Equipment

he EMD F7 was a diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and General Motors Diesel. Although originally promoted by EMD as a freight-hauling unit, the F7 became one of the most iconic passenger hauling locomotives of the last Golden Age of railroad travel in the 50’s and 60’s pulling such famous trains such as the Santa Fe Railway’s Super Chief or El Capitan and the CB&Q-D&RGW-WP’s combined California Zephyr. Our pair of F7’s were built for the Chicago & Northwestern (CNW) in October of 1949.

The 402 was built as CNW 4075A and 403 built as CNW 4079C. Tagging onto a popular CNW slogan of the period claiming “400 miles in 400 minutes – as the distance between Chicago and Minneapolis, many passenger F7’s were renumbered into the 400 series, including these two units becoming 421 and 422 in March of 1972 and then finally re-numbered to current 402 and 403 for the same railroad in 1982.

The remaining F7’s became surplus, many succumbing to the scrapper’s torch. Happier days were ahead for this pair however as they were rescued by the newly formed Canon City & Royal Gorge Railroad in June of 1998.

Proudly repainted into a heritage scheme of the famous D&RGW that has plied the rails of the Royal Gorge since its original construction, these very historic locomotives have symbolized this company’s revival of the bygone glory and glamor of rail travel through one of the most awe-inspiring natural wonders of our world.

Cañon City Colorado

he Full-Length Domes represented the pinnacle of Dome Car design with the upper level glass enclosure running from one end of the car to the other. However, only 30 total full-length domes were designed and built by the two leading passenger car manufacturers at the time. Pullman-Standard was first with an order of ten built in 1952 and Budd followed closely behind with orders of 14 in 1954 and 6 more in 1955. While similar in design, there are distinct mechanical and engineering differences between the two manufacturers both inside and out, as well as unique design differences amongst the manufacturers themselves.

Our 4 Full-Length Domes were purchased in 2005-2006 from Holland-America Westours (known for their cruise ships and vacation packages), and all had operated in Alaska through the Denali National Park under contract with the Alaska Railroad. While in that service, each car was named after a river in that region. Prior to operation in Alaska however, these ubiquitous cars have a captivating history.

Royal Gorge Route