I believe that in the book
My Life on the Mountain Railroadsthere was a story of the author (who worked on the D&RGW and Utah Railway, not NG but oh well) falling into the Spanish Fork river while getting a tree along the right-of-way of the Rio Grande. Another relates finding an axe stuck in the embankment somewhere near Castle Gate while trying to cut down another tree with a pick. Good reading for anyone interested.
There was another book, this time about the narrow gauge lines in Colorado, that unfortunately I do not remember the title to, that relates similar stories. It seems that Christmas trees on the cabooses were a long-standing tradition among the Rio Grande men, whether on the standard or narrow gauges.