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99-965: It roughly parallels the routes of the narrow gauge railways: Rio Grande Southern (US 160, SH 145 and SH 62); and the unconnected Ouray and Silverton Branches of the Denver & Rio Grande along US 550 with the Silverton Railroad bridging a part of the gap. Its origin can be traced to the Around the Circle Route promoted by the D&;RG. The San Juan Skyway overlaps with the Trail of the Ancients Scenic and Historic Byway on Colorado State Highway 145 between U.S. Highway 160 and Colorado State Highway 184 . The San Juan Skyway connects with

198-504: A "Bonanza Railroad" which meant it was an instant success, quickly generating more than enough money for the investors and covering costs spent to build the railroad, but their wealth would not last long due to the Silver Panic of 1893 , which would permanently cripple the railroad's finances. The RGS closed down and was dismantled in 1952–1953, but it is well known as one of the most rugged and iconic narrow-gauge mountain railroads in

297-546: A National Forest Scenic Byway in September 1988. It was later named a Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway in 1989 and an All-American Road in September 1996. 37°53′56″N 107°42′43″W  /  37.8989°N 107.7119°W  / 37.8989; -107.7119  ( Red Mountain Pass ) Rio Grande Southern The Rio Grande Southern Railroad ( reporting mark RGS , also referred to as "The Southern" )

396-479: A few passengers. The official names given from the RGS were " Motors ", but these railcars would later be unofficially named " Galloping Geese " by Railfans because of how they looked, operated, and sounded.- Waddling down the poorly maintained, unlevel RGS tracks with a silver-painted body and hood covers that looked like goose wings when opened up to prevent the motor from over-heating, and the horn sounding somewhat like

495-473: A government demand for a four-wheel-drive passenger vehicle. The modern Geländewagen such as the Mercedes-Benz G-Class still feature some of the attributes, with the exception of fully independent suspension, since it can compromise ground clearance. The Unimog is also a result of Mercedes 4x4 technology. The first Russian-produced four-wheel-drive vehicle, also in part for civilian use, was

594-432: A honking goose. These railcars are arguably one of the most iconic aspects of the RGS and are known by most narrow-gauge railfans. The first Goose (RGS Motor #1) was built from a recycled Buick body, frame, and engine, and #2 would be as well, but with a larger and enclosed freight compartment, a requirement to haul US mail. Motors #3 through #5 and #7 were built from Pierce Arrow bodies, but with freight compartments

693-587: A mechanical differential between the front and rear axles. An example of this is the dual-motor variant of the Tesla Model S , which controls the torque distribution between its two motors electronically. According to the SAE International standard J1952, AWD is the preferred term for all the systems described above. The standard subdivides AWD systems into three categories. Part-time AWD systems require driver intervention to couple and decouple

792-534: A production GT sports car. While most 4WD systems split torque evenly, the Jensen split torque roughly 40% front, 60% rear by gearing the front and rear at different ratios. American Motors Corporation (AMC) acquired Kaiser's Jeep Division in 1970 and quickly upgraded and expanded the entire line of off-road 4WD vehicles. With its added roadworthiness, the top-range full-sized Grand Wagoneer continued to compete with traditional luxury cars . Partially hand-built, it

891-550: A total of 41,674 units made by 1928. Daimler-Benz also has a history in four-wheel drive. After the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft had built a four-wheel-driven vehicle called Dernburg-Wagen , also equipped with four-wheel steering , in 1907, that was used by German colonial civil servant, Bernhard Dernburg, in Namibia ; Mercedes and BMW, in 1926, introduced some rather sophisticated four-wheel drives,

990-399: A two-door roadster, a two-door pickup truck, and a four-door phaeton, all equipped with a transfer case that engaged the front wheels, powered by a 1.3-litre, two-cylinder, air-cooled OHV V-twin engine. The 1937 Mercedes-Benz G5 and BMW 325 4×4 featured full-time four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, three locking differentials, and fully independent suspension. They were produced because of

1089-412: A wheel is slipping, and only activates when wheel slip is detected. Therefore, typically no mechanism exists to actively prevent wheel slip (i.e., locking the differential in advance of wheel slip is not possible); rather, the system is designed to expressly permit wheel slip to occur, and then to attempt to send torque to the wheels with the best traction. If preventing all-wheel slip is a requirement, this

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1188-477: A year and a half, however, as the Silver Panic of 1893 had resulted in most of the mines the railroad serviced closing overnight, and the railroad lost most of its traffic. This would severely affect the finances of the RGS, and the railroad was never able to fully recover from this and it created many characteristics the RGS is known for today. In August 1893, the RGS requested a voluntary receivership , which

