The John Trezise Archive
At our book launch event held Saturday, May 12, 2018 for Rollins Pass: Images of America (2018) and Rollins Pass: Postcards of America (2018), we announced the creation of The John Trezise Archive for Rollins Pass Imagery.
ABOUT THE JOHN TREZISE ARCHIVE
The John Trezise Archive for Rollins Pass Imagery holds the largest known collection of high-resolution historical images devoted specifically to Rollins Pass. Assembled through contributions from many individuals, its holdings are cataloged to support research and retrieval, digitally preserved to reduce the risk of loss, and made available upon request through partnerships with museums, libraries, authors, researchers, and other institutions. The archive is separate from the call for photographs on this page.
The archive has already provided the Moffat Road Railroad Museum in Granby, Colorado, with several rare images of the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad 1913 steam crane No. 10300, supported published works by other Colorado authors, and contributed to numerous research and interpretation projects. Careful examination of high-resolution historical photographs can reveal details that written records may not preserve, strengthening present day understanding of Rollins Pass and the people, equipment, structures, and operations associated with it. To contribute photographs or related materials, please contact us.
“Many pictures are from the collection of John T. Trezise, a locomotive engineer whose collection of snapshots reveal the unseen Rollins Pass; John, may you rest in peace having found a form of immortality within these pages.”
—from the Acknowledgments, Rollins Pass (2018), by B. Travis Wright, MPS and Kate Wright, MBA with a foreword by Jason M. LaBelle, PhD
ABOUT OUR MOFFAT TUNNEL COLLECTION
As our work on the Moffat Tunnel and the East Portal Camp Cabins has gained momentum over many years, we’ve assembled an incredible collection of rare Moffat Tunnel-related historic journals and imagery—some of which belonged to the former Moffat Tunnel Commission. Among these primary source materials are dozens and dozens of original photographs dating to the tunnel’s construction, documenting work advancing simultaneously from the East Portal and West Portal. Many were mounted on linen and bear the imprint of Ford Optical Co. in Denver. Together, these original Moffat Tunnel Commission photographs preserve remarkably detailed views of the project as it unfolded and provide an uncommon visual record of one of Colorado’s most ambitious railroad engineering achievements. The broader collection continues to support our historical research, interpretation, and preservation work and has been folded into the John Trezise Archive.
ABOUT JOHN THOMAS TREZISE
John Thomas Trezise (1894–1979) was a railroad fireman and locomotive engineer whose long career gave him an uncommon view of operations on the Moffat Road, including the demanding route over Rollins Pass. Born on Monday, December 3, 1894, Trezise registered for the World War I draft and later completed fifty years of railroad service. The Rio Grande honored him at a Denver employee banquet in January 1965, shortly after his retirement. Trezise also carried a camera into the railroad landscape. His photographs preserve locomotives, rotary snowplows, trestles, wrecks, workers, and winter operations from the perspective of someone who understood the railroad from within. Those images now form a foundational part of The John Trezise Archive for Rollins Pass Imagery, preserving scenes that might otherwise have disappeared after rail service over Rollins Pass ended.
The primary purpose of our work is to inform the public.
