Colorized Photo of Silverton Branch from 1906 in Pullman Green

I recently picked up an old book titled "Heart of the Rockies in Colorado". The book dates from 1906 and there is a note in the front that says "This book is for sale only on Denver & Rio Grande trains by agent of the Van Noy News Company Denver". There are 24 colorized photos and paintings of scenery along and around what was then the D&RG. Many of the views in the book I have seen elsewhere in black and white but this one has the pictures color tinted. Among the most interesting shots are the following:

- Top of Pike's Peak with a steam engine.
- Royal Gorge 3-rail trackage.
- Painting of the Mount of the Holy Cross.
- Curecanti Needle.
- Painting of Toltec Gorge that C&TS has used in their advertising at times.

The picture that interested me the most however was a photo of the High Line on the Silverton Branch showing a train with passenger cars in PULLMAN GREEN. The other pictures in the book show the various passenger trains (narrow and standard gauge both) in a tuscan red color. Accoring to CRM Annual #25 the passenger car color was red up until 1918. I assume this colorization in green was just at the discretion of the individual performing the work but I still find it interesting. Does anyone have any greater insight into this beyond my simple speculation? Strange that the railroad would have this photo in a book that was being sold on their trains with what appears to be an incorrect representation of their trains.

The book is not really in the best shape but it was still a great find for me and I am very pleased to have found it to say the least.
It is always nice to have first hand insight from the time period and to see how people viewed the world around them in their own words.

Daniel



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2009 02:43AM by dandtsrr2.