1287-423: Is a limiting design. The architecture of an AWD/4WD system can be described by showing its possible operating modes. A single vehicle may have the ability to operate in multiple modes depending on driver selection. The different modes are: In addition to these basic modes, some implementations can combine these modes. The system could have a clutch across the center differential, for example, capable of modulating

1386-441: Is distributed to all four wheels, a third or 'center' differential can be used to distribute power between the front and rear axles. The described system handles extremely well, as it is able to accommodate various forces of movement and distribute power evenly and smoothly, making slippage unlikely. Once it does slip, however, recovery is difficult. If the left front wheel of a 4WD vehicle slips on an icy patch of road, for instance,

1485-458: Is exceeded at the low-traction side. A fairly recent innovation in automobiles is electronic traction control . It typically uses a vehicle's braking system to slow a spinning wheel. This forced slowing emulates the function of a limited-slip differential, and by using the brakes more aggressively to ensure wheels are being driven at the same speed, can also emulate a locking differential. This technique normally requires wheel sensors to detect when

1584-460: Is much less acceptable for 4WD vehicles, because 4WD vehicles have twice as many wheels with which to lose traction, increasing the likelihood that it may happen. 4WD vehicles may also be more likely to drive on surfaces with reduced traction. However, since torque is divided between four wheels rather than two, each wheel receives roughly half the torque of a 2WD vehicle, reducing the potential for wheel slip. Many differentials have no way of limiting

1683-412: Is typically linked via a transfer case providing an additional output drive shaft and, in many instances, additional gear ranges . A four-wheel drive vehicle with torque supplied to both axles is described as "all-wheel drive" (AWD). However, "four-wheel drive" typically refers to a set of specific components and functions, and intended off-road application, which generally complies with modern use of

1782-568: The Canadian Military Pattern trucks , of which 4x4s were by far the most prevalent of their various driveline configurations. All told, North America built about 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 million 4x4 driven vehicles during the war, Availability of certain critical components, such transfer cases and especially constant-velocity joints affected development. Though not used much on commercial vehicles, all-wheel drive vehicles all needed these; and they would use two or three times

1881-632: The GAZ-61 , developed in the Soviet Union in 1938. "Civilian use" may be a bit of a misnomer, as most, if not all, were used by the Soviet government and military (as command cars), but the GAZ-61-73 version is the first four-wheel-drive vehicle with a normal closed sedan body. Elements of the chassis were used in subsequent military vehicles such as the 1940 GAZ-64 and the 1943 GAZ-67 , as well as

1980-717: The Galloping Geese Railcars. Later on, they purchased some boxcars from the Colorado and Southern narrow-gauge railroad system for the last few years of the railroad's life. While the Rio Grande Southern route may be long gone, reclaimed by nature and newer development of civilization, there are still many artifacts from the railroad that still exist today. Such as structures on or along the original right of way, as well as equipment and rolling stock. The RGS had many different locomotives that ran on

2079-597: The McPhee Reservoir is now located to transport logs and other resources to the large logging operations in the area. The BC&F Railroad was built by George Franklin's Boston Coal mine in 1901. The mine was located on the southwest side of Durango's Perins Peak, and George was interested in building a railroad line to service it. The BC&F Railroad branched off the RGS main at Franklin Junction (presumably named after him) and curved its way 5 and 1/2 Miles up

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2178-585: The San Juan Smelter , where it met up with the D&RGW's San Juan Extension. The RGS had numerous small industry spurs servicing mines and other types of freight traffic, but there were at least four notable branch lines that branched off of the RGS Mainline. As the name implies, the Telluride branch was a branch line that branched off from Vance Junction facing south and curved around to

2277-800: The Tracks Across Borders Scenic and Historic Byway at Durango, the Alpine Loop Back Country Byway at Silverton and Ouray, and the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic Byway at Placerville . Starting in Durango, Colorado , the largest city on San Juan Skyway, the byway follows U.S. Highway 160 (US 160) west through the town of Mancos to Cortez passing the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park . The byway turns north at Cortez, following State Highway 145 (SH 145) through

2376-539: The k. u. k. Hofwagenfabrik Ludwig Lohner & Co. in Vienna in 1899, presented to the public during the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. The vehicle was a series hybrid car that used an electric hub motor at each wheel, powered by batteries, which were in turn charged by a gasoline-engine generator. It was clumsily heavy, and due to its unusual status, the so-called Lohner–Porsche is not frequently given its credit as

2475-617: The 14,246-foot (4,342 m) Mount Wilson , the 14,017-foot (4,272 m) Wilson Peak and the pass's namesake, the 13,113-foot (3,997 m) Lizard Head Peak . The byway descends near the town of Ophir past the location of the Ophir Loop of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad . A spur road heads off to the mining town turned ski resort of Telluride . The byway follows the San Miguel River to

