Three foot narrow gauge railroads were pivotal in the development of Colorado's mining, ranching, and agricultural industries. Four narrow gauge railroads that served the area around Ridgway were the Rio Grande Southern (RGS), Denver & Rio Grande Western (D&RGW), Silverton (SR), and the Silverton Northern (SN) which were famous for their innovative engineering, courageous winter operations, and spectacular scenery.

One point before continuing, while this web presentation is primarily about the Rio Grande Southern first a short word about the Denver & Rio Grande Western is necessary. The Denver & Rio Grande Railway (D&RG) began with construction of a narrow gauge line south from Denver in 1871 toward Mexico. This initial 3 foot narrow gauge line would eventually evolve into a system comprised of nearly 6,000 miles of track at its height. However, the D&RG Railway went bankrupt during 1884. It was re-formed into the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad by 1886. Without providing further details, suffice it to say the D&RG Railroad morphed into the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW). For the purposes of this presentation, regardless of the date, we'll just refer to it as the D&RGW.

The town of Ridgway lies just over the hill (The "hill", is Red Mountain, with a current highway pass at an elevation of 11,300 feet.) from the world famous Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad operating part of the old D&RGW between Durango and Silverton. The D&RGW and the Silverton railroads never did conquer Red Mountain and reach Ridgway. An electric powered rack railway with 7 percent grades was once proposed to get over Red Mountain but it was never constructed. The Rio Grande Southern managed to build a steep, twisting, 162 mile route west and north out of Durango through Dolores, Rico, and Ophir into Ridgway (with a short branch into Telluride) thereby connecting to the D&RGW at both ends.

The RGS survived for 60 years until 1952 (construction completed 1893, last train 1953) when it succumbed to the automobile as many other railroads did.

Follow that old RGS route through the San Juan Mountains, in photos, by clicking on the station names in the timetable below:

RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN RAILROAD
Westward	DISTRICT 1	Eastward

Miles from Ridgway	STATIONS	Miles from Rico
0.0	Ridgway	66.2
26.6	Placerville	39.6
37.8	Vance Junction (Telluride Branch)	28.4
44.9	Ophir	21.3
44.9	⭐⭐⭐ Structure ⭐⭐⭐	21.3
49.0	Trout Lake	17.2
52.6	Lizard Head	13.5
66.2	Rico	0.0

RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN RAILROAD
Westward	DISTRICT 2	Eastward

Miles from Ridgway	STATIONS	Miles from Durango
66.2	Rico	96.4
87.4	Stoner	?.?
102.3	Dolores	60.3
122.5	Mancos	40.1
145.5	Hesperus	17.1
157.1	Porter	5.5
162.6	Durango (D&RGW)	0.0

RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN RAILROAD
	TELLURIDE BRANCH

Miles from Ridgway	STATIONS	Miles from Telluride
37.8	Vance Junction (Mainline)	7.3
45.1	Telluride	0.0

The Ridgway Railroad Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the railroad history of Ouray (pronounced YOUR-ay) County. The Rio Grande Southern is best known for its "Galloping Goose" rail buses, the history of which is aptly explained in this article by Jim Pettengill of the Ridgway Railroad Museum.Ridgway is the home of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS). Built by Otto Mears in 1890-1891, the RGS ran 162 miles from Ridgway (named for Robert M. Ridgway, the railroad's first superintendent) through Telluride, Rico, and Dolores on its way to Durango. The RGS was an engineering marvel, with dozens of high trestles and unusual features such as the famous Ophir Loop. It was built to transport gold and silver ore from the rich mines at Telluride, Ophir, and Rico. Coal was also transported from Porter to the smelter at Durango.

The railroad's fortunes rose and fell with the mining industry and the national economy. In 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression, the RGS was in bankruptcy. One of its few reliable revenue sources was a contract to carry the U.S. mail. Carrying the mail on a high maintenance steam train with a crew of at least five was very expensive, so Superintendent Forest White and Receiver Victor Miller decided to try something different.

They decided to build a "rail bus" out of a used automobile, to be used to carry the mail, light freight, and a few passengers. Starting in mid-April, Chief Mechanic Jack Odenbaugh and Jack Martin converted a 1926 Buick Master Six into RGS Motor Number 1 in just six weeks at a cost of $828.55. On 1 Jun 1931 Motor 1 rolled out of the Ridgway shops. It looked like a strange blend of locomotive and pickup truck. Its first test run to Dallas Divide was so successful that it was sent on its first freight trip later the same day. It paid for itself in less than a month.

Number 1 worked so well that construction of more Motors began immediately. Number 2 was larger and was also Buick-based. By October 1936 the fleet was complete, with very large Motors 3, 4, 5, and 7 based on Pierce-Arrow limousines and Motor 6 built as a flatbed railroad maintenance vehicle. The large Motors were very distinctive, with Pierce-Arrow passenger compartments followed by articulated freight compartments that looked like boxcars.

The Motors were so successful that they now carried all passengers, the mail, and full loads of light freight, leaving the steam trains to haul ore and livestock. The RGS was able to cut costs enough that the railroad stayed in business for another 20 years.

Somewhere along the way, probably in the late 1930s, the Motors acquired the name "Galloping Geese". There are many stories regarding the origin of the name. One credits a railroad employee's wife, who disliked the contraptions and referred to them as "that... THING that looks like an ol' Galloping Goose!" It was also common in those days to refer to ungainly machines as some variety of goose, Ford's Tri-motor airplane was referred to as the Tin Goose, and Howard Hughes' gigantic seaplane was called the Spruce Goose. The Motors were certain ungainly, with horns that honked like geese, a waddling gait as they travelled down the uneven tracks, and they commonly travelled with open engine hoods to combat overheating. Whatever the origin, the unofficial name stuck and was officially adopted by the RGS in 1950.

After World War II, the Geese were refurbished with Wayne school bus bodies and surplus GMC truck engines. Loss of the mail contract, improved highways, and growth of the trucking industry seriously reduced the RGS's income. In 1950 the RGS attempted to promote itself as a tourist line, cutting windows into the freight compartments of the Geese and installing passenger seats. It was an idea too far ahead of its time. The RGS ceased operation in 1951.

Fortunately all of the Motors survived except Number 1, which was scrapped by the RGS in 1933 because it was too small. All of the others exist today and have become world famous. Numbers 2, 6, and 7 are at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. Number 3 is at Knott's Berry Farm in California. Number 5 has been fully restored by the Galloping Goose Historical Society in Dolores, Colorado, and Number 4 sits next to the courthouse in Telluride.

In 2000 Karl Schaeffer of the Ridgway Railroad Museum built a fully accurate and operating replica of Motor 1, which is on display at the Ridgway Railroad Museum - Jim Pettengill - Ridgway Railroad Museum

You'll notice Rio Grande Southern number 20 included in the photos above. This locomotive was originally built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works in 1899 for the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad. It worked there for thirteen years until 1916 when it was sold to the Rio Grande Southern for US$2,500. Following and overhaul by the DRGW in Alamosa it moved to Durango spending 35 years working the Rio Grande Southern. In august of 1943 the engine was double-heading behind RGS 40 when that locomotive derailed on an inside curve near milepost 142 pulling number 20 with it. Number 20's boiler was damaged in the incident but repaired at Ridgway and returned to service next spring. Number 20 became a movie star in the motion picture A Ticket to Tomahawk during 1949 when it was re-configured as the "Emma Sweeny" for the ficticious Tomahawk & Western Railroad. A one-time movie shot wasn't enough to pay the RGS bills so by 1951 the railroad was bankrupt. As a result Number 20 was retired then acquired by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. It was first displayed at the Narrow Gauge Motel at Alamosa, Colorado, until creation of the Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden, Colorado, in 1958.
It remained on display at Golden for 48 years with the exception of a stint in a movie and a television show until 2006 when an unknown benefactor showed up pledging several hundred thousand dollars to bring it into operational condition. There was a condition attached, the engine was to be re-built by the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania.

Consequently Number 20 was prepared for truck transport down east and this photo shows the locomotive loaded on a flatbed trailer while passing through Vandalia, Illinois, on 2 Oct 2006.

Tracing its whereabouts and condition thereafter on the internet supplied little news but the locomotive obviously made it to the Strasburg as the next photo, taken at the Strasburg Railroad's backshop on 23 Nov 2007, shows Number 20's boiler moving across the backshop after being lifted from its frame. Just over a month later work commenced on straightening a portion of the boiler so a patch could be manufactured and installed. This next shot shows the front boiler course being straightened by Brendan Zeigler and Linn Moedinger on 30 Jan 2008.

At some point while this was occurring the rear driving wheels were removed to rest here on the Strasburg shop floor on 5 Feb 2008. There are two gas lines wrapping around one of the wheels. The gas is ignited for the purpose of heating the wheel's tire so it will expand allowing it to be removed and replaced. On 22 Feb 2008 the boiler's door sheet was flanged by a crew of 9 men. It took two and a half hours for this to be accomplished. From the photos it looks like hard work and a time consuming procedure to create this new door sheet from scratch.

On 28 Mar 2008 construction of a patch for the second boiler course was commenced and placed onto the boiler shell.

Fast forward from 2008 to 22 May 2019, much, much, more work has been performed and RGS 20 is rolled out of the Strasburg backshop for its first firing, 68 years after the last time the boiler produced steam.

It's now June and RGS 20 has just completed another trailer transport arriving back at the Colorado Railroad Museum (CRM). By August the museum had manufactured a new cab which was attached and the engine rolled out of the shop for these two photos.

With re-building complete the Colorado Railroad Museum anticipates RGS 20 will be available for transport to various three foot narrow gauge railroads such as the Cumbres & Toltec for operating excursions. The museum has announced that RGS 20 will make its debut at the museum on 1 Aug 2020.