Galloping Goose #5 is one of seven self-propelled railcars built in the 30s by the Rio Grande Southern Railroad as a more cost-effective option to fulfill the railroad’s mail-delivery contract with the Federal Government. Basically, the Galloping Goose is a bus for the train tracks, designed from a combination of automotive and train parts that could less expensively transport mail, freight, and a few travelers. These railcars got their nickname due to their somewhat less-than-smooth, wobbly gait down the tracks.
The Rio Grande Southern Railroad had been operating in the black due to its mining and mineral clients, who fell on hard times beginning in the early 1890s. A silver panic and subsequent economic hardship followed, closing most of the mines that had been sustaining the railroad. Track maintenance and the cost of operating a full-scale engine, tender, and car set-up were simply too high to make ends meet. By the time the Great Depression came along, the railroad found that it couldn’t afford the fuel and staffing costs for even a single, daily-service train.
Not wanting to give up the mail delivery contracts with the U.S. Post Office, Railroad Superintendent Forest White, Receiver Victor Miller, and Chief Mechanic Jack Odenbaugh saw an opportunity. Much like the railroad inspection cars built as early as 1913, Odenbaugh, with help from Jack Martin, took automobiles and modified them for track use. The first such vehicle—a converted 1926 Buick Master Six—rolled out of the Ridgway Shop on June 1, 1931. The conversion cost $828.55, and it was such a success that after its trial run to Dallas Divide, it was sent on its first freight trip later that day. It paid for itself in a month.
The construction of more Geese began immediately. Number 2 was also a Buick, while #3, #4, #5, and #7 were based on Pierce-Arrow limousines. The Oddball, #6, was built as a flatbed railroad maintenance vehicle. The cost savings these Geese brought about kept the railroad afloat for another 20 years. After WWII, the Geese were updated and restored with Wayne school bus bodies and surplus GMC truck engines. However, losing the mail contract to improved highway infrastructure and standard trucking, the writing was on the wall, and the railroad succumbed in 1951. All but #1 still exist. Goose #5 was completely rebuilt in 1998 by the Galloping Goose Historical Society in Dolores and is running in Durango on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad tracks as well as the Cumbres & Toltec.
By Justin Travis
