On The Trail Of The Galloping Goose: An Autumn Adventure In Southwest Colorado For You + Your Bike
In the late 1940s, a group of girl scouts, including Marilyn Haley, were riding a railcar from Telluride to Dolores. Climbing into one of the “motors,” a single-car hybrid combination of a truck and a train, Haley recalls sitting on a big black box as they rode home. Upon disembarking, they realized they’d been riding on an occupied coffin.
“We thought it was funny,” shares Haley. “We laughed a lot about it. Of course, we had no idea who it was.”
Photos courtesy of Galloping Goose Historical Society.
In those days, Telluride and Dolores were two of the stops along the Rio Grande Southern Railway, a line which ran through Colorado’s San Juan Mountains from 1891 to 1952. Traversing some of the most spectacular scenery in North America, the railcar was a workhorse, delivering mail, goods and passengers in a strictly utilitarian manner.
A WADDLE AND A HONK
The story of the Galloping Goose begins in the mining towns of the San Juan mountains. With tons of precious ore to be transported and hordes of newcomers eager to stake their claims, a Russian immigrant named Otto Mears built a 160-mile railroad connecting Durango, Mancos, Dolores, Telluride and Ridgway.
Known as the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS), it fell on hard times after just a couple of years. Yet because the RGS provided essential transportation and shipping services, steam trains continued to run. With the stock market crash of 1929, the line again faced bankruptcy, save for a crucial contract to deliver the U.S. Mail. In order to save money, the RGS cut back on steam engines, which took five people to operate, in favor of individual “motors” which required just one operator.
Karl Schaeffer is a railroad historian and the founder and former board president of the Ridgway Railroad Museum. As he explains it, Motor 1, a reconstruction of which can be seen in Ridgway, cost $840 to build in 1931 and saved more than that amount in just three weeks of operation. Eventually, six more motors would be built.
“The motors were fast, reliable and dirt cheap,” Schaeffer explains. Pieced together from limousines and trucks and adapted for rail service, the RGS motors were “a junkyard deal, with ingenuity replacing funding.”
In 1950, the RGS lost its U.S. Mail contract and went into the tourism business, painting four of the railcars (numbers 3, 4, 5 and 7) silver, adding bench seats, cutting in windows and festooning these vehicles with the logo of a running goose. The tourist cars were renamed the Galloping Geese for their distinctive waddling motion on the uneven mountain rails and their loudly honking air horns.
THE RIGHT TIME FOR TOURISM
While this area of Western Colorado is now a popular year-round tourist destination, with world-famous attractions like Mesa Verde National Park and Telluride Ski Resort, by 1952, it was clear that tourism wasn’t going to save the railroad.
Today, however, the remaining RGS motors are part of the area’s tourism, and a trip to Southwestern Colorado is a perfect way to learn more about this stunning region’s history and heritage. While the drive between Ridgway and Dolores, along the San Juan Skyway, is beautiful at any time of year, fall is especially gorgeous with incandescent groves of aspen, shimmering lakes and rivers, and high mountain peaks stretching infinitely into autumn’s crystalline blue sky.
Ready to go? Here are our tips!
BRING YOUR BIKE
One of the best ways to experience the local railroad history is to ride your mountain bike along the abandoned railroad grade. The 19- mile Galloping Goose trail starts at Lizard Head Pass and ends near Telluride. It will add a unique dimension to your exploration. More information about the trail is found below, along with additional mountain biking tips for each community.
DOLORES: CENTURIES OF HISTORY AND GOOSE 5
Dolores is a railroad town at heart and Goose 5 has been proudly displayed since it was purchased for $250 in 1952. Restored and fully operational, this railcar runs along a short track in front of the Dolores depot. It also makes extended runs on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
According to Henry Kaldenbaugh, a member of the local Galloping Goose Historical Society and Dolores Railroad Museum volunteer, a good time to visit is during one of Dolores’ many festivals, including the Dolores Harvest Festival in October with a full line-up of live music.
History goes back way farther than the late 19th century in Dolores. Don’t miss the Canyon of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum showcasing the archaeology and history of the Ancient Puebloan and Native American people indigenous to this region.
As for you and your bike, we recommend the Bean Canyon/Boggy Draw trail system with 62 miles of beginner and intermediate loops.
TELLURIDE: THE GALLOPING GOOSE TRAIL
Until fall 2022, Galloping Goose 4 was at home in a small park on Colorado Avenue in Telluride. It is currently in Ridgway for repairs, so you’ll have to carry on to the north to see it. But don’t skip Telluride, as this is where you can access the Galloping Goose trail and get up close and personal with history.
There are lots of options for riding the trail. You can arrange a shuttle and head downhill from the top of Lizard Head Pass nearly into town. Or, you can park at Lizard Head Pass and do an out-and-back around Trout Lake, taking in the railroad trestle and water tower.
Another out-and-back option is to park near Ophir and ride past Ames to the Illium trailhead. The trail here is scenic and jaw-dropping. While the numerous trestles that formed the “Ophir Loop” were torn down decades ago, you can imagine the engineering it took to move trains through this steep, narrow valley. As Schaeffer puts it, “It was a brave thing to do in a terrible place to build a railroad.”
Past Ames, you’ll discover more terrible places to build a railroad, where the trail clings to the mountainside on the narrowest of grades. At Illium, you can retrace your steps or ride up the valley road to your car.
The Galloping Goose trail is open to bikers, hikers and horses.
Telluride offers endless options for dining, lodging, shopping and outdoor fun. If you’ve had enough biking, pull on your hiking boots, and check out the numerous trails that leave right from town.
RIDGWAY: CURRENT HOME OF MOTOR 1 AND GOOSE 4
The Ridgway Railroad Museum is the largest museum in this region, and it’s worth taking some time to visit. Here, you can also pick up a railroad history guide to the San Juan Skyway. The museum operates railcars on a half-mile loop of track on Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. from mid-May to mid-October, with self-guided tours of the outdoor train cars and engines available anytime.
Look for a reconstruction of Motor 1 (the prototype for the future Galloping Geese) and Telluride’s Goose 4, as well as additional rolling stock and comprehensive indoor displays.
If you find your bike is calling you, head to the RAT (Ridgway Area Trails) system with over 40 miles of singletrack. Or, visit Ridgway State Park for boating, paddleboarding, fishing, camping and more.
Enjoy!
Want more Geese? The Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden is home to Motor 2, Motor 6 and Goose 7. Galloping Goose 3 is operated during the off-season at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California.
Biking on the Trout Lake Road portion of the Galloping Goose trail.
Originally published in the Fall 2023 issue of Spoke+Blossom.