A Galloping Goose on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
OR
Operating a Goose With a Video Camera Battery
Photos and Narrative by Stan Jennings
| "Are you going to ride the Galloping Goose this June?" was the question posed by my friend who now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. The immediate response was shock, surprise and a moment of silence. Then we got down to basics. Yes, ex-Rio Grande Southern Railroad Galloping Goose Number 5 that has been on display at Dolores, Colorado since 1952 will operate on the C & TSRR June 3-8, 1998. The Number 5 was built in June 1933 by the Rio Grande Southern using a 1928 Pierce-Arrow Model 36 body and 6 cylinder engine with a RGS-built freight box. The Number 5 was rebuilt in 1946 with a Wayne bus body and a 1946 GMC 6 cylinder engine but retained the Pierce-Arrow hood and grill and the RGS-built freight body. In 1950 the Goose was modified slightly for tourist operation with complete abandonment of the RGS coming in 1952. The Galloping Goose Historical Society in Dolores, Colorado had just completed an eighteen-month restoration of the Number 5 to its Rio Grande Southern tourist configuration. |
| I called the C & TS the next day to make the necessary arrangements. By the time I called, everything was sold out except the Sunday, June 7, trips from Chama to Cumbres and return and the trip from Chama to Osier and return on Monday, June 8. I opted for the Monday trip because it was longer. Little did I know at the time that I was signing up for the most interesting and adventuresome trip of the whole session. |
| I had just received my 1949 Chevrolet pickup truck, which hadn't been driven since 1995, back from the painter. I don't have a more appropriate vehicle to accompany a Galloping Goose which last ran in 1951, so the work to get the truck back to legal status began in earnest. To add to the effect, I had a photographically suitable 1949 Utah license plate replica made. |
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| I arrived in Chama on Saturday June 6 and went looking for the Goose. My first photo location was high above Los Pinos Valley, a location that would have major significance two days later. The Goose was a beautiful sight, but it was obvious that something wasn't right with the engine in the Goose, a 361 GMC gasoline engine. (The 361 Model was manufactured from 1946 through 1949. With a 4 1/8" bore x 4 1/2 stroke and rated at 273 Lbs. Ft. of torque @1000 RPM and 105 Brake Horsepower at 82500 RPM it is quite a torque engine). I knew that earlier in the week the Goose had been having some trouble with crud in the fuel, a problem I could relate to because my trucks fuel pump sediment bowl had totally plugged up on the way to Chama - at ten o'clock at night. Sediment in the fuel tank is just something that happens when machinery sits but it is a problem that is fairly easy to fix. So, Wayne Brown, President of the Galloping Goose Historical Society, Assistant Motorman and On-Board Flight Engineer; Earl Knoob, Motorman (who was on vacation from the Fort Worth & Western Railroad); and crew assumed it was more of the same. Logical, but the problem tuned out to be something totally unexpected. The Goose actually coasted from Cumbres to Chama with the engine being engaged when needed to build up air pressure for the air brakes and the way was made clear so the Goose could coast right into the shop where work began immediately. It was discovered that the fuel pump moved fuel when tested on the bench, but il was obvious that when it was installed on the engine it just didn't work. The problem turned out to be 1990's gasoline. A NOS (New, Old Stock) fuel pump diaphragm had been used when the GMC engine was rebuilt. The modern gasoline had softened the NOS fuel pump diaphragm so the diaphragm was giving rather than moving fuel. Of course, there was no replacement diaphragm available, so installing another diaphragm for the remaining trips was not an option. The obvious solution is an electric fuel pump, but at one MPG uphill (the goose weighs around 10 tons fully loaded) the fuel pump has to be of high capacity. A 12 Volt RV-Race rotary vane electric fuel pump was the only possibility, but the Goose is 6 Volt. A proper pump was located and installed with a separate 12 Volt battery used for fuel pump operation. |
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| Sunday was cloudy and windy most of the day, but the Goose ran great. After the Goose was wyed at Cumbres on the first run another photographer helped me pose my 1949 Chevrolet truck next to the Goose, quite a popular photo opportunity for everybody. Earlier Wayne had asked about posing my truck with the Goose back at Chama Sunday evening, but the Cumbres shot was better than anything we could have done in Chama. On the return leg of the second run, just before MP 336, the sun came out resulting in some superb photographic possibilities. |
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| Monday, June 8, 1998, was my day for a Goose ride. The day dawned cloudless - a beautiful day for photography and especially for riding a Galloping Goose. We departed Chama right on the advertised, well, maybe three minutes late but on a trip like this, who cares? As they had been all week, Earl Knob, on vacation from the Fort Worth and Western Railroad, was the Motorman and Wayne Brown the Assistant Motorman and On-Board Flight Engineer. |
