ANTONITO, Colo. — The Colorado Railroad Museum’s Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20 has arrived at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad for its visit including a role in the upcoming Victorian Iron Horse Roundup.
The locomotive, restored to operation in 2020,. arrived Sunday by truck from the museum in Golden, Colo. (The tender will arrive later this week). En route, it made an appearance Saturday in Cripple Creek, Colo, at the community’s Donkey Days, and where it was made to appear to be under steam even while it remained on its trailer. The locomotive, built in 1899, ran on the Florence & Cripple Creek until 1915, when it went to the Rio Grande Southern.
The Cumbres & Toltec’s Victorian Iron Horse Roundup, a celebration of the railroad’s 50th anniversary postponed from 2020, begins Saturday with trips behind visiting locomotives from Nevada, the Glenbrook and Eureka, and resident Rio Grande 4-6-0 No. 168 and 2-8-0 No. 315 (aka No. 425). A handful of tickets remain for a Trains Magazine photo charter with Rio Grande Southern No. 20 on Sept. 5. Details and ordering information are available here.
To finish, you need a short ramp with rails to move the rail equipment off the trailer onto the railroad. We always have the rail equipment roll on its own wheels – under control of course.
George the trailer doesn’t tilt. The tractor drops the trailer down on the ground then unhooks the goose neck from the trailer and pulls it away with the tractor. this leaves the trailer very close to the ground. An as Tim said if you look at the third picture you can see the rails in the center of the trailer. Then they can slide the rails an the loco off all at once.
You can see the tracks just under and ahead of the truck tractor in the top photo. The locomotive is likely on a beam RGN trailer with rails placed on it. Once the trailer is dropped at the front end, the loco can be pulled off the trailer’s rails onto the tracks where the truck tractor is.
Tim – By “beam RGN trailer,” do you mean the trailer can be tilted forward, like the way I drive my Lawn Tractor on and off one of those trailers without ramps that can be dropped?
It look like the diesel, the flatcar, and #20 are crossing the pavement trackless, prior to re-engaging the railroad. How did that actually work? I don’t see any rails on the flatbed or buried in the pavement, but maybe so.