ABOVE: Just after sunrise, Great Western No. 90 rolls through the farmlands just outside the town of Strasburg during the Lerro Produc- tions charter. A farm silo near the Red Ca- boose Motel has been converted into a viewing tower, making this scene possible.


RIGHT: Lerro Productions charters use props and actors to add variety to the trips; two vin- tage trucks add to the scene at the Strasburg Rail Road shops. Wisps of escaping steam and the workers add life to an otherwise gray scene.


Founded in 1901 to serve the Great Western Sugar Company in Loveland, Colorado, this obscure western short line was well-known as one of the last places to see steam locomotives in regular operation through the 1960s. The railroad’s fleet of 2-8-0’s and a 2-10-0 (No. 90) was put to work each year to handle the sugar beet harvest. By 1975, the steam locomotives were retired, except for a few 0-4-0T tank engines that continued to work the sugar refineries until the parent company was sold. Great Western “Deca- pod” No. 90 was acquired by Strasburg in 1965, and is the newest steam locomotive on the roster, built by Baldwin in 1924.


60 MARCH 2013 • RAILFAN.COM


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