Prospector
A Prospector is normally a person who explores an area for natural resources such as minerals, oil, flora or fauna. Recently however, satellites and robots have been used to automatically search for resources, orbiting planets like the Earth, the Moon, and Mars.
The Prospector is a named passenger train operated by Transwa between Perth, Western Australia and Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
The Prospector was also a named passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad between Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. The train was inaugurated on November 17 1941. The original equipment on this train were a pair of Budd Company-built diesel multiple unit trains numbered M-1 and M-2. These two trainsets were removed from service on July 5 1942, but the train name and the service between the two cities remained using lightweight cars built by Pullman-Standard.
For the inaugural trip in 1941, the railroad made stainless steel pass holders that was intended to be distributed to passengers aboard the first train. The pass holder was engraved with a line drawing of the train on the outside. On the inside were two cards - one with an embossed picture of a prospector and mule in gold, the other with a message that read
- "DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN RAILROAD IS HONORED TO WELCOME _____ ON THE INAUGURAL TRIP OF THE PROSPECTOR. NEW, DIESEL POWER, STAINLESS STEEL STREAMLINED TRAIN DESIGNED FOR OVERNIGHT EVERY NIGHT SERVICE BETWEEN DENVER AND SALT LAKE CITY"
The special pass holders weren't distributed to passengers, but are now highly prized by railroadiana collectors.
See also