GRAMPS Three-foot gauge tank car UTLX No. 55172 is displayed at the Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden on August 23, 2021. In 1939, 25 frameless standard gauge tank cars of 60,000-pound capacity were converted with narrow gauge bettendorf-type cast steel trucks for service on Rio Grande’s San Juan Extension out of Alamosa, Colorado. Many of these cars were painted with large “GRAMPS” lettering as seen on No. 55172. Alamosa oil refinery owner Lafayette Hughes was leasing these cars to move oil from the Farmington, New Mexico, oil fields to his refinery and reportedly lettered the cars so he could point out “his” cars to his grandkids.
A compilation of DRGW's La Veta Pass route to the San Luis Valley now operated by the SLRG.
With Rio Grande Scenic passenger operations coming to a close in 2019, the Alamosa sub is once again freight-only, as reflected here.