2574-585: The 1920s. Today in North America, the term is applied to both heavy vehicles and light passenger vehicles. When referring to heavy vehicles, the term is increasingly applied to mean "permanent multiple-wheel drive" on 2×2 , 4×4, 6×6, or 8×8 drive-train systems that include a differential between the front and rear drive shafts. This is often coupled with some sort of antislip technology, increasingly hydraulics-based, that allows differentials to spin at different speeds, but still be capable of transferring

2673-672: The American Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD) of Wisconsin , founded in 1908. (not to be confused with the term "FWD" as an initialism for front-wheel-drive ) Along with the 1 1 ⁄ 2 - and 2-ton Nash Quad (see below), the 3-ton FWD Model B became a standard military four-wheel-drive truck for the U.S. Army in World War I. Some 16,000 FWD Model B trucks were built for the British and American armies during World War I – about half by FWD and

2772-563: The G1, the G4, and G4 following. Mercedes and BMW developed this further in 1937. The American Marmon-Herrington Company was founded in 1931 to serve a growing market for moderately priced four-wheel-drive vehicles. Marmon-Herrington specialized in converting Ford trucks to four-wheel drive and got off to a successful start by procuring contracts for military and commercial aircraft refueling trucks, 4×4 chassis for towing light weaponry, and an order from

2871-506: The Iraqi Pipeline Company for what were the largest trucks built at the time. The early Marmon-Herringtons proved to be the exception to the rule — 4WD cars and trucks developed in the 1930s were mainly built for governments, with (future) warfare applications in mind. Dodge developed its first four-wheel-drive truck in 1934 — a military 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 ton designated K-39-X-4(USA), of which 796 units were built for

2970-493: The J1952 standard notes secondary classifications resulting in a total of eight systems, designated as: Two wheels fixed to the same axle (but on the opposite axle ends) need to turn at different speeds as a vehicle goes around a curve. The reason is that the wheel that is located on the inner side of the curve needs to travel less distance than the opposite wheel for the same duration of time. However, if both wheels are connected to

3069-616: The Jeep, and also inline-four powered, the Land Rover appeared at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948. Originally conceived as a stop-gap product for the struggling Rover car company, despite chronic underinvestment, it succeeded far better than their passenger cars. Inspired by a Willys MB – the ubiquitous WWII "jeep" – that was frequently run off-road on the farm belonging to chief engineer Maurice Wilks , Land Rover developed

San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway - Misplaced Pages Continue

3168-536: The North American market, the term generally refers to a system optimized for off-road driving conditions. The term "4WD" is typically designated for vehicles equipped with a transfer case that switches between 2WD and 4WD operating modes, either manually or automatically. All-wheel drive (AWD) was historically synonymous with "four-wheel drive" on four-wheeled vehicles, and six-wheel drive on 6×6s , and so on, being used in that fashion at least as early as

3267-517: The RGS Rolling stock was leased from the D&RGW for frequent use between Durango and Ridgway. The RGS did however manage to have their own fleet of freight equipment (for a time) and passenger cars, as well as cabooses, all of which were purchased second hand from the defunct Rio Grande Western as well as the D&RG and had to be heavily overhauled. The RGS also managed to have their own snow fighting equipment as mentioned above, and of course,

3366-483: The RGS owned at the time had been put into MOW service since. The RGS filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission for abandonment on 24 April 1952, after 60 years of operation. The RGS had lost the contract to ship US mail after failing to clear snow to deliver during the winter of 1951–52. This contract was the very last profitable aspect of the RGS. Scrapping operations started after

3465-472: The RGS, to the point where the railroad could not afford to operate one single steam locomotive (Paying for Fuel, Paying the Engineer and Fireman to operate the locomotive, etc.). However, they still had the responsibility to ship US Mail, and in 1931, Chief Mechanic Jack Odenbaugh devised a way to construct seven homemade " railcars " that would be cheap to build and operate, capable of transporting US mail and

3564-731: The Railroad, and eventually, the SRR was shut down and removed in 1926. Once it was apparent to Mears that the Silverton Railroad would not be able to access Ouray, he considered a Railroad route heading west of Durango. It would head north following Lost Creek and the Dolores River, accessing the mining community of Rico, then over Lizard Head Pass , following the San Miguel River up to the Dallas Divide , and then into

3663-421: The Rio Grande Southern right of way and remains, during their annual Railroad Days events in September, as well as guided hiking tours of the Silverton Railroad right of way. Four wheel drive A four-wheel drive , also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD , is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and

