Books

BOOKS ON RAILROADING IN THE ROARING FORK VALLEY AND COLORADO

HISTORIC ASPEN IN RARE PHOTOGRAPHS featuring the Journals of Charles S. Armstrong By Christain J. Buys This book contains many railroad photographs and related history and stories. Western Reflections Publishing Company, Ouray, CO 2001.

ASPEN The History of a Silver Mining Town 1879-1893 By Malcolm J. Rohrbough Chapter 11 provides the history of the D&RG and Colorado Midland arriving in Aspen. Oxford University Press 1986, out of print. New publisher University Press of Colorado, Boulder, CO 2000 in soft back.

ASPEN on the Roaring Fork Frank LL. Wentworth , Sundance Publications 1956 (Out of print), "An illustrated History of Colorado's Greatest Silver Camp." The book is mostly about Aspen in it early years, but it has some excellent pictures of the CM and D&RG railroads in and around Aspen and the arrival of the first D&RG train in Aspen. Out of print

TAKE THE ASPEN TRAIN By Edward Larsh and Robert Nichols Future Journey Publishing Co 1988 Out of print, but a limited supply is available from the GRM Gift Shop.

BASALT AND THE FRYING PAN Legacy of the Colorado Midland Railroad Earl V. Elmont, Who Press, Balsalt, CO 2004. This book tell the story of the railroad, settlers, and their desendants in Basalt and along the Frying Pan River.

THE CRYSTAL RIVER PICTORIAL McCoy. This book is a detailed photographic record of the shortline railroads that once served Colorado's rugged Crystal River District. Includes narrow- and standard-gauge lines, an electric tramway, and a switch backing line that used a Shay geared locomotive. You'll also get a look at the region's coking operations, coal mining and incredible marble quarry. 224 pages, 278 B&W and color photographs, 8ˆ"x 11", hardcover. Out of print, but a limited supply is available from the GRM Gift Shop.

COLORADO MIDLALND RAILWAY: Daylight through the divide. By Dan Abbott, Sundance publications 1989 Out of print, but a limited supply is available from the GRM Gift Shop.

GLELNWOOD SPRINGS A Quick History including Glenwood Canyon, By Jim Nelson. This book has several chapters and interspered bits on railroad history in Glenwood Springs, Glenwood Canyon and Coal Basin. Blue Chicken Publishing, Glenwood Springs, CO, 2003.

MARBLE: A Town Built on Dreams - Volume 1 By Oscar McCollum Jr. The Marble area in the beautiful Crystal River Valley of Colorado is covered in a very thorough manner in both text and illustrations in this new book. Much of the text presents the history of Marble through the pages of newspaper accounts of the day. Hundreds of rare photographs show Marble as it really was. The railroads of the Crystal River region played an important part in the history of Marble. They operated from Carbondale to Marble, with branch lines that included the Crystal River Railroad's narrow-gauge Coal Basin "High Line" and the Treasury Mountain Railroad. 352 pages, 380 black and white photos and 50 full color views, 20 maps, hardcover. Out of print, but a limited supply is available from the GRM Gift Shop.

MARBLE: A Town Built on Dreams - Volume 2 By Oscar McCollum. The Marble area in the beautiful Crystal River Valley of Colorado is covered in a very thorough manner in both text and illustrations. Much of the text presents the history of Marble through the pages of newspaper accounts of the day. Hundreds of rare photographs show Marble as it really was. 352 pages, hardcover. Out of print, but a limited supply is available from the GRM Gift Shop.

HISTORICAL VIGNETTES OF MARBLE COLORADO: A Sourcebook of Marble History By Oscar McCollum Jr. Published by Author 2003, 162 pages, soft cover. available from the GRM Gift Shop.

RAILROADS OF COLORADO: Your Guide to Colorado's Historic Trains and Railway Sites By Claude Wiatrowski. This book explores the fascination these improbable railways inspire and transports the reader back a century, providing the history of these unique railroads, the engineering that paved their way into the mountains, and the men who built and ran them. Explore both ghosts of long-gone trains that haunt the mountains and the restored trains whose whistles still echo off those granite peaks.

RIO GRANDE IN COLOR Volume 1, Colorado. Ross Grenard. This is the story of 25 epochal years in the corporate and operational life of an American railroad, during which it evolved from a ward of the courts into a railroad second to none. Covered here is the post-steam, mainline Rio Grande and its operations. Included are the near-demise of passenger service, the last years of standard-gauge steam, and first and second generation diesel units. 128 pgs., 180 color photos, 8ˆ"x 11", hdbd. (Volumes 2 and 3 also available).

ROAD TO RICHES: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen By Cathy Clamp and C.T. Adams. From political backstabbing to multiple levels of saboteurs, this book is a narrative tale of the hardworking, proud men of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad who were involved in a race against the Colorado Midland to become the first to reach Aspen. The winner would not only acquire the market for the traveling tourist, but also the valuable freight contracts for the silver and coal found in the area. 192 pages, 26 photos and illustrations, softbound. Out of print

ROARING FORK VALLEY An Illustrated Chronicle By Len Shoemaker Sundance Publications 1973, 1979. Out of print

Glenwood Railroad Museum

Stop by our book section. We have a large collection of new and used books for sale and a small reference library on Colorado railroading.

Below is a list of books written about the railroads which operated in this region.

GRM Reference Library

Book List