Chris Walker Wrote:
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> I was under the impression that the cross was
> applied by the RGW to differentiate the NG cars
> once they initiated the standard gauging of their
> lines.
The crosses pre-date both standard gauging and the RGW by several years. However I'd be overjoyed to find a confirmation, preferably a primary source, that they actually were related to Scofield roads specifically which the photographic evidence seems to suggest.
For those unfamiliar with the Utah predecessors of the first D&RGW, Charles Scofield was a New York stock broker and land speculator who bought up the narrow gauge Mormon roads, including the Wasatch & Jordan Valley, Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd and Utah & Pleasant Valley and then sold them to General Palmer when the D&RGW was building west from Colorado. Most of the U&PV rolling stock, which was surprisingly vast for such a short road, made up a good portion of the original D&RGW narrow gauge roster.