3762-428: The U.S. Army in several configurations. Timken supplied front axles and transfer cases, added to militarized a civilian truck. The Timken transfer case was the first part-time design, that allowed the driver to engage or disengage four-wheel drive using a lever inside the cab. In spite of the limited 1930s U.S. military budgets, the '34 truck was liked well-enough that a more modern 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 ton truck

3861-480: The amount of engine power that gets sent to their attached output shafts. As a result, if a tire loses traction on acceleration, either because of a low-traction situation (e.g., driving on gravel or ice) or the engine power overcomes available traction, the tire that is not slipping receives little or no power from the engine. In very low-traction situations, this can prevent the vehicle from moving at all. To overcome this, several designs of differentials can either limit

3960-442: The amount of slip (these are called 'limited-slip' differentials) or temporarily lock the two output shafts together to ensure that engine power reaches all driven wheels equally. Locking differentials work by temporarily locking together a differential's output shafts, causing all wheels to turn at the same rate, providing torque in case of slippage. This is generally used for the center differential, which distributes power between

4059-529: The avalanche, including several snowplow operators. At this point the byway enters Ironton Park , a nice flat valley in contrast to the gorge. The road ascends several switchbacks, or S-curves, past the Idarado mining operation to the 11,018-foot (3,358 m) summit of Red Mountain Pass , providing views of Red Mountain and several ghost towns . Back into the San Juan National Forest

San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway - Misplaced Pages Continue

4158-478: The center of the Railroad and had some notable engine facilities. From Rico, it followed the Dolores River west into the town of Dolores , where it then curved southeast into Lost Canyon. It followed Lost Creek, and eventually exited the canyon to make its way directly south into the town of Mancos . From Mancos, it traversed east following the East Mancos Creek up Mancos Hill, and then down Cima Hill to

4257-473: The complete front-engine, four-wheel-drive system. The AMC Eagle was offered as a sedan , coupe , and station wagon with permanent automatic all-wheel drive passenger models. The new Eagles combined Jeep technology with an existing and proven AMC passenger automobile platform . They ushered a whole new product category of "sport-utility" or crossover SUV . AMC's Eagles came with the comfort and high-level appointments expected of regular passenger models and used

4356-409: The differential to the wheel, at different speeds. The differential does this by distributing angular force (in the form of torque ) evenly, while distributing angular velocity (turning speed) such that the average for the two output shafts is equal to that of the differential ring gear . When powered, each axle requires a differential to distribute power between the left and right sides. When power

4455-545: The driver of getting out to lock hubs and having to manually select between 2WD and 4WD modes, it dominated all other makes in FIA rally competition. Gene Henderson and Ken Pogue won the Press-on-Regardless Rally FIA championship with a Quadra Trac-equipped Jeep in 1972. American Motors introduced the innovative Eagle for the 1980 model year. These were the first American mass-production cars to use

4554-587: The early years of the war, they relied significantly on Lend-Lease vehicles, provided by the western allies. In 1943, they launched a further-developed version: the GAZ-67 . By contrast, the Axis powers ' closest equivalent to the jeep, the VW Kübelwagen , of which only some 50,000 were built, though being equipped with portal gear hubs, only had rear-wheel drive. Willys introduced the model CJ-2A in 1945,

4653-512: The efforts and engineering feats that had been already accomplished by Mears and Gibbs to get the SRR to Ironton in the first place. A cog railway was briefly considered as well as a spiraling tunnel, but the two ideas never made it out of the hypothetical realm. The SRR was able to profit from the also immense mineral traffic coming from the Red Mountain Mining District, but the Silver Panic of 1893 did not do any good to

4752-492: The first four-wheel driven automobile. The world's first four-wheel-drive car directly powered by an internal-combustion engine, and the first with a front-engine, four-wheel-drive layout , was the Dutch Spyker 60 H.P., Commissioned for the Paris to Madrid race of 1903, it was presented that year by brothers Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker of Amsterdam . The two-seat sports car featured permanent four-wheel drive and

4851-530: The first full-production four-wheel-drive vehicle for sale in the general marketplace. Due to the ubiquitous World War II Jeep's success, its rugged utilitarianism set the pattern for many four-wheel-drive vehicles to come. Dodge also started production of the civilian 4WD Power Wagon trucks, for the 1946 model year. Both the Willys and the Dodge were developed directly from their WW II predecessors. Equally boxy to

4950-703: The forerunner of the designs that followed from other manufacturers. The automobile press at the time tested the traction of the Eagles and described it as far superior to the Subaru's and that it could beat many so-called off-road vehicles. Four Wheeler magazine concluded that the AMC Eagle was "The beginning of a new generation of cars." The Eagles were popular (particularly in the snowbelt ), had towing capacity, and came in several equipment levels including sport and luxury trims. Two additional models were added in 1981,

