D&RGW Passenger Cars and Trains
Index For This Page
This page was last updated on January 5, 2026.
Rio Grande Passenger Notes
Rio Grande Passenger Notes -- Brief notes about selected D&RGW passenger cars, includes a timeline of the Rio Grande Zephyr.
Rio Grande Passenger cars
Rio Grande Passenger Car Roster, 1887-1909
Rio Grande Passenger Car Roster, 1909-1916
Rio Grande Passenger Car Roster, 1916-1924
Rio Grande Passenger Car Roster, 1924-1987
Rio Grande Passenger Cars, By Type
Rio Grande Passenger Cars, Chronology
Rio Grande Passenger Trains
Royal Gorge and Prospector
Rio Grande Royal Gorge and Prospector Passenger Trains -- A brief page about D&RGW's The Prospector and The Royal Gorge passenger trains.
RG Zephyr
Rio Grande Zephyr Passenger Train -- A brief page about D&RGW's Rio Grande Zephyr passenger train.
Exposition Flyer
Exposition Flyer was operated by Burlington (CB&Q), D&RGW and Wwetsren Pacific between Chicago and Oakland, initally to bring visitors to the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay in 1939 and 1940.
(Read about the Flying Rio Grande logo, first used in 1939 on head rests for the Exposition Flyer)
1939
"A
new passenger train, the "Exposition' Flyer," was inaugurated between Chicago and Oakland via CB&Q, D&SL,
D&RGW and WP lines. Despite its longer journey, this train
equalled the schedule of comparable trains on the CP-UP-Chicago & North Western route." (LeMessena, Rio Grande To The Pacific, page 271)
"With the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and the New York World's Fair, the time was right. The three railroads agreed to start a new train, to be called the Exposition Flyer, on the Chicago to San Francisco (really Oakland Mole) route. The train would have a conglomeration of mostly heavyweight equipment from each road and the Pullman Company. Each railroad contributed cars in proportion to their route mileage. For the Rio Grande, this was three coach cars, a diner and three lounge-observation cars for the through regular consist." (Colorado Rail Annual No. 33, Rio Grande Standard Gauge Passenger Trains & Cars, page 125)
June 10, 1939
Exposition Flyer
service started.
1946
"Transcontinental sleeping-car service between New York City and
Oakland, California, was inaugurated on the "Exposition
Flyer" via Chicago, Illinois, on the WP-D&RGW-CB&Q and
NYC/PRR." (LeMessena, Rio Grande To The Pacific, page 161)
(Exposition Flyer operated from 1939 to 1949, when it was replaced by the California Zephyr, operated by the same three railroads between Chicago and Oakland.)
1949
"A new deluxe train, the "California Zephyr" running
between Chicago, Illinois, aad Oakland, California, over
the CB&O, D&RGW and WP railroads, replaced the "Exposition Flyer." (LeMessena, Rio Grande To The Pacific, page 170)
March 21, 1949
California Zephyr service started.
(Read the Wikipedia article about the Exposition Flyer)
Rio Grande Passenger Car Rosters By RGM&HS
D&RGW Passenger Cars at the current RGM&HS (rgmhs.org) web site
The following links are for the passenger car rosters of the abandoned D&RGW.org website at Archive.org, captured in 2008.
Rio Grande Heavyweight Passenger Cars
Pullman Cars Assigned to D&RG/D&RGW
Rio Grande Lightweight Passenger Cars (Prospector, Royal Gorge, and others)
Rio Grande Lightweight Passenger Cars (California Zephyr)
Rio Grande Ski Train Passenger Cars
D&RGW Diner 1116
By Matt Darling, The Prospector, Volume 15, Number 4 (2016)
In the late 1970s, the primary diner for the Rio Grande Zephyr, the Budd built "Silver Banquet" was having increasing electrical problems and needed extensive repairs. More than once Grande employees were observed working in the electrical cabinet while the diner was in operation.
Tn 1979 the Rio Grande purchased and renovated an ACF diner, ex UP 4801. It came from Boise, Idaho and was built in 1949 as a "Dry Ice Diner" . The "new" diner was to provide backup for Silver Banquet. The car was renumbered to 1116, placing it numerically right after Silver Banquet, (also known as 1115), and painted it in Single Stripe scheme minus speed lettering. During the next four years 1116 and Silver Banquet shared the job of feeding RGZ patrons. In order to keep the visual appearance of the Zephyr intact, the diner was placed right behind the combine. With the diner at the front, passengers did not need to walk through, thus allowing the Grande to keep them out of the crew car.
After the RGZ was discontinued in 1983, the Grande placed the 1116 in storage at Burnham Shops in Denver. When Philip Anschutz purchased the Rio Grande on October 1st 1984, his Ansco Investment Company took over the Ski Train and the 1116 was included in the transfer. The diner sat in Burnham for decades and was seldom if ever used. In 2011 the 1116 and combine 1230 were donated to the Colorado Railroad Museum by Ansco.
CRRM's first use of 1116 was at Goosefest in 2012, for a VIP dinner. UP coach 5442 has been at the museum for years. Since the arrival of the second UP car, the Museum has been working on a program called "Dim1er at the Diner." They have been upgrading the AC and electrical systems of the 1116 and the coach 5442 to comfortably house guests. 1116 was repainted back into its original UP paint and road number in July of 2013. In July 2014 the two UP cars were moved to a new location between the depot and the Richardson Library.
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