That time a Railroad got ALL of its Trains stuck in the Snow – RGS 1938 Blizzard

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In today’s video, we take a look at how everyone’s favourite poor man’s railroad, the Rio Grande Southern, got every one of its working engines stuck in a blizzard

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This video falls under the fair use act of 1976.
This video is available to use under the appropriate Creative Commons Licence.
Any images used that fall under any Creative Commons Licence belong to their respective owners.

Picture & Information References:
https://www.rgsrr.com/rgs/tline4.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/29903115@N06/48644323816/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/29903115@N06/
https://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,355142,355352#msg-355352
https://www.facebook.com/DRGWRR/photos_by – Robert W. Richardson Denver Public library collection
https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2299648/m1/1/
https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2298387/m1/1/
https://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,214263,214265
https://www.okthepk.ca/publicArchive/202102rgs/news06.htm

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21 thoughts on “That time a Railroad got ALL of its Trains stuck in the Snow – RGS 1938 Blizzard”

  2. Important to note too the drgw did its fare share of snow fighting. My grandfather was a road foreman of engines and got stranded on cumbres pass in the 60s for about a week. They had to be rescued via helicopter. To say it’s changed in modern railroading is not true we still get stranded in big snow storms but not on the level the men before us had to.

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  4. The RGS is a Legendary railroad among the Colorado Narrow Gauge. And often for all the wrong reasons. This is one of my favorite stories about them as it illustrates how difficult it is to run any railroad in the mountains during winter.

    Another little story about the RGS that might tickle your fancy is that they had a literal Goat on their payroll! During certain times of the year, sheep were big traffic on the RGS. And one issue they had was getting the sheep loaded onto stock cars. I don't know specific details, but the long and short is that someone found a goat that could lead the sheep onto the stock cars and was JUST smart enough to get out of them before they closed the doors. I don't think this goat had a name and, allegedly, was paid in Chewing Tobacco. Apparently, in one of the surviving RGS depots, you can still find payroll receipts saying "Tobacco paid to Goat".

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  5. While I can certainly understand how those poor men must have felt being stranded for hours and days in the winter wilderness, I still can't deny it is a rather funny story, almost like something found in a script. Let's not forget that some of the engines involved in this Bad Blizzard Rescue are preserved today, giving them some fun history.

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  17. Please make a video on steam tractors and steam wagons. They're not trains, but they're so "Train that can go anywhere " idea that I think It is such underrated topic. This is the best place I could think to ask that PLEASE GUYS IM BEGGING, I WANNA KNOW THEIR STORY IN DETAIL XD

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  18. Considering the totally clapped-out second hand nature of the RGS's entire existence (never owning a brand-new loco for example) its AMAZING so many pieces of RGS locos and rolling stock existing in museums and displays to this day. I think of all US railroads only the New York Ontario and Western (the "old woman") and the Georgia and Florida ("gone and forgotten" ) had comperable bad fortune during theiir existances.

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