author
Josie Moore Crum
1888–1972
Best known for lively, carefully researched books on Colorado’s narrow-gauge railroads, this writer helped preserve stories that might otherwise have disappeared with the tracks. Her work remains a favorite for readers who love regional history, trains, and the American West.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Remembered as Josie Moore Crum, she was an American writer and railroad historian whose published work focused on the railroads of southwestern Colorado. Records available online identify her as Josie Mary Moore Crum, born in 1888 and died in 1972, and describe her as the author of The Rio Grande Southern, The Rio Grande Southern Railroad, and Three Little Lines.
Her books are valued for their close attention to the Rio Grande Southern and the smaller narrow-gauge lines around Silverton. Rather than writing fiction, she concentrated on preserving local transportation history, gathering details about routes, operations, and the people connected with these mountain railroads.
That makes her work especially appealing to listeners who enjoy place-based nonfiction: the kind of writing that captures both a vanished industry and the landscape it moved through. Even decades later, her books still serve as an accessible doorway into the history of the San Juan country and its rail connections.