<p>By Chuck Conway. Produced by Dale Sanders. Cloth with dust jacket, oversize 12x9 horizontal format, color photos throughout. 2011. "The Colorado Rockies have been home to some of the most dramatic railroad operations in America. Crest of the Continent is the first of a series of all-color books illustrating the Denver &amp; Rio Grande Western as it traversed its home territory in Colorado and Utah. The early chapters of this initial volume follow the line south out of Denver along some of the original narrow-gauge alignment to Pueblo, Trinidad, and the San Luis Valley. Later chapters examine the rails as they wind through the Royal Gorge, over Tennessee Pass, on to Aspen and ultimately Grand Junction. Originally built to serve the boom or bust mining communities scattered throughout the mountains, the Rio Grande found its long-term success in the transcontinental freight and passenger business, all the while surrounded by larger carriers intent on putting the road out of business. D&amp;RGW's agile and innovative demeanor and its willingness to go the extra mile to provide excellent service made it a customer favorite in spite of the road's small size and limited line haul. While some of the scenes in this volume could be reproduced given the right circumstances, many, like the Rio Grande itself, are gone forever. These pages, however, are a celebration of how it was during the glory days of color photography along that most interesting of mountain railroads - the Rio Grande."</p>

Rio Grande: Crest of the Continent

Chuck Conway

White_River_Productions

<p>Cloth with dust jacket, 9.25x12.25" oversize horizontal format, 192 glossy pages, color photos throughout. 2014. "Rio Grande - Heart of the Rockies looks at the dramatic influence of railroad builder David H. Moffat on the Denver &amp; Rio Grande Western. In Volume I of this series, one of the watershed events for the young D&amp;RG was the conversion of the main lines from narrow gauge to standard gauge, initiated in 1890 during Moffat's presidency. Following his departure from the D&amp;RG the following year, Moffat intensified the pursuit of his great dream - constructing a direct transcontinental mainline west from Denver. Indeed, the "Moffat Road", which he spearheaded, eventually became the primary transcontinental conduit for the D&amp;RGW as well as the source of substantial local traffic.Moffat, however, would not live to see the outcome of what he had begun. Following his passing, his Denver, Northwestern &amp; Pacific was reorganized into the Denver &amp; Salt Lake. The color images in this volume illustrate the many construction challenges he faced as he pushed the DNW&amp;P rails west, for this was no route seeking the easiest of grades and alignments. It was the boring of the Moffat Tunnel beneath the Continental Divide in 1927 that encouraged the D&amp;RGW to cast its lot with the D&amp;SL in developing both local and transcontinental traffic. The completion of the tunnel and the opening of the Dotsero Cutoff in 1934 gave the line through the Heart of the Rockies a chance to thrive. "The line west of Denver remains one of the most colorful operations in the region. Though many changes occurred in the final quarter of the 20th century, the experience of trains winding through the mountains has beckoned rail photographers from around the globe to record the action."</p>

Rio Grande: Heart of the Rockies

White River Productions, Bucklin, MO

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chuck Conway. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Chuck Conway

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chuck Conway. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Rio Grande: Crest of the Continent

Rio Grande: Heart of the Rockies