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Collection P 026:
Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs
collection inventory

©2003 by Fort Lewis College Foundation, Center of Southwest Studies account


Links to contents

Preface
Introduction, scope and contents

Administrative info/ Overview of photos
Historical note: RGS
List of photos 
Center of Southwest Studies collection inventories
Center of Southwest Studies

Introduction/ Scope and contents

Collection P 026
Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs
1892-1952 (bulk 1949-1952)
approximately 367 photoprints; none of these items circulate, but digital or print copies are a possibility

This narrow gauge railroad ran from Durango to Hesperus, Mancos, Dolores, Rico, Telluride, and Ridgway where it joined with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.  The Southwest Studies Center has produced digital access images of 187 photoprints -- which is all of the photos in this collection that show scenes along the 163-mile route of the RGS.  Dr. Chione shot most of the photos himself, circa 1949-1952.  For a guide to the images, see the index to the photograph collection, 1 volume, at the end of Collection M 019.

Administrative information

Arrangement note: The photoprints are housed in two document cases.  They are arranged into the following broad subject categories:

Box 1: Buildings and landscapes (arranged by Mile Post number; a few photos that are not identified, including some views of washouts, have been placed at the end of this sequence).  Mounted photoprints 1 through 187 are in this box.  All of these photoprints have been scanned for online digital access.

Box 2: Engines ("motive power") and rolling stock.  Mounted photoprints 188 through 474 are in this box.  Arranged by the number of the engine, etc., as follows:

Acquisition information:  These photoprints were donated to the Center of Southwest Studies by Alfred G. Chione, M.D. of  Illinois (accession #1968:02009).

Processing information:  In a letter to Dr. John Hubbard dated October 6, 1980, Robert W. Delaney (then the Director of the Southwest Studies Center) wrote, "Currently we are putting all of the RGS photos on cards with dry mount.  They will be arranged according to mile posts, etc."   (Note: the attachment of the prints to regular card stock paper was a common procedure given the level of understanding of preservation issues around 1980, but is not a practice that is used today.)  This online guide, including the item level cataloging, was produced by Todd Ellison, Certified Archivist, Center of Southwest Studies, in August of 2003.  For the sake of brevity in the online presentation, the following list does not contain all of the detailed information that the Center has recorded in an Access database to describe the content of these photoprints.

Through its partnership with the Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP), the Center of Southwest Studies has digitized many thousands of images selected from a number of collections, for viewing on the Web for educational purposes and research.  To search for digital images at the Center of Southwest Studies and elsewhere, go to Heritage West.

 

The CDP is supported through a National Leadership Grant to the University of Denver Penrose Library from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (a federal grant-making agency in Washington, D.C., which fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning, by supporting museums and libraries) with additional assistance from the Colorado State Library, and the Colorado Regional Library Systems.

List of Rio Grande Southern Railroad digitized photographs titles with URL links

The following is a listing of the titles of 187 photoprints of views along the 163-mile route of the RGS (from Ridgway to Durango by way of Telluride, Rico, Dolores, Mancos and Hesperus) which have been scanned for online digital access for research purposes.  An additional document case of approximately 180 photoprints in the Rio Grande Southern Railroad Photographs Collection is available for researchers' use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies,  Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.

ARRANGED BY MILE POST

Search suggestion: you can search this web page by name using the Edit-> Find in Page (Ctrl+F) feature on your Web browser.
Click on the web page address in the right-hand column to see the digital image.

Photoprint #

Title

Image Date

Digital File URL -- click to view image

P026005

Rio Grande Southern Railroad advertisement

 

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026005Page.htm

P026002

Map of western Colorado and northwestern New Mexico railroad lines

 

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026002Page.htm

P026004

Stage lines run in connection with the Denver & Rio Grande System

 

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026004Page.htm

P026010

Rio Grande Southern Railroad round house (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026010Page.htm 

P026014

Rio Grande Southern Railroad turntable, tank, and yards (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026014Page.htm

P026011

Rio Grande Southern Railroad yards viewed from TT (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026011Page.htm 

P026009

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Office Building end view (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026009Page.htm 

P026008

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Office Building side view (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026008Page.htm

P026007

Denver Rio Grande and Western depot viewed from Office Building (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026007Page.htm

P026012

Rio Grande Southern Railroad yards and tank (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026012Page.htm

P026006

Rio Grande Southern Railroad buildings and landscapes at Ridgway (Colo.)

1939?

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026006Page.htm

P026013

Rio Grande Southern Railroad yards viewed from atop round house (Ridgway, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026013Page.htm

P026015

Rio Grande Southern Railroad washout (Pleasant Valley, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026015Page.htm

P026016

Rio Grande Southern Railroad washout (Pleasant Valley, Colo.)

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026016Page.htm

P026017

Rio Grande Southern Railroad track (Valley View, Colo.)

1940-06-03

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026017Page.htm

P026019

Denver and Rio Grande Western Engines 346 and 452 near Dallas Divide (Colo.)

1943

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026019Page.htm

P026018

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Tomahawk & Western caboose (Dallas Divide, Colo.)

1951-11

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026018Page.htm 

P026021

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Engine #461 at water tank (Brown, Colo.)

1952?

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026021Page.htm 

P026020

Rio Grande Southern Railroad buildings (Brown, Colo.)

1952?

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026020Page.htm 

P026022

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Engine #461 approaching Placerville (Colo.)

1951

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026022Page.htm 

P026023

Rio Grande Southern Railroad depot at Placerville (Colo.): north and rear view

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026023Page.htm

P026024

Rio Grande Southern Railroad depot at Placerville (Colo.): north end view

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026024Page.htm

P026025

Rio Grande Southern Railroad depot at Placerville (Colo.): front view

1952

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026025Page.htm

P026026

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Engines depot at Vance Junction (Colo.)

1951-02

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026026Page.htm

P026027

Rio Grande Southern Railroad trestle and slide at Ames (Colo.)

1952?

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026027Page.htm 

P026028

Rio Grande Southern Railroad rotary snow plow between Butterfly and Ames (Colo.)

 

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026028Page.htm 

P026030

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Engine #74 between Vance Junction and Ophir (Colo.)

1949-05-29

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P026/P026030Page.htm