If a railroad knew something about operating a railroad through the mountains, not around them, it was certainly the Rio Grande. On a railroad riddled with grades and tunnels, it took a page from ... (more)

Eastbound Union Pacific freight RODVM (Roper Yard in Salt Lake City to Denver Manifest) heads downgrade out of Tunnel 1 just east of Plainview, Colorado, on October 22, 1997. Rio Grande’s first ... (more)

Helper from Helper

In a view from the Dutch door of Rio Grande Zephyr dome-observation Silver Sky, a westbound Rio Grande pig train ascends the storied Soldier Summit... (more)

Rio Grande’s first EMD SD40T-2 “Tunnel Motor,” No. 5341, leads Union Pacific’s MDVRO manifest freight westbound just west of Rollinsville, Colorado, on September 22, 1998. Trailing No. 534... (more)

DRGW 5341 leads a southbound coal train across the S Platte River, in Denver, CO. Aug 13, 1983.

DRGW 5341 with train #531, an empty returning to the mine for loading. Seen near Energy, CO on Jul 27, 1977.

Rocky Mountain High

The Denver & Rio Grande Western's very first SD40T-2, number 5341, leads a westbound manifest down Tennessee Pass near Leadville, Colorado, on a September 1991 af... (more)

After helping a coal train reach Soldier Summit, a quartet of Rio Grande tunnel motors (DRGW 5341, 5353, 5396, 5405) return to Helper Yard on a sunny Feb. 28, 1998 afternoon.

Exiting Tunnel 1 just east of Plainview, Colorado, is eastbound Union Pacific freight RODVM (Roper Yard in Salt Lake City to Denver Manifest) on October 22, 1997. Rio Grande’s first EMD SD40T-2 ... (more)

Led by Rio Grande’s first Tunnel Motor, SD40T-2 No. 5341, an eastbound Rio Grande freight climbs the steep 3-percent grade of Tennessee Pass at Mitchell on a July 1984 morning. A total of 20,850... (more)

A trio of EMD tunnel motors lead Rio Grande's 143 train through fields of wheat and corn near Springville on June 26, 1989. The 5341 is D&RGW's first SD40T-2, built for the Grande by EMD in Oct. 1... (more)

Rio Grande's Helper Local makes a switch move on the former Provo Canyon Branch lead at 6th South and 2nd West in Provo. Pretend for a minute that the 'Heber Creeper' route from Provo Yard was nev... (more)

A sunny May morning in '88 finds Rio Grande's first tunnel motor leading the Railblazer through the small town of Lehi. A formation of birds appears to be frightened by the big noisy train.

The Denver & Rio Grande Western's very first SD40T-2 'tunnel motor' finds itself in Union Pacific's North Yard in Salt Lake City. The 5341, part of a series of 73 units was constructed by EMD in O... (more)

DRG&W 5341 is Rio Grande's first tunnel motor, built by EMD in 1974.