Steamscape: A K-37 at Elbert Creek
A D&RGW mixed train negotiates the rocky ledge above Elbert Creek (MP 468.6) just before dawn on a cool September morning.
Although a mixed consist is very much historically accurate for this line, the power you see is definitely not. It's the recently-restored Locomotive #493, a Baldwin K-37, which was originally built as a standard gauge Consolidation in 1902, and then re-built as a narrow gauge Mikado in 1928. The 490-class were heavy freight locomotives which plied much of the famed Narrow Gauge Circle, but not here. The line from Durango to Silverton, CO featured narrow rock cuts and bridges of limited capacity. Back when the Denver & Rio Grande Western operated this line, the largest locomotives that ever operated here were the K-28 class. It was not until the line was sold to Charles Bradshaw and re-branded the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad that the cuts were widened, the bridges reinforced, and the larger K-36 and 37 Locomotives began to be used. Even then, the 493 is only the second K-37 to run here, the other being 497. During 2019, when the D&SNG was actively looking at modifying its locomotive fleet to burn oil to mitigate the wildfire risk that consideration was given to restoring the 493 as the "pathfinder." Fast-forwarding to 2021, the 493 is now in regular daily service on the Silverton runs. The train see here was a special charter organized by Trains Magazine to celebrate the first K-37 in active railway service in nearly 20 years.
Steamscape: A K-37 at Elbert Creek
A D&RGW mixed train negotiates the rocky ledge above Elbert Creek (MP 468.6) just before dawn on a cool September morning.
Although a mixed consist is very much historically accurate for this line, the power you see is definitely not. It's the recently-restored Locomotive #493, a Baldwin K-37, which was originally built as a standard gauge Consolidation in 1902, and then re-built as a narrow gauge Mikado in 1928. The 490-class were heavy freight locomotives which plied much of the famed Narrow Gauge Circle, but not here. The line from Durango to Silverton, CO featured narrow rock cuts and bridges of limited capacity. Back when the Denver & Rio Grande Western operated this line, the largest locomotives that ever operated here were the K-28 class. It was not until the line was sold to Charles Bradshaw and re-branded the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad that the cuts were widened, the bridges reinforced, and the larger K-36 and 37 Locomotives began to be used. Even then, the 493 is only the second K-37 to run here, the other being 497. During 2019, when the D&SNG was actively looking at modifying its locomotive fleet to burn oil to mitigate the wildfire risk that consideration was given to restoring the 493 as the "pathfinder." Fast-forwarding to 2021, the 493 is now in regular daily service on the Silverton runs. The train see here was a special charter organized by Trains Magazine to celebrate the first K-37 in active railway service in nearly 20 years.