| Something everybody immediately noticed about the Goose was the ride. It rode smoothly. There was the normal railroad swaying motion, but no galloping. If the RGS track had been as good as C & TS track, the Geese would have never been named "Galloping Geese". The galloping motion is because of the way the Geese happened to hit the low spots, and on the RGS there were many. For instance, if the left front is in a law spot and the right rear in a low spot the body twists and gives the galloping motion. |
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| There were all types of riders on our Goose ride. There was a serious Rio Grande Southern modeler who had just had an article accepted for publication. There were people who just wanted the ride. There were those like me who like to ride and record special train rides. And there were three who had ridden genuine Galloping Geese when they ran on the Rio Grande Southern. A spry lady had ridden in the mid-1930's when she came back from college. A gentleman lived on a ranch north of Dolores in the 1930's and the RGS was the only way into town during the winter. A crewman rode in 1942. |
| When there is a small group, photo runby locations can be chosen that would be impossible with a larger group. Our first photo runby location near Lobato Siding and Weed City was the only exception, but this location is always beautiful. For the second photo runby we paused near MP 336, a very nice location but one limited to very small groups. The third photo runby location was near MP 333 just before a Colorado Highway 17 crossing. The fourth photo runby location at MP 332, Wolf Creek Valley, was very spectacular, but one of those locations only possible for very small groups and those willing to climb a bit. At Cumbres we de-Goosed to stretch our legs a bit while the fuel was topped off and we picked up our box lunches - in special souvenir boxes no less. Then it was on to Osier. The plan had been to stop along the track to eat, but it was too windy and cold for that to be practical for all passengers, so Osier was chosen instead so those who desired could eat indoors and those more foolish,like me, could eat outside and watch trains. Shortly after we were at Osier, Earl Knoob and Wayne Brown turned the Goose on the "loop in the sky" and a few minutes after the maneuver was completed, the regular train arrived from Antonito. Then, of course, the train from Chama arrived. It was getting crowded now, so we loaded up and prepared to depart. But we were missing two passengers. Two ladies had gotten involved in conversation and didn't realize it was time to go. We got them boarded and were off to Cascade Creek Trestle for the fifth photo runby. |
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| Cascade Creek Trestle is a spectacular photo runby location and after the runby, it was off to Los Pinos trestle. But we didn't make it. Just short of the trestle the engine quit. The problem was, once again, obviously, lack of fuel and Wayne began checking things from the carburetor to the fuel tanks. The engine would run fine, then quit. Run fine, get under load, then quit. Very frustrating because nothing seemed wrong. Nothing was clogged and the electric fuel pump was pumping. We finally made it ta Los Pinos siding where we de-Goosed for photo runbys. The first opportunity was the regular train, but we had to hurry if we wanted photos of the train on the trestle. After the regular train passed, the Goose backed down past the trestle. The hood was up a few more times, but we had a very nice runby, the sixth and last of the day. The engine quit again. The engine would run, then die, run then die. Very confusing because nothing seemed wrong. Remember that 12 Volt battery for the electric fuel pump? It was essentially new. But, as Wayne found out, defective. Dying batteries tend to recover, work OK for a short time, then run down quickly. Then they will recover and repeat the process. We had a bad, dead battery driving the fuel pump, so the symptoms exactly mimicked a clog in a fuel line. And to make matters more interesting, because or our location in a valley Earl couldn't radio Chama. What could we do? Remember the gentleman that lived on the ranch north of Dolores in the 1930's? He had a video camera with a 12 Volt battery, a Magnavox 2 Amp Hour 12 Volt battery. Wayne borrowed it and it ran the electric fuel pump! So we loaded up and headed on up the track. We got another 1 1/2 miles to about MP 326.5 and stopped exactly where I had been Saturday. The one and a half miles the video camera battery gave us was, to say the least, very helpful. We were near a road and now that we were out of the valley Earl could contact Chama for a good, full-size 12 Volt battery. One nice thing about a special trip like this is that nobody gets upset. We all enjoyed the wait. It must be part of feeling how things were in the past. An historical experience. Things break, but things get fixed. |
| Shortly, the new battery appeared. The young man who brought the battery carried it down hill OK, but he sure didn't want to take the defective one back uphill! We stowed it on the Goose. The good battery was quickly hooked up and we were on our way back to Chama stopping only at Cumbres to let off a passenger. All in all, a wonderful trip. Still, the return to Chama was a let down. The time for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad to host Galloping Goose Number 5 was all over, no more trips. Tomorrow the Goose would be loaded on a flatbed trailer and travel by truck back to Dolores for many more months of display. |
