Relevant Government Documents (mostly ICC)

OK, a bit of history here first: I started looking these up and photocopying them at the Iowa State Library as a teenager, back in the 1970's. That came to an abrupt end when the library moved the older volumes into reserved storage in the late 1970's. In the late 1990's I found them again at the Eastern Washington University Library and started up again, as time & money permitted grinding to a halt about 5 years ago when money got very tight. I hope to go back up soon and spend some enjoyable dusty hours. I haven't found several reports that I know I copied at parts of, rate complaints against the Uintah 7 D&SL. discontinuance of the MP's Colorado Eagle, etc.
BTW, ICC approval required for abandonment starting in 1921, to discontinue passenger service after 1958.
I should also note that these reports sometimes have errors. For example, several of the C&S cases say that Alpine Tunnel was closed by a cave-in in 1910 which ain't true!
Some guide to notation:
FD is Finance Docket, VD is Valuation Docket. Just plain Docket is a rate case or service complaint, etc.
Citations take the form [volume #]ICC{page #]
On some photocopies I trimmed too close and lack the page #, others are from my "get back to it" notes and are sometimes unclear.
Lets start:
ICC D&RGW Reports
[Note: Some of these are for lines formerly 3' gauge but 4' 8 1/2" when aband.] Comments in [] are the name the case was filed under if not D&RGW.
FD #5060 99ICC816 Parts of orig. line to Trinidad/Alamosa, North of Lascar
FD #5236 111ICC415 Crestone Br.
FD #6644 145ICC414 Floresta (Ruby/Anthracite) Br.
FD #7846 158ICC217 Engleville Br. (near Trinidad)
FD #8354 175ICC151 La madera Br.
FD #9139 184ICC138 Old main, Alamosa/Trinidad Lascar-Cuchara Jct.
FD #9386 193ICC??? Lake City Br.
FD #9135 193ICC337 Pitken Br. [C&S Et Al]
Same 199ICC628
FD #10105 202 ICC147 Pagosa Springs Br.
FD #11467 221ICC??? WAlsenberg-Cuchara Jct.-Trinidad
FD #11663 221ICC695 Aquit. of Baldwin Br.
FD #12319 233ICC101 Manitou Br.
FD #12974 242ICC85 Ryan cut-off (near Leadville)
FD #12829 244ICC60 Santa Fe Br.
FD #15781 271ICC199 Black Canyon/Cerro Summit
FD #20943 312ICC792 Abdn/sale of Silverton Br. (1962, denied)
FD #24745 334ICC539 Antonito-Durango-Farmington
Docket #34843 Service complaint, Included in report above
FD #29096 363ICC392 Sale of Silverton Br., 1979 [D&SNGRR Aquist. & Operation]

Abnd. Cases disposed of without report:
Some of these have enough info to identify, others just a case # and date decided, some are probably not 3' gauge
FD #15308 2/46 Castleton-Baldwin
FD #15500 1/47 Crested Butte-Anthracite
FD #17444 10/51
FD #17497 12/51
FD #17737 9/52
FD #17738 "embraced in 17737" (Ouray & Cedar Creek Brs. ?)
FD #18174 10/53 (Gunnison lines?)
FD #17889 12/53
FD #18361 2/54
FD #20343 11/58 Hooper Br.

RGS
FD #12519 Application for RFC loan
-236ICC507 12/39 Denied
-240ICC661 8/40 Rehearing, Denied
without report:
FD #14921 Loan from DSC (2nd)
-5/45 Approved
-1/48 Revised
FD #17624 RGS aband.4/52

D&SL
FD #10796 207ICC289 Rollins Pass line (1936!) one page

C&S ng
(Note: see D&RGW list for Pitken & Baldwin branches)
FD #1572 Romely Br. abnd. (east side remnant of Alpine)
-72ICC315 Denied 1922
-82ICC310 Approved 9/23
-86ICC392 Re-approved 11/24
-94ICC687 date of effect amended 7/24
-94ICC??? date amended again 9/24 (these two are short, 1/2 page or so)
FD #8748 Blackhawk-Central City Abdn., 1931 (Note: not operated since 2/15/25)
FD #10107 Most of Morrison Branch
FD #(7132?) 166ICC492 South park Abnd., 1930 Denied
FD #9556 193ICC707 Sale of South Park Lines, Denied [Denver, Intermountain & Summit Ry Aquist.]
FD #7132 217ICC366 South Park aband. 1/36 approved
FD #11114 Clear Creek lines aband.
-221ICC329 4/37 Approved, but only from Idaho Springs west. Balance denied.
-230ICC283 11/38 above result affirmed
FD #12817 244ICC511 Rest of the Clear Creek lines

Other lines:
FD #17689 SLVS Abd. 9/53, no report
FD #20571 SLVS Abd. 6/59, no report
(Sorry, I didn't note the case #'s on these)
72ICC13 Silverton Ry Aband.
187ICC152 Silverton Northern RFC loan
252ICC807 Silverton Northern Abnd. (Probably Silverton-Eureka)
175ICC??? Carson & Colorado Candeleria Br. [my notes say it's under Central Pacific]

Valuation Reports:
VD #1063 143ICC399 RGS
VD #???? 121ICC635 Silverton Northern Valuation
somewhere I have a copy of the D&RGW Valuation I can't find right now, I also have notes I can't decipher on valuations of CRI&P, WP, San Luis Central & Rio Grande Jct. More to come once I return to the stacks.

Other things
USGS, back in the 1920's, published a series in their bulletins entitled "Guidebook of the Western States." Bulletin 707 (Government Printing office, 1922) is "Part E: The Denver & Rio Grande Western Route". Think "Cinders & Smoke" but without the maps or as much detail. Covers both the Tennessee Pass and Marshall Pass routes, all the way to Ogden, with a section on The Leadville Loop. Includes sections on side (day) trips such as:
From Denver: Corona, Georgetown & Mount McClellan, South Platte Canyon, Other trips of interest.
From Colorado Springs: Manitou & the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, Cripple Creek by way of the "Short Line", South Cheyenne Canyon.
From Salt Lake City: Saltair Bathing Beach, Parleys Canyon & Park City, Bingham, the great Copper Camp.

There are a bunch of these for other routes, someday I've got to get them too.

You can find lots of interesting things in gov docs. For example, somewhere I've got a copy I made of a draft environmental impact statement on the abandonment of the MILW's western lines from the early 1980's.

That's what I've got for now,
hank



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2021 05:45PM by hank.