Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Grand Junction Colorado USA 22nd October 1979

The other end of the train seen in the previous post!

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad "first generation" F9 diesel 5771 up front with Budd stainless steel observation car "Silver Sky" visible on the tail-end of the Rio Grande Zephyr at Grand Junction station, an intermediate stop on from Denver to Salt Lake City.

This train was the last non-Amtrak long distance train in the USA after the Southern Railway stopped running the Southern Crescent from New Orleans. It was a great railroading experience and had a brilliant 1940s-50s atmosphere. We changed at Salt Lake City during the night but the Amtrak train bore no comparison although the journey through the mountains & onward to San Francisco was certainly spectacular.