Happy Easter: Resurrection on the C&S narrow gauge

Today many Christ-followers all around the globe are celebrating that God came to earth out of love in the person of Jesus with a task in mind.  He came not on a war horse to conquer, but instead as a humble man who chose to die on a cross on what we now call Good Friday, and then to defeat the power of sin and death by being resurrected three days later.  

The C&S narrow gauge has experienced a number of resurrections itself over the years since it's final breath in August of 1943.  While The Resurrection holds much more significance, our collective enjoyment of even the resurrection of a railway points to something innate in our spirits that rejoices at something that once was lost but now has been found.

The first return to life was the short Central City Narrow Gauge Railroad that ran from 1968 to 1972.  The second was the reincarnation of the Georgetown Loop, particularly as the high bridge was completed by 1984.  The Central City route had a short revival from roughly 1987-1990 with a new operator.  The next resurrection was in 1988 when a Leadville couple bought the Leadville to Climax route for $10 from the Burlington Northern and founded The Leadville, Colorado & Southern.  

Today, however, another resurrection is in the works as The South Park Rail Society lays track (see photo) in

Como and is having a narrow gauge locomotive restored to run this year, the first locomotive to run there in nearly eight decades.

Below is an article from the March 2017 Rocky Mountain Railroad Club's Rail Report by Dave Schaaf and Chip:

The South Park Rail Society officially launched its funding page to raise funds that will help with the repair and transportation of its newly acquired locomotive for Como, Colorado. Depending on funding, the plan is to have the locomotive moved and steamed up in Como during Park County’s 22nd Annual Boreas Pass Railroad Day planned for August 19, 2017. If this event goes well, they are considering having the locomotive steamed up again two weeks later while the 37th National Narrow Gauge Convention is being held in nearby Denver.  The South Park Rail Society will be releasing more details as they develop.  Their web site is www.southparkrail.com.  [Their Facebook page mentioned on March 29th that "the goal is for this fall"].

Photo at left: kissing No. 4 goodbye as it leaves Silver Plume.

The South Park Rail Society locomotive is ex-Klondike