5049-400: The front and the rear axles. While a drivetrain that turns all wheels equally would normally fight the driver and cause handling problems, this is not a concern when wheels are slipping. Some designs use gearing to create a small rotational difference that hastens torque transfer. A typical Torsen II differential can deliver up to twice as much torque to the high-traction side before traction

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5148-457: The front axle torque from a full-time mode with the 30:70 torque split of the center differential to the 0:100 torque split of the 2WD mode. In 1893, before the establishment of the modern automotive industry in Britain, English engineer Bramah Joseph Diplock patented a four-wheel drive system for a steam-powered traction engine , including four-wheel steering and three differentials , which

5247-532: The front two in front-wheel drive or the rear two in rear-wheel drive . Similarly, a 6×4 vehicle has three axles, two of which provide torque to two axle ends each. If this vehicle were a truck with dual rear wheels on two rear axles, so actually having ten wheels, its configuration would still be formulated as 6x4. During World War II, the U.S. military would typically use spaces and a capital 'X' – as "4 X 2" or "6 X 4". Four-wheel drive (4WD) refers to vehicles with two axles providing torque to four axle ends. In

5346-482: The highway descends through the Chattanooga Valley to Silverton . From Silverton the byway passes over the 10,910-foot (3,330 m) Molas Pass and the 10,640-foot (3,240 m) Coal Bank Pass , descending past the ski resort of Purgatory Resort . From Hermosa, the road parallels the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge railroad before returning to Durango. The San Juan Skyway was designated as

5445-417: The hillside to the mine. The mine had purchased RGS Locomotive No. 35, and renumbered and re-lettered it to BC&F No. 1. The railroad spur started operation on 25 November, of that year, and was noted often pulling seven gondolas down to Franklin Junction and back three times a day. The spur and locomotive were leased to the RGS in 1925, and eventually, the mine ceased operations in 1927. The BC&F Railroad

5544-618: The history of Colorado. The D&RG had built a narrow-gauge route from Denver in 1870, making its way to the Animas Valley from the town of Alamosa ( Known as the San Juan Extension ) and establishing the city of Durango in 1881, and then built to the town of Silverton in 1882. The D&RG would later build a route from Salida to Montrose , and then south to where they established the town of Ridgway (named after D&RG superintendent Robert M. Ridgway) and reached

5643-404: The inclusion or exclusion of a low-range gear. On-demand AWD systems drive the secondary axle via an active or passive coupling device or "by an independently powered drive system". The standard notes that in some cases, the secondary drive system may also provide the primary vehicle propulsion. An example is a hybrid AWD vehicle where the primary axle is driven by an internal combustion engine and

5742-665: The line throughout its life, but with the exception of locomotives that were leased and the motors/geese, very few remain today. Today, much of the former D&RGW and RGS rolling stock has new life in tourism, at places such as the Huckleberry Railroad , Knott's Berry Farm , the Durango & Silverton Railroad , the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad , and the Colorado Railroad Museum . The Ridgway Railroad Museum offers in-depth guided tours of

5841-480: The main facilities were in Ridgway, the railroad traversed northwest to the Dallas Divide and then headed southwest following near the present-day Route 62, heading down to the townsite of Placerville. It then continued south toward Telluride following the San Miguel River , to what was called Vance Junction (west of Telluride), where one of two coal topples were located. It then continued southeast, curving around up

5940-415: The military on a large scale, four-wheel drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles had not found their place. The World War II Jeep , originally developed by American Bantam , but mass-produced by Willys and Ford, became the best-known four-wheel-drive vehicle in the world during the war. The American Dodge WC series and Chevrolet G506 4x4 variants were also produced by the hundreds of thousands, as well as

6039-516: The mining communities of Rico and Telluride . On both ends of the railroad, there were interchanges with The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (reporting mark D&RG(W), later known as the Denver and Rio Grande Western), which would ship the traffic the RGS hauled elsewhere like the San Juan Smelter in Durango. For the first few years of its life, the RGS would have fallen under the definition of

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6138-530: The mining town of Ouray in 1887. The D&RG had surveyed possible routes to access the town of Rico and connect the Ouray branch, one that branched off of the Silverton Branch at Hermosa and another route that Otto Mears' Silverton Railroad would eventually be constructed on, but as far as the D&RG was concerned, both routes were deemed as too formidable for a railroad line to be constructed. It

6237-460: The more refined yet still off-road capable luxury 4WD Range Rover in the 1970s. With the acquisition of the "Jeep" name in 1950, Willys had cornered the brand. Its successor, Kaiser Jeep , introduced a revolutionary 4WD wagon called the Wagoneer in 1963. Not only was it technically innovative, with independent front suspension and the first automatic transmission coupled to 4WD, but also it

