In the days before it became a conveyor belt for Powder River Basin coal, the Joint Line offered drama and variety. Here on April 9, 1966, Denver & Rio Grande Western 5313, one of ten SD9’s on the road’s roster, and an F7B work an afternoon Pueblo freight south of Sedalia, climbing toward the divide at Palmer Lake. Rear end helpers F7A’s 5734 and 5631 are giving a shove behind the caboose. While Colorado & Southern and Southern Pacific commonly put the 1750-hp SD9’s on the head end of road freights, Rio Grande preferred them as boosters or coupled back to back on branch lines.
