Railfan Hi Resolution Train Photo Gallery

The eastbound "Grand Canyon," powered by nine Sante Fe red and silver "Warbonnet" F units, rounds Sullivan's Curve, on Cajon Pass, on July 11, 1964.  The "Grand Canyon" connected Los Angeles with Chicago, and offered connecting service to the Grand Canyon.  Interestingly, this train never offered dining service, so when it was time to eat, the train would stop at one of the Harvey House Restaurants, which were situated at appropriate locations along the railroad.  This area has been totally modified since the time of this picture, and would be nearly unrecognizable today.

VIA's eastbound "Canadian" is led by an F40PH-2, as it speeds along the Bow River, between Lake Louise and Banff, in western Alberta.  This location is known as Morant's Curve.  It was made famous by the legendary photgrapher Nicholas Morant, who worked for the Canadian Pacific as their official photgrapher during much of the middle period of the twentieth century.  This was one of his favorite locations.

Denver & Rio Grande narrow-gauge K-36 No. 484 is heading a short freight train, past Caribou Junction, some two and a half miles east of Durango, and on out the "Farmington Branch" to Farmington, New Mexico, in the winter of 1964.

It is snowing steadily at Cumbres on March 6, 1958.  No 481  has just led an eastbound freight up the 4% grade of Cumbres Pass.  In concert with another locomotive, they are making a "Cumbres Turn," in which they haul a freight from Chama to Cumbres, then return to Chama with just a caboose.  There they assemble and run a second load to Cumbres.  After the second turn up the Pass, they may go on to Alamosa or return to Chama for another turn or two the next day.  At this time, the San Juan Basin Oil Boom is in full swing.  This surge in business would keep the railroad running another 10 years.

The California Zephyr heads west from Price, Utah, into the Wasatch Mountains on June 5, 1967.  The train crossed the Rockies and Sierra Nevada's in daylight, on its 48-hour run fomr Chicago to Oakland/San Francisco.  It operated over three different railroads: the Burlington, the Rio Grande, and the Western Pacific, and was discontinued in 1969.  Today this Rio Grande track is owned and operated by the Union Pacific, and is the route of Amtrak's "California Zephyr."