Colorado Consols, Bruce A. Metcalf

Chapter 2: Corporate Relationships

A brief overview of the evolution of the various "Rio Grande" companies is an essential first step in understanding the complexities of the problem at hand. One of the most serious obstacles to the study of "Rio Grande" companies is that a fairly large number of companies used minor variations of the same name. While some succeeded each other in what were essentially financial reorganizations, others were completely independent and many coexisted in time.

The core system of "Rio Grande" companies (as used in this paper) are the seven shown in Table 2-1 along with their dates of operation and line of succession. This list may seem somewhat idiosyncratic to some, but it is meant to reflect continuity or physical operation, as opposed to the legal bodies (and occasional legal fictions) commonly tracked in business histories. As "Rio Grande" had disposed of the last of its consolidations before the 1989 merger with Southern Pacific Transportation Co., this study concluded with the date of that merger.

Other roads that used "Rio Grande" as part of their corporate name, but which were organizationally unrelated, are listed in Table 2-2. (Two other companies using "Rio Grande" as part of their name, the Rio Grande Railroad and Rio Grande Railway, were 2-foot gauge lines in south Texas--they are not included in this study as they were completely unrelated.)

A third group of companies are those which preceded or succeeded various of the Rio Grande core companies. Table 2-3 lists those which contributed or received Consolidations to or from the above listed group of core companies.

To show the interrelationships of these companies more clearly, a "family tree" is shown in Figure 2-1 that graphically demonstrates the order of succession, the dates of operation, and the interrelationship (or lack thereof) between the companies listed in Tables 2-1 through 2-3.

Figure 2-1: Rio Grande Family Tree

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1870      1880      1890      1900      1910      1920      1930      1940      1950      1960      1970      1980      1990|
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| D&RG Ry---------+   ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·     D&RG RR---------------+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·DRGW Ry-+·         ·       | ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·        RGW----------------+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         UC Ry--+  ·       | ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·      UC RR------+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·RGG--------------+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         · SPV-------------+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·    RG&SF--------+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         RG------+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         RGP&N---+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·RGSdeC-+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         · RGP&S-+ ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·       D&RG RC---+--+        ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·         CVR-----+ ·|        ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·          DRGW RR-------------------+  ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·        RGJ-------------------------------------------------------+  ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         · DNW&P-----+       ·         ·         ·      |  ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·         · D&SLRR--------+   ·         ·      |  ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·    D&SL Ry---------------+  ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·      DRGW RO+---------------+----------+------+ ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |     ·         |         ·|   >--SP--->|
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |     ·         |         ·D&S--------->|
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   NGM-+ ·         C&TS------------------->|
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·       CRM-------------------------------->|
| ·         ·        RGS-------------------------------------------------------------x      ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·  CR------------------------x·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·   F&CC-----------------+    ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·         ·    CC&CS--x       ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·    RG&PS--------------x     ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
| ·         ·         ·         ·  RG&SW---------------x      ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·         ·   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

A fourth group of companies are those which are fiscally unrelated to the Rio Grande core system, but with whom they exchanged Consolidations. In order to define the reporting marks used in the individual histories below, these must also be identified here, and are listed in Table 2-4. As these companies are not organizationally related, they are not included in the family tree above.

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This work was supported, in part, by the Kalmbach Memorial Library, National Model Railroad Association. Copyright © 1992-2002, Bruce A. Metcalf. Updated 8 December 2004 by Bruce A. Metcalf, bruce.metcalf@figzu.com, who would very much appreciate your comments and corrections.