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The Great Narrow Gauge Loco Swap?
Cumbres & Toltec No. 483 may be headed to a new home at the Durango & Silverton in trade for its No. 478 if all goes according to plan later this year. The fi rst locomotive to operate on the popular tourist operation after the end of Rio Grande control, No. 483 was placed out of service in 1977. The trade would result in each narrow gauge line acquiring a new locomotive that could be overhauled and placed into regular service once again.
PHOTO BY JEFFREY D. TERRY
STEAM AND PRESERVATION JEFFREY D. TERRY
Narrow Gauge Loco Swap in the Works?
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad announced in a joint press release that they are in discussions to trade locomotives. C&TS, which operates 64 miles of former D&RGW narrow gauge track between Chama, N.M., and Antonito, Colo., would receive K-28 class 2-8-2 No. 478 from D&SNG. In turn, D&SNG, which is owned by American Heritage Railways, would acquire K-36 class 2-8-2 No. 483 from C&TS for use on its 45-mile line between Durango and Silverton, Colo. Both 483 and 478 are currently out of service. According to C&TS President John
Bush, the swap makes good sense for both railroads. Two locomotives that are otherwise unneeded by their current owners would be returned to service, and the trade would allow Cumbres & Toltec to add another class of locomotive to its roster. “The mission of the Cumbres & Toltec
Scenic Railroad has always been the to preserve the history and heritage of railroading in the west, and this engine swap will accomplish that by giving us a K-28 locomotive, which we currently do not have,” Bush said in the press release. Durango & Silverton would also benefit since it favors the larger Baldwin-built K-36 class 2-8-2s because they are able to handle 12 cars to Silverton, whereas a K-28 can manage only ten. Number 483 was one of ten class
K-36 2-8-2s built by Baldwin in 1925 for D&RGW. It is noteworthy for being the first locomotive to operate on the
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic, which is owned jointly by the states of Colorado and New Mexico. After several years of tourist service, No. 483 was set aside in 1977 since it required extensive boiler work and other repairs, and has not steamed since. Number 478 has spent the better
part of the last six decades operating between Durango and Silverton. One of ten K-28s built for Rio Grande by Alco in 1923, it and Nos. 473 and 476 (both owned by D&SNG) are the last of their type in existence, the other seven having been sent to Alaska during World War II. It has operated regularly on the Durango & Silverton since 1981 and was overhauled in 2001. No. 478 is currently in storage with some parts removed; it last steamed in 2012, and although its boiler is certified until 2016, it would require superheater and other repair work in order to reenter service. If acquired by C&TS, No. 478 would be overhauled and used primarily in helper service, and also used to pull the shorter summer weekday trains. As of press time, no formal agreement had been reached regarding the trade.
Rare U23B Preserved
An operational Southern Railway GE U23B has been purchased by Southern Appalachia Railway Museum (SARM) of Knoxville, Tenn., for use on its “Secret City Scenic” excursion train that operates near the historic Department of Energy facility in nearby Oak Ridge. The 3965 was built in February 1977 and operated on the Southern and later Norfolk Southern until July 1996 when it was acquired by short line Georgia Central of Lyons, Ga. It was one of 13 U23Bs (all
ex-Southern with the exception of a lone ex-L&N/CSX unit) that served the road until 2014, when Georgia Central owner Genesee & Wyoming began retiring and replacing them with EMD four-axle locomotives. No. 3965 arrived at Oak Ridge on July 27 and was immediately started and run, since it had been sitting idle for several weeks following its June retirement from active duty. It will eventually be returned to its 1977 Southern Railway appearance. SARM also rosters ex-Southern U23B
No. 3937, which, according to a museum press release, has suffered extensive freeze damage that makes it unlikely to ever operate again. Instead, No. 3937 will be used as a parts source for No. 3965 and SARM’s ex-L&N U23B, formerly CSX No. 9553.
CP 4-6-2s Return to Canada
A pair of Canadian Pacific 4-6-2s returned to Canada in July after spending just more than 50 years in the United States. CP Nos. 1238 and 1286 were previously owned and operated by the late Jack Sholwalter and his family and are well-known to East Coast steam enthusiasts for having pulled mainline fan trips in the 1960s before moving on to several different tourist railroads. For the past two decades they have been in storage, most recently in Verona, Va. Both locomotives are Canadian
Pacific class G5 Pacifics and are nearly identical. No. 1238 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1946, while No. 1286 was built by the Canadian Locomotive Company in 1948. Both ran a relatively short time; final operation under CP ownership came in December
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