistant Superintendents, and others involved with the daily operations of the railroad.

5.13          Equipment/ engine repairs records and inspection reports, 1902-1944, 1 bound volume and unbound records.  5 folders, in box 77.

5.14          Foreign roads records, 1891-1928, 1 bound volume and unbound records.  5 folders, in box 77.  Includes foreign car mileage reports/invoices.

5.16          Private cars scrapbooks, 2 bound volumes.  2 folders, in box 78.  Printed materials, including memorabilia and newspaper clippings, pertaining to private railroad passenger cars, including the Nomad.  The second volume, of newspaper clippings, awaits archival preservation photocopying.

5.17          Telluride station records, July and August, 1927.  1 folder, in box 79.

5.20          Railroad route blueprints and plats.  3 folders in box 80, and (most of these) oversize and extra-oversize flat file drawers.

 

Collection P 026: Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs

                   Related guide: see the index to the photograph collection, 1 volume, at the end of Collection M 019.

Container list
 
Series Box

Folder

 Folder title Date(s)
1.1 1

1

Agreement for assumption of operation of RGS by Director General of Railroads of the United States

 1920
1.1 1

2

Agreement between Otto Mears, Fred Walsen and D.C. Hartwell establishing the railroad terminal that became Ridgway, Colorado

1890-02-28
1.2 1

3

Book of rules

 1928
1.2 1

4

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company circular no. 2, instructions on passenger train handling

 1918
1.2 1

5

Instructions and supplements for general, to conductors, etc., locomotive fireman, and red ball freight system and safety instructions.

 1906/1937
1.3 1

6

Bulletins

 1947/1951
1.3 1

7

Wire bulletins

 1949
1.3 1

8

Bureau of Explosives Bulletin #25

 1940
1.3 1

9

Denver and Rio Grande/Rio Grande Southern joint circular 227-1908 instructions regarding clergy certificates and tickets

 1908
1.3 1

10

The Rio Grande Western Railroad Company boarding boss circular No. 13,

1902-06-01
1.3 1

11

Boarding boss circular #21

1902
1.3 1

12

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Co., Rio Grande Western Railway Co., and Rio Grande Southern Railroad Co., joint circular

1902-11-04
1.4 2

1

Timetables

 1939/1943
1.4 2

2

Timetables (extras/ duplicates for display, etc.)

 1939/1940
1.4 2

3

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Company timetable no. 5

 1943-02-14
1.4 2

4

The official guide of the railways and steam navigation lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba (plus airline schedules)

 1938-10/
1945-09
1.4 2

5

The official guide of the railways and steam navigation lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba (also Central America plus air line schedules)

1950-01
1.5 2

6

Fare rates and schedules, Rio Grande Railroad system

 Undated
1.6 3

1

Passenger tickets, Vol. 1

 1894/1930
1.6 3

2

Passenger tickets, Vol. 2

 1916/1950
1.6 3

3

Agent’s ticket stubs, prepaid order

 1896
1.6 3

4

Agents ticket stubs

 1894/1928
1.6 3

5

Agents ticket stubs

 1946
1.6 3

6

Agents ticket stubs

 1947/1949
1.6 3

7

Agents ticket stubs

 1951
1.6 3

8

Parlor car ticket-passenger check

 Undated
1.6 3

9

Parlor car tickets, form local 43-4 (unused)

 Undated
1.6 3

10

Rio Grande Railroad ticket stubs from Alva Lyons

 Undated
1.6 3

11

Passenger ticket tracers

 1913/1923
1.6 3