Officials at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad say they are “weeks” away from firing up two former Denver & Rio Grande Western steam locomotives: 4-6-0 No. 168 and 2-8-2 No. 493.
In Antonito, shop forces at the C&TS are putting the finishing touches on the 136-year-old No. 168, which has been under restoration since 2017. Earlier this year, the locomotive passed a hydrostatic test and since then crews have been trying to finish it ahead of the C&TS’ 50th anniversary in 2020. A few weeks ago, the locomotive ran on compressed air. Stathi Pappas, assistant general manager and the man leading the restoration effort, tells Trains News Wire that the locomotive will likely be fired up within the next few weeks.
In Durango, D&SNG Chief Mechanical Officer Randy Babcock says K-37 No. 493 is “95 percent” done and that it will likely be fired up for a static steam test in the next few weeks. If everything goes according to plan, it will be put into service before the end of the year.
The D&SNG decided to restore the 2-8-2 and convert it to oil in 2018 in an effort to reduce the risk of cinder-caused wildfires during during the summer. The D&RGW’s K-37 locomotives were built from standard gauge 2-8-0s in the late 1920s. Currently, there is only one other K-37 type locomotive in operation: No. 491 at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.
Earlier this year, the D&SNG leased Southern Pacific 4-6-0 No. 18 to train its crews on how to fire an oil burner. The locomotive has led a number of special excursions this year while in Durango and will be under steam one more time this coming weekend for a photo charter. In early October, it will be trucked back home to the Eastern California Museum in Independence, Calif. The museum is hosting a homecoming celebration for the locomotive on Nov. 2.
I took a “yard tour on Wednesday, September 25 and saw the 493 fired up for the first time. The valves weren’t in the cylinders and they were blowing steam through the throttle and out the cylinders. On Friday, we rode the Cumbras and Toltac and saw the 168 in steam setting in front of the shop at Antonito. It was a great week! Rides on both railroads were great!
No. 168 would look much better and more colourful if she were restored to her 1883 appearance as the original designers intended. The ‘Eureka’ and the ‘Glendale’ would look pitiful with visible 20th century appointments.
493 big news might be the oil conversion but equally newsy is fixing the firebox ie flexible staybolt application that the Rio Grande should have done years ago.
An historic oxymoron: “historic wooden passenger cars currently under construction”.