6336-630: The north. It then went east into the Downtown Telluride Area. It then extended past Telluride to what was known as Pandora to service more mines in the area. The Montezuma Lumber Company operated a railroad line that branched off the RGS Main in a few different places in Dolores. Much information about this railroad is hard to come by if not lost to history. Still, common knowledge suggests that it ran north of Dolores and through where

6435-522: The number of driven axles, meaning more gears to cut for all the differentials. Produced up to the war by a few specialized firms with limited capacity, from spring 1942, Ford, Dodge, and Chevrolet joined in fabricating these in a quantity more than a 100-fold greater than in 1939. Although Russia had their own jeep-like vehicle (the GAZ-64) up and running in 1940, a year earlier than the American jeep, in

6534-425: The off-road technology for an extra margin of safety and traction. The Eagle's thick viscous fluid center differential provided a quiet and smooth transfer of power that was directed proportionally to the axle with the greatest traction. This was a true full-time system operating only in four-wheel drive without undue wear on suspension or driveline components. No low range was used in the transfer case. This became

6633-572: The postwar GAZ-69 , and the properly civilian GAZ-M-72, based on the rear-wheel drive GAZ-20 "Victory" and built from 1955 to 1958. Soviet civilian life did not allow the proliferation of civilian products such as the Jeep in North America, but through the 1960s, the technology of Soviet 4×4 vehicles stayed on par with British, German, and American models, even exceeding it in some aspects, and for military purposes just as actively developed, produced, and used. Until "go-anywhere" vehicles were needed for

6732-429: The railroad attempted to recover from the panic of 1893 slowly, other issues had to be dealt with regarding natural occurrences. The railroad's route followed the Dolores River, which tended to flood many times during the railroad's lifetime. Most of the terrain it went through experienced tons of snow in winter and occasional rock and mudslides in summer. The RGS was able to order two new rotary snowplows specifically for

6831-545: The railroad before the Panic of 1893 and later on built three(?) plow flangers. Still, depending on how bad the snow got, it often caused closures, and the cost to operate trains with their plow equipment was too much for the railroad during specific times as they required two to four locomotives to push them. Many bridges and trestles would be washed out when rivers flooded over, adding more costs to railroad maintenance and closures. The Great Depression of 1929 heavily affected

6930-609: The request for abandonment was approved in April and was completed by March 21st, 1953. Remaining operational equipment such as RGS C-17 #42 on the south end of the line and D&RGW K-27 #461 on the north end as well as various Motors/Geese were used to salvage the rails and other parts of the railroad that were removed. Most of the RGS equipment had been abandoned, sold, or scrapped. The RGS had many locomotives regardless of whether they were leased or owned, but many were eventually cannibalized for parts that went to similar locomotives of

7029-547: The rest by other licensed manufacturers. Only about 20% of the trucks built were four-wheel drives, but the 4x4s were more often on the front lines. About 11,500 of the Jeffery / Nash Quad trucks were built for similar use between 1913 and 1919. The Quad not only came with four-wheel-drive and four-wheel brakes, but also featured four-wheel steering. The Quad was one of the first successful four-wheel drive vehicles ever to be made, and its production continued for 15 years with

7128-679: The route of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad . From Ridgway, the byway turns south onto US 550 following the Uncompahgre River into the Victorian mining town of Ouray . The highway is referred to as the Million Dollar Highway from Ouray south back to Durango. For the first 7.0 miles (11.3 km) south of Ouray the byway follows through the Uncompahgre Gorge . Just past the only tunnel on

7227-525: The route, just south of Ouray, the road crosses over Bear Creek Falls on a bridge at the location of an impassable toll booth on the original road. The Alpine Loop National Back Country Byway , a four wheel drive jeep road, takes off in the gorge south of Bear Creek Falls. Before leaving the gorge the byway passes through a snow shed under the Riverside Slide avalanche zone. A monument stands near here honoring those who have lost their lives in

7326-489: The same axle driveshaft, they always have to spin at the same speed relative to each other. When going around a curve, this either forces one of the wheels to slip, if possible, to balance the apparent distance covered, or creates uncomfortable and mechanically stressful wheel hop. To prevent this, the wheels are allowed to turn at different speeds using a mechanical or hydraulic differential . This allows one driveshaft to independently drive two output shafts, axles that go from

7425-480: The same class and then scrapped. The RGS was always having financial issues and was usually more than willing to sell worn out or excess locomotives and rolling stock hardware to the scrappers to stay afloat. The D&RGW had to perform similar practices during the Great Depression, causing many typical classes of RGS and D&RG locomotives to almost go extinct. From the Railroad's headquarters and where

