Bob Griswold, BS’54 can give you the real story behind every railroad in
Colorado. A writer, historian and collector of rail lore for the past 60
years, he’s ridden the posh Aztec Eagle into Mexico City, the bizarre
train/bus/auto called the “Galloping Goose” and the last passenger train to
Cripple Creek in 1949. He’s been the guest of the Southern Pacific of Mexico
president in his elegant private rail car and traveled on the Durango &
Silverton “when it was still a real train.”
At 79, Griswold is also Denver’s oldest streetcar operator. Once a week
he can be found at the helm of the Platte Valley Trolley, a popular local
attraction that transports sightseers from the Platte Valley downtown nearly
to Lakewood. “It’s a replica of the old ‘Seeing Denver” tourist
trolley...Although the streetcar itself was built in Iowa eight year ago,
the controls on both ends date back to the 1920s — antiques from Melbourne
Australia.”
Griswold has the railroad in his blood, or at least on his family tree.
His grandfather was a Union Pacific architect who designed railroad stations
at Julesberg, Colo. and Grand Island, Neb., among others. Griswold’s
interest in railroads dates back to his grade school days in Ohio. “I liked
riding the streetcars and the Cleveland Southwester Interurban, but what
really got me interested in railroads was the skeleton of the old Ohio
Railroad. The Ohio was a stilt railway started in 1840, with wood rails that
stopped abruptly in the middle of the woods between Cleveland and Toledo.
After I did some research, I discovered the reason: it went bankrupt before
it was completed. No trains ever ran on it.”
Small railroad lines continued to intrigue Griswold after his family
moved to Colorado in 1937. He delved into the state’s rich rail history and
even worked for the railroad during the summers. After graduating from DU
with a degree in business administration, he pursued railroading as a hobby
while employed … at the Continental Oil Co. He took early retirement in 1965
to turn his beloved avocation into a second career. Over the past 20 years,
Griswold has written six books on Colorado rail history.
Books by P.R. “Bob” Griswold
- The Denver & Salt Lake Railroad, 1913-1926
- Georgetown & The Loop
- David Moffat’s Denver, Northwestern & Pacific: The Moffat Road
All
published by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club
-
Colorado Traveler: Railroads of Colorado
-
Arizona Traveler: Guidebook’s Arizona Railroads
-
Railroads of California: Seeing The State By Rail
All published by Renaissance Publications
