Wagon Wheel Gap Route

and the

Denver & Rio Grande Railway

The People

The most important part of our history is the people that made all of this happen.  From the Railroad Developers, through the Engineers that designed the lines and equipment, to the Workers that spent many hard years completing the construction that we now marvel at.  The merchants, farmers and families that supported these tireless workers.  It is a time of Iron Horses and Iron Men, a time that will never repeat itself.

Railroaders

    Developers

William Jackson Palmer ( Denver & Rio Grande Railway ) President

Otto Meyers ( Rio Grande Southern Railroad ) Founder & President  

Also developer of roads connecting many of the mountain towns of Colorado, He was known as the  Path Finder of the San Juans

    Workers ( a complete list would cover well over ten thousand names...)

If you have historic  background on a Colorado railroad worker and would like to see it placed here, e-mail the information and any photos.

Townspeople

The rail line from Alamosa to South Fork crosses what is known as the San Luis Valley, the largest alpine valley in the world. Although it is at about 8,000 feet, and is considered a desert it has a vast under ground water reserve that feeds the farmers crops.  The potato is king here and has been grown here from the 1880's.  This photo taken in Monte Vista in 1939 is of a rail car being loaded just as it is done to this day.

Monte Vista in 1884 - just a water stop across the San Luis Valley - By 1910 a major town in the valley ( M.V. Fire Dept. )

Historic Historians

    Collectors - those who saved what we have today from the destruction of time

Robert W. Richardson 

Founded the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1958 which now includes both the great quality and quantity that he collected during the period that the Colorado railroads were in their decline.  With out his vision most of our Railroad History in Colorado would have been lost.

Carl Helfin

Operator of the Narrow Gauge Motel in Alamosa, stored quantities of historic railroad items that are now being placed in museums around Colorado.

    Photographers - those who documented our history on film and glass plates

    William Henry Jackson (1843-1942)

The best known photographer represented in the Detroit Publishing Company is William Henry Jackson. He was an early leader of the company but personally produced only a moderate number of the company's negatives. The Detroit collection includes many of Jackson's views of the west (especially the mammoth plates from the 1890s), family photographs, and a few images of Jackson himself. Jackson was also well-known for his round-the-world expedition photographing railroads and other types of transportation in twenty-four countries for the World's Transportation Commission.
1867  Jackson opens a photography studio in Omaha, Nebraska.

1870-1878     Jackson begins photographing the landscape of the Rockies, especially the Yellowstone area and Colorado, for Francis V. Hayden's Geological and Geographic Survey of the Territories.

1879    Gelatin dry plates become commercially available in the United States. Jackson opens a photography studio in Denver. Starts photographing the many Colorado Railroads, this continues into the 1900's

1890-1892    Jackson photographs for various railroad lines, including the Mexican Central, Baltimore & Ohio, and New York Central, using 18x22-inch glass plate negatives.

1893  Jackson's photographs commissioned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad are exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition.

 The volunteers of the  Denver & Rio Grande Historical Foundation

All of these people are volunteers, and give freely of their time, expertise and monies, we thank them for their support.

Don Shank - Founder and President

Robert Shank Jr. -  worker, collector, builder of expert reproductions.

Robert Shank Sr. - Photographer, Collector & Modeler of all things railroad and most important, Father and Inspiration to the Shank Brothers. 

Matt Cutter - Builder, restorer, worker on the WWGR, also an experienced train engineer. 

Richard Cutter - worker, photographer, curator of the museum, & keeper of the web page.

Mark Cutter - worker, now with the Marines.

Ron Artencio - hardest worker we have, a Fire Man, Paramedic, Railroad Maintenance & Train Engineer.

Don Shank watching/ Matt Cutter Working !!!          Matt watching and Don working....                        Mark Cutter working.....

1st Work Crew                                                       Car Move - Ron, Don & Matt                                 The forgotten worker !!!!!

Matt Cutter, Don Shank, Rich Mallard, Robert Gram, Roger Cutter

Many more have been helping out on this project, we will add their information as approved by them....

Robert Gram, Roger Cutter,  John Trembly, Casey Jones, Larry Spitz and many more....

Wonderful support has been given by:

The Great people at: Blue Creek Resort, River Bend Resort, Mineral County Offices, Rio Grande County Offices, City of South Fork Offices, and many more.

Please submit any information or suggestions to be included to:  RioGrandMuseum@cs.com

Historic Photos from the National Archives, & Local Historic Societies

Web Site E-Mail Address is Wagon-Wheel-Gap@hotmail.com

Also see our History of San Luis Valley & it's Railroads web site:

Wagon-Wheel-Gap.freehomepage.com

It's still under construction but you may find it interesting.

This is not an official web site of the D&RG Ry. Historical Foundation. 

It is a private informational site by Richard Cutter who is solely responsible for content and

content is not submitted to, approved nor controlled by the D&RG Historical Foundation.

Unless otherwise Noted

Historical Photographs 1800's to 1940's from the National Archives

Photos, Videos and Text are Copyrighted by Richard Cutter

   - Photos can be used for non-commercial use if plainly identified as to copyright holder and location, such as "at Wagon-Wheel-Gap-Route, Colorado"

The name "Wagon Wheel Gap Route" refers to the section of the Creede Branch of the Old "Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad" that extends from South Fork to Creede Colorado, the name was developed and used for this website and is considered as our trademark.

Last updated: July 03, 2005

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