Description: RailroadTreasures offers the following item: RGS Story, The Rio Grande Southern Vol VI 6 Rico to Dolores Missing pgs SIGNED The RGS Story Vol 6 Rico to Delores by Dell A McCoy & Russ Collman SIGNED by Authors Hard Cover #244 Pages 113-128 are duplicated after page 192. Pages 193-208 are missing Reflections from the lights on some photos. 480 pages Copyright 1997 CONTENTS 1 Photographic Prologue of Rico 13 2 Elizabeth Eyre Pellet 49 3 The Van Winkle Mine At Rico 85 4 The Rio Grande Southern - 1930 103 5 The Last Year of the RGS - 1951 183 6 Chronology of Events - 1951-1997 215 7 Mile-by-Mile - Rico to Dolores 235 8 The Alvin A. Rust Story 445 INTRODUCTION DURING 1941, the Rio Grande Southern Railroad's revenues became critically short, a situation made even worse when the New Mexico Lumber Company's big mill at McPhee burned, along with the loss of the Butterfly ore-processing mill-also due to fire-not to mention washouts along the RGS right-of-way. As a result, the court-appointed receiver of the RGS, Mr. Cass M. Herrington, applied to the Federal court for permission to abandon the nearly bankrupt railroad. At this time, the heroine of the Rio Grande Southern, Elizabeth Eyre Pellet, of Rico, Colorado, made her important entrance into what was then the men's-only world of railroading-and she managed to pull off a miracle of sorts by inducing the U.S. government to keep the RGS alive and operating during the duration of World War II. In fact, her actions kept the RGS running for an additional 10 years. Betty Pellet managed to carry the battle of fighting her way through the impossible bureaucratic "red tape" of wartime Washington, D.C., at a time when Adolf Hitler's Nazi German troops were enslaving Europe-prior to the evil Imperial Japanese war machine's bombing of both Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and Manila in the Philippines on December 7 and 8, 1941, thus drawing the U.S. into World War II. This indomitable woman's efforts are documented on the pages that follow. In June of 1931-10 years before Betty Pellet took on Washington's Federal bureaucracy-the RGS shops in Ridgway constructed the first of the strange railbuses that came to be known as "Galloping Geese." Many of the seven hybrid rail vehicles that went by this moniker were photographed at-or near-the Rico depot as Trains 371 and 372. These odd-looking replacements for steam-powered passenger trains saved the RGS thousands of dollars. One sad event took place when the Rico station agent's wife, Mrs. James Archuleta, died in an unfortunate depot fire on November 24, 1936. In rebuilding the damaged portion of the colorful Rico depot, the old telegraph tower was omitted. The Van Winkle mine shaft became the largest producer of the Rico district during the 1940's, and as a result, it provided a considerable amount of income for the financially stressed RGS. With the U.S. government's ownership of the RGS during World War II, railroad traffic picked up at an almost alarming rate. Larger Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotives had to be used on the little narrow-gauge line, and longer freight trains carried many tons of valuable metallic ore-including the uranium that was used to produce the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan to force an end to this terribly insane war. This first wartime use of atomic weapons probably shortened World War II by two or three years and saved millions of lives. While World War II raged on-and even more so after the end of the war-railfan photographers began to take a greater interest in the remote Rio Grande Southern, shooting priceless photographs of this rickety three-foot-gauge line, many of which appear on the pages of this volume. Railfans continued to search out the scenic RGS and photograph the line in greater numbers during the postwar years, and they even managed to charter passenger-train excursions over the RGS. Finally-to our regret-this wonderful Colorado narrow-gauge railroad came to an end-even though great efforts were made to save all, or part of, this historic line. Photographic coverage in this volume includes views of the last years of the railroad, as well as pictures of abandoned RGS facilities at Rico-shot after 1951. 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. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us. Shipping charges US Shipments: When you add multiple items to your cart, the reduced shipping charges will automatically be calculated. . For direct postage rates to other countries, send me an email. Shipping varies by weight. Payment options Payment must be received within 7 days. Paypal is accepted. Terms and conditions All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us before making a return. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding or buying. Thanks for looking at our items.
Price: 65 USD
Location: Talbott, Tennessee
End Time: 2025-01-16T16:19:45.000Z
Shipping Cost: 13 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money back or replacement (buyer's choice)
