At around 1500h on Thursday, 20 Aug 1925, the east and westbound Panoramic Special trains (#7 westbound and #8 eastbound) collided just east of Granite, CO. Train 8 was lead by D&RGW 778, and Train 7 was lead by 759 with 787 behind. Two men were killed in the wreck - the firemen on 778 and 787. In addition, 96 passengers, 19 Rio Grande employees, and 2 Pullman employees were injured. One of the firemen killed was C.E. Phelan (reported in the "Wet Mountain Tribune" from Westcliffe, CO, on 28 Aug 1925), and the name of the other is unknown.

The cause was the failure of the Tennessee Pass operator F.G. Recklau to deliver an order moving the meet from Pine Creek (east of Granite) to Granite. Additionally, blame was placed on dispatcher S.L. Smith for not following proper procedures to detect the oversight.

The full details of the incident are available in the ICC Accident Investigation - ICC 1181

The Aspen Daily Times printed in its 22 Aug 1925 edition that "tracks are cleared today and trains are running again". Photos of the cleanup must be from those short two days.