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| Tuesday morning, many of us watched the Goose being loaded. The whole operation went very well, thanks to Gerald Blea, Roadmaster, Trainmaster and Superintendent of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the crew. After the Goose was loaded and moving, I went a few miles out of town to photograph it being trucked back to Dolores. Two days later when I traveled from Chama, New Mexico to Dolores, Colorado I followed a route similar to the one used by the Goose when it was being trucked to and from Dolores and Chama - west to Bloomfield then north. At Dolores I again posed my truck with the goose. When I went into the Dolores depot/museum I told the volunteer on duty that I had just posed my truck with the Goose on Cumbres Pass and I just had to do it again in Dolores He looked at me like I was telling tales. |
| In Dolores I again met Wayne Brown and Janet Wagner. It was while talking to Janet I gained even greater respect for the Goose operating crew. After eighteen months they had an intimate knowledge of the workings of the Goose, but when they arrived in Chama they had no knowledge of railroad operation. They had questions like "What's a Goose-length?", "What does two short whistles (or honks) mean?", "How do I cross the tracks safely?" and so on. Their professionalism while on the job did not in any way reflect their initial lack of knowledge. I am impressed. |
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| After Wayne loaded some of his tools into his car, a 1950 Ford 'Woodie" station wagon, we posed his Ford station wagon and my Chevrolet pickup by the Goose in front of the Dolores depot. The results were quite nice, then it was on to Grand Junction, Colorado following the Rio Grande Southern route until Ridgway - as far north as the Rio Grande Southern went. At Ridgway the Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose adventure was truly over, bul it will always be one of my favorite railroad adventures, and I have been very lucky in being able to participate in many very special trips. |
| The Goose performed flawlessly the entire time it was on the C & TS with the only problem being fuel delivery, and the fuel delivery problems were totally unusual things that can not be anticipated but were repairable. Despite the fuel-related minor delays, the Goose never missed schedule. |
| All of us who participated in the June 1998 Galloping Goose adventure in any way would like to say thanks to all those who made the trip possible. First to George Bartholomew, President of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad; Gerald Blea, Roadmaster, Trainmaster and Superintendent of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and all the C & TS employees who made the excursions so successful. Second, to Wayne Brown, President of the Galloping Goose Historical Society and Project Coordinator, and of the members of the restoration crew of ex-Rio Grande Southern Railroad Galloping Goose Number 5 . Third, to the operating crews for the trips, Earl Knoob, on vacation from the Fort Worth & Western Railroad, Motorman; Wayne Brown, President of the Galloping Goose Historical Society, Assistant Motorman and On-Board Flight Engineer; Janet Wagner, Secretary-Treasurer of the Galloping Goose Historical Society and Administrator; Pam Wagner, Concessioner; Jim Odem, Car Captain; Jim Graflatten, Car Captain and Oiler; Steve Holley, Car Captain; Terry Holley, Concessioner; Richard Byrd, Oiler; and Jerry McKenzie, Concessioner. And last, but not least, the paying passengers. Without the paying passengers, none of the Goose adventures would have been possible. |
| Since this fabulous trip in 1998, RGS Galloping Goose Number 5 has operated on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in September 1998 and again on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad from May 20 through June 2, 1999. (See Colorado Time-Table and Railfan and Railroad Magazine for the latest adventures with the Goose - she broke an axle). |
| RGS Galloping Goose Number 5 will be back on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad August 25-31, 1999 (call now for reservations, the trips are selling well), or plan to be on the Cumbres 8 Toltec Scenic Railroad tor the next Goose excursion on the C & TS May 27 through June 12, 2000. |
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References:
Blanchard, Harold F., Editor, Motor's Truck & Tractor Repair Manual Seventh Edition, MOTOR, New York, 1954 Brown, Wayne, III, Personal conversations with; regarding the ex-Rio Grande Southern Railroad Galloping Goose Number 5, its restoration and operation on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad James, H. L, Cumbres And Toltec Scenic Railroad. New Mexico Bureau of mines & Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM, 1972. Ostewald, Doris B., Ticket to Toltec. Second Edition, Western Guide ways, Ltd., 1992 Rhine, Stan, Tin Feathers and Gasoline Fumes, Colorado Rail Annual Number Nine, Colorado Railroad Museum, 1971 Wilson, Spencer, Glover, Vernon J., The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, The Historic Preservation Study, University of New Mexico Press, 1980. |
Mark L. Evans
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