Re: Gunnison Relics

Yes, my granddad, CL Braswell, did also live and work out of Grand Junction during World War II. He worked the Montrose branch out of the Junction and one time when he was running the Mountaineer, he hit a rock slide in the Gunnison River Canyon and almost went into the river. As a youngster I spent several summers during that time period visiting my grandparents, while they were living there in an apartment at 5th and Rood, and I would go up on the 5th Street viaduct and watch the big steamers roll through town with war time traffic ( I later worked in those ice houses icing reefers while in college during the late 70s ). My granddad could not work on the mainline as he was a little color blind, of which he did qualify for, however. When the Gunnison traffic declined, he would also go down to Montrose, Delta and Grand Junction for weeks at a time and work out of there as well and on the North Fork Branch, running GP-7s. He did run the last train to Ouray with the 318 in March 1953. An article in Rail Annual 13 covers this story. My granddad retired in 1957 and moved to Delta passing away in June 1972. I never took many photos but I do have a few that I will post and I also have the Gunnison Courier article that was written when he retired that I can also post. As a foot note when my granddad was temporarily living in Grand Junction, GB Gus Aydelot lived in my grandparent’s house in Gunnison when he was the division superintendent.