7524-491: The secondary axle from the primarily driven axle, and these systems do not have a center differential (or similar device). The definition notes that part-time systems may have a low range. Full-time AWD systems drive both front and rear axles at all times via a center (interaxle) differential. The torque split of that differential may be fixed or variable depending on the type of center differential. This system can be used on any surface at any speed. The definition does not address

7623-412: The secondary axle is driven by an electric motor. When the internal combustion engine is shut off, the secondary, electrically driven axle is the only driven axle. On-demand systems function primarily with only one powered axle until torque is required by the second axle. At that point, either a passive or active coupling sends torque to the secondary axle. In addition to the above primary classifications,

7722-575: The side of Yellow Mountain to the Townsite of Ophir with the help of numerous, large trestle bridges. It then looped around to the southwest and continued up the side of Yellow Mountain to Trout Lake , curving around it to the Summit of Lizard Head Pass. It then continued southeast, where it met the Dolores River and looped around it heading southwest into the town of Rico. Rico was considered

7821-559: The size of a boxcar. Motor #6 was made from a Buick as well, but it was designated for Maintenance of Way service, and only had a flatbed attached behind the cab. Later on, Motors #3 through #5 would receive replacement Wayne Buss bodies. These motor cars indeed were successful and handled daily services until 1940 when the RGS could afford to run regular freight trains. Even after that, the Geese completely replaced revenue-generating passenger trains until abandonment; almost all passenger coaches

7920-440: The slipping wheel spins faster than the other wheels due to the lower traction at that wheel. Since a differential applies equal torque to each half-shaft, power is reduced at the other wheels, even if they have good traction. This problem can happen in both 2WD and 4WD vehicles, whenever a driven wheel is placed on a surface with little traction or raised off the ground. The simplistic design works acceptably well for 2WD vehicles. It

8019-474: The subcompact SX/4 and Kammback. A manual transmission and a front axle-disconnect feature were also made available for greater fuel economy. During 1981 and 1982, a unique convertible was added to the line. The Eagle's monocoque body was reinforced for the conversion and had a steel targa bar with a removable fiberglass roof section. The Eagle station wagon remained in production for one model year after Chrysler acquired AMC in 1987. Total AMC Eagle production

8118-488: The survey done by the D&RG, mostly following the route of today's US 550 (also known as the Million Dollar Highway) over Red Mountain Pass . With the help of locating engineer Charles Wingate Gibbs, Mears managed to build the SRR to Ironton, which made it within 8 miles (12.9 km) of Ouray. However, the remaining stretch through the Uncompahgre Gorge to Ouray was considered too difficult, despite

8217-460: The term "all-wheel drive" with additional subclassifications that cover all types of AWD/4WD/4x4 systems found on production vehicles. "Four-by-four" or "4×4" is frequently used to refer to a class of vehicles in general. Syntactically, the first figure indicates the total number of axle ends and the second indicates the number of axle ends that are powered. Accordingly, 4×2 means a four-wheel vehicle that transmits engine torque to only two axle ends:

8316-453: The terminology. Four-wheel-drive systems were developed in many different markets and used in many different vehicle platforms . There is no universally accepted set of terminology that describes the various architectures and functions. The terms used by various manufacturers often reflect marketing rather than engineering considerations or significant technical differences between systems. SAE International 's standard J1952 recommends only

8415-544: The torque from a wheel with poor traction to one with better. Typical AWD systems work well on all surfaces, but are not intended for more extreme off-road use. When used to describe AWD systems in light passenger vehicles, it refers to a system that applies torque to all four wheels (permanently or on-demand) or is targeted at improving on-road traction and performance (particularly in inclement conditions), rather than for off-road applications. Some all-wheel drive electric vehicles use one motor for each axle, thereby eliminating

8514-479: The town of Dolores and the Dolores River into the San Juan National Forest . The byway passes through Rico , county seat of Dolores County prior to 1941. The old Courthouse still remains. From Rico the byway crosses 10,222 ft (3116 m) Lizard Head Pass and enters the Uncompahgre National Forest . Lizard Head Pass provides views of the 14,159-foot (4,316 m) El Diente Peak ,

8613-475: The town of Placerville . The byway turns east at Placerville onto SH 62 and follows it over Dallas Divide . There are many excellent views of the San Juan Mountains , especially of the mountains around the 14,150-foot (4,310 m) Mount Sneffels . From the top of the divide the byway descends into the town of Ridgway . The entire route of the byway from Durango to Ridgway roughly follows

