Ruby Canyon is one of the western-most canyons the Rio Grande Railroad passes through in the Colorado Rockies. After leaving the canyon, the railroad will cross the plains through Grand Junction before entering Utah and another chain of mountains. The back of this menu proudly notes that the railway follows the Colorado River, which carved the canyon, for almost 240 miles, “one of the longest sections of American railroad uninterruptedly co-extensive with a major river.”
Click image to download a 1.1-MB PDF of this menu.
This menu was used for a special train of New York Kiwanis Club members returning from their 1948 Los Angeles convention. The unpriced menu offers fish, omelette, or ham or bacon and eggs with the usual side dishes.
In 1983, I photographed some of the last runs of the Rio Grande Zephyr before the route was taken over by Amtrak. I’m pretty sure the above photo is in Ruby Canyon. The red rocks that give the canyon its name are quite a bit redder in my photo than the one on the menu cover.