"Dad" Springer Leaning Out Window at Ophir Loop

George Springer, Fred's father, leans out the window of Rio Grande Southern's Gallloping Goose no. 4 on the lower curved trestle of the Ophir Loop. The high trestle is in the background. David P. Morgan, Trains editor, suggested that the RGS could have been “A Railroad National Monument.” He wrote in the July 1952 issue: “In a state famous for its parks, no aggressive effort was made to halt the abandonment of a narrow-gauge railroad that is at once transportation through an inaccessible region of indescribably beautiful scenery and an engineering proposition of inspiring rank.”

Source	Fred Springer
Coverage	Spatial, Ophir, Colorado; Temporal, August 19, 1950
Rights	Center for Railroad Photography & Art
Date Created	1950-08-19
Creator	Springer, Fred, 1928-2012
Resource Type	Image (DCMI Type Vocabulary)
Format	Black and white negative
Classification	Preservation (LCSH)
Extent	2-1/4 in. by 3-1/4 in.
Depicted Railroad	Rio Grande Southern
Location	Ophir, Colorado
Creator Description	Fred Springer grew up in Houston, Texas, graduated in engineering from Missouri School of Mines in Rolla, Missouri, and worked for Mobil Oil Corporation and subsidiary companies. His rail photographs from the early 1940's until 1963 were largely Texas and the Southwest U.S. including New Mexico and Colorado. He had three tours of duty in the New York City headquarters, 1963-67, 1968-76, and 1983-85, at which time he retired and moved back to Texas. After retirement he and his wife, Dale, traveling the world by train, visiting almost every country in South America and Europe plus South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Syria, Australia, and New Zealand . When he lived in Texas he made many trips to Mexico when steam was still alive in the 1960's and 70's.
Collection	Fred Springer Collection
Institution	Center for Railroad Photography & Art

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