Prospector (train)

One of the Budd-built trainsets in 1941.

Postcard photo of the train.

The Prospector was a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad between Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. There were two incarnations of the train: 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 November 17, 1941. The original equipment was 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 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. The 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 reading:

"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"

However, the holders were not distributed as intended to passengers.

The Postwar Prospector

Prospector route[1]

Legend Distance Station 0 Union Station, Denver, Colorado 50 mi (80 km) East portal, Moffat Tunnel Continental Divide 56.2 mi (90.4 km) West portal, Moffat Tunnel 103 mi (166 km) Kremmling 129 mi (208 km) Bond 185 mi (298 km) Glenwood Springs 212 mi (341 km) Rifle 275 mi (443 km) Grand Junction Colorado/Utah border 353 mi (568 km) Thompson 444 mi (715 km) Price 526 mi (847 km) Provo 570 mi (920 km) Salt Lake City, Utah

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 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.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Prospector.

• Davis, Michael B. "Prospector: The Judge's Train." Colorado Rail Annual Number Nine. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1971. ISBN 0-918654-09-2.