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The Famous Denver & Rio Grande Western Ski Train

The Ski Train is a Colorado institution having been in operation since 1940, inaugurated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad that year to connect Denver with the ski resort town of Winter Park. Today, the train is owned and operated by the Ansco Investment Company, which has managed and maintained it since 1988 when it was purchased directly from the D&RGW. The train operates year-round offering summer and winter scheduling with two daily trips in each direction (what’s more, the train is still adorned in Rio Grande’s classic orange, silver, and black livery!). Obviously, the winter schedule is the most popular but the train still receives its fair share of summertime traffic as well, which usually includes many vacationers to see the beautiful scenery around Denver.

Since its inception in 1940 the Ski Train has remained a very popular operation, much of which was due to the D&RGW's outstanding service, on board amenities during the train’s over two hour journey, and spectacular scenery through 29 tunnels (including the famed Moffet Tunnel). To give a brief history of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, also known as simply the Rio Grande, it was one our country’s most famous railroads. Its speed-lettering herald is likewise one of the most recognized of all time and people continue to flock to its scenic routes to travel trains such as the California Zephyr, now operated by Amtrak, and the Durango & Silverton, perhaps the most famous tourist line in the country which operates several miles of the D&RGW’s former narrow-gauge trackage in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. While the railroad officially became a fallen flag in 1996 when the Union Pacific took over the Southern Pacific the railroad’s identity had mostly disappeared before that when its parent company Rio Grande Industries purchased the SP in 1988 and began consolidating D&RGW operations into the much larger railroad.

The Rio Grande has an interesting if somewhat complicated history. Like many of the now-famous fallen flag railroads, it was created through mergers and acquisitions of smaller railroads. Its predecessors’ primary purpose for being built was to conquer the Rocky Mountain range and link Denver with Salt Lake City, Utah. This would come later, however, as the new and prospering town of Denver chartered the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1870 to build south, wanting the railroad to reach El Paso, Texas and eventually Mexico but after it came under the control of Jay Gould in 1880 it took on a new direction and would only make it as far south as Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Besides the railroad’s famed narrow-gauge lines two other future ventures would earn the railroad legendary status. At the Continental Divide northwest of Denver, the Rio Grande completed its famous Moffat Tunnel in 1928, some 6.1-miles in length and in doing so bypassed the torturous Rollins Pass, over 11,000 feet in height! The new tunnel cut down transit times over that section of main line from several hours to mere minutes and further strengthened the line’s demand as a high-speed connection over the Rockies.

Today, the train continues to depart from Denver's famous Union Station, an institution itself. Purely on aesthetics Denver Union Station is one of the most appealing and interesting railroad stations in the country. While part of this is due to the structure’s beautiful Beaux-Arts, Neoclassical design the other part is the station’s impressive and distinctive arched neon-lit sign, Union Station, Travel by Train.

Thankfully, Denver Union Station has had quite a happy and productive life (unlike some of its other counterparts across the country) and has been in continual use since it opened in 1914. Even better, the station’s future looks very bright as the City of Denver begins its major commuter rail project throughout the city (which the station will be a very important part of).

Today, while a few of the station’s most decorative pieces have been removed including chandeliers, candelabras, and a large welcome-arch it mostly remains intact and just as it appeared following its opening. The station also remains quite active with all floors filled with offices, business, or entertainment including the area immediately surrounding the building, which is quite prominent itself.

For more information on tourist trains like the Ski Train you might want to consider the book Empire State Railway Museum's Tourist Trains 2006 from the Empire State Railway Museum. Given excellent reviews this guidebook covers nearly all of the tourist railroads and museums operating in the country in fine detail. So, if you’re interested in locating a tourist train or railroad near you, or simply want to know more about a particular one, you will certainly not be disappointed in Empire State Railway Museum’s guidebook to tourist railroads and museums. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".

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