Here's a photo I took on April 17, 1983, FORTY-ONE YEARS AGO, that shows one of the last runs of the eastbound RIO GRANDE ZEPHYR, and I believe it's somewhere west of Bond, CO. If anyone can offer up some more specifics of where this was taken, please let me know. It may have been east of Bond and, as you can see, the parallel road was unpaved and some other chasers were stirring up some dust.

My long-time fiend David Busse and I ventured to Colorado for about a week to document some of the last runs of this train and we also checked out operations on the Tennessee Pass line and the Craig Branch. David is now retired, but in 1983 he was heavily involved in the TV news business. One of the best memories I have of this trip was us managing to commandeer a television news helicopter from another TV station to chase the RGZ for several miles. The helicopter, pilot and reporter were also there to do a story on the train's last run. I have to say this was the only time I've chased a train with a helicopter and it's highly addictive.

It was sad to see the D&RGW exit the passenger business and, along with it, the wonderful concept of dome cars in the Colorado Rockies, using equipment from the original CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR that operated from 1949 to 1970. The traditional dining car, with white linen table cloths, china, polished silver utensils and table accessories and exceptionally good food prepared on site in a real kitchen was also something to lock into the memory banks.

Nothing lasts forever and the only constant in life is change. Today, traffic levels on the former D&RGW have fallen to a point that makes one wonder if the line has a long-term future.