8712-474: The town of Ridgway. This route would essentially bypass the issues that kept the SRR from completing the line from Ouray and the need for various switchbacks and wyes the SRR required to traverse Red Mountain Pass. So in 1889, he incorporated the Rio Grande Southern. Construction began that year from both Ridgway and Durango. By the end of 1890, before the line was complete, the RGS was already servicing mining companies in Telluride and west of Durango. One of these

8811-465: The townsite of Hesperus . Then it curved south, passing by Ute Junction, the second coal topple on the line. It then looped back around the east, near the original Fort Lewis campus, heading northeast into Wild Cat Canyon. In the canyon, it passed by the townsite of Porter and the site of the Porter Coal mine, making its way north to Franklin Junction. It then curved east and finally ended close to

8910-428: Was Otto Mears who decided to take on the task of connecting the D&RG's rail lines that were separated North and South of the central San Juans , and he had been on good terms with the D&RG from building the roadbed for their route to Gunnison , over Poncha and Marshall Pass . Mears' first attempt at doing just that was the Silverton Railroad (reporting mark SRR), which went northwest of Silverton utilizing

9009-464: Was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railroad which ran in the southwestern region of the US state of Colorado , from the towns of Durango to Ridgway , routed via Lizard Head Pass . Built by German immigrant and Colorado toll road builder Otto Mears , the RGS operated from 1891 through 1951 and was built with the intent to transport immense amounts of silver mineral traffic that were being produced by

9108-853: Was also the first car equipped with a six-cylinder engine, as well as four-wheel braking. Later used as a hill-climb racer, it is now an exhibit in the Louwman Museum (the former Nationaal Automobiel Museum) in the Hague , the Netherlands. Designs for four-wheel drive in America first came from the Twyford Motor Car Company . The Reynolds-Alberta Museum has a four-wheel-drive vehicle, named " Michigan ", from 1905 in unrestored storage. The first four-wheel-drive vehicles to go into mass production were built by (what became)

9207-617: Was developed, and 1,700 RF-40-X-4(USA) trucks were produced in 1938, and 292 TF-40-X-4(USA) in 1939. Starting in 1936, Japanese company Tokyu Kurogane Kogyo built roughly 4,700 four-wheel-drive roadsters, called the Kurogane Type 95 reconnaissance car, used by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1937 until 1944, during the Second Sino-Japanese War . Three different bodystyles were manufactured –

9306-825: Was dismantled later that year. The Franklin Junction site is now known as the Twin Buttes Subdivision, and the BC&;F Grade is now a hiking trail. The Mayday branch serviced the Mayday Mine, just west of Mayday, Colorado (north of Hesperus). As the Rio Grande Southern was not a wealthy railroad for most of its life, the locomotives owned were all second (or more) hand, mostly from the D&;RGW . Many RGS locomotives purchased were pretty old and heavily worn, some having been pulled from storage lines that were intended to hold locomotives prepared for scrap. Most of

9405-469: Was equipped and finished as a regular passenger automobile. In effect, it was the ancestor of the modern SUV . The luxury AMC or Buick V8 -powered Super Wagoneer produced from 1966 to 1969 raised the bar even higher. Jensen applied the Formula Ferguson (FF) full-time all-wheel-drive system to 318 units of their Jensen FF built from 1966 to 1971, marking the first time 4WD was used in

9504-409: Was received by Edward Turner Jeffery of the D&RG. Otto Mears had lost control of his railroad, and the D&RG was now in charge. By 1895 the receivership had ended, but Ed Jeffery was appointed president, still ensuring D&RG's control of the line. Later on, the RGS was able to pursue other kinds of traffic, such as lumber/logging, livestock, as well as different types of mineral traffic. As

9603-443: Was relatively unchanged during its production through 1991, even after Chrysler 's buyout of AMC. Subaru introduced the category-expanding Leone in 1972, an inexpensive compact station wagon with a light-duty, part-time four-wheel-drive system that could not be engaged on dry pavement. In September, AMC introduced Quadra Trac full-time AWD for the 1973 model year Jeep Cherokee and Wagoneer. Due to full-time AWD, which relieved

9702-425: Was subsequently built. The development also incorporated Bramah's Pedrail wheel system in what was one of the first four-wheel drive automobiles to display an intentional ability to travel on challenging road surfaces. It stemmed from Bramagh's previous idea of developing an engine that would reduce the amount of damage to public roads. Ferdinand Porsche designed and built a four-wheel-driven electric vehicle for

9801-640: Was the Porter Coal Mine, built by John Porter, who had started other coal mines throughout the Durango Area to fuel the Durango Smelter/San Juan Smelter that he had built as well. The line was completed on 12 December 1891, where the two construction teams met south of Rico. Then the RGS was booming, profitable for the company and investors, and producing higher than average pay for RGS employees. This only lasted for

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