Prospector (passenger train)
- For the Prospector that runs between Perth, Western Australia, and Kalgoorlie, see Transwa Prospector.
The Prospector was a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad between Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. Two incarnations of the train existed: a streamlined, diesel multiple unit train that operated briefly from 1941 to 1942; and a locomotive-hauled train of conventional passenger equipment that operated from 1945 until 1967.
The 1941-1942 Prospector
The train was inaugurated on November 17 1941. The original equipment on this train were a pair of Budd Company-built diesel multiple unit trains numbered M-1 and M-2. The trainsets, however, had significant reliability problems exacerbated by the difficult terrain through which the railway ran; consequently, the train was discontinued on July 5 1942. The trainsets were returned to Budd and ultimately scrapped.
For the inaugural trip in 1941, the railroad made stainless steel pass holders that were intended to be distributed to passengers aboard the first train. The pass holder was engraved with a line drawing of the train on the outside. On the inside were two cards - one with an embossed picture of a prospector and mule in gold, the other with a message that read
- "DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN RAILROAD IS HONORED TO WELCOME _____ ON THE INAUGURAL TRIP OF THE PROSPECTOR. NEW, DIESEL POWER, STAINLESS STEEL STREAMLINED TRAIN DESIGNED FOR OVERNIGHT EVERY NIGHT SERVICE BETWEEN DENVER AND SALT LAKE CITY"
The special pass holders were not distributed to passengers, and are now highly prized by railroadiana collectors.
The Postwar Prospector
Anticipating increases in overnight Denver-Salt Lake City rail passenger traffic after the end of World War II, the Rio Grande restored the Prospector on October 1 1945 using conventional heavyweight equipment. The railroad also began planning the acquisition of new equipment for the train. Soon, the Rio Grande purchased 28 new, lightweight passenger cars built by Pullman-Standard — equipment that had been ordered by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, but never used by them. The new, streamlined cars began service on the Prospector in 1950.
For most of the Prospector's existence, the train also carried cars belonging to the railroad's Royal Gorge passenger train between Grand Junction, Colorado and Salt Lake City. Between 1950 and 1953 the train's western terminus was extended from Salt Lake City to Ogden.
The Prospector made its final runs on May 28 1967.
Trivia
The Rio Grande Modeling and Historical Society, the official historical society for the former railroad, uses the name The Prospector for the title of the organization's quarterly journal in honor of this train.
References
- Davis, Michael B. "Prospector: The Judge's Train." Colorado Rail Annual Number Nine. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1971. ISBN 0-918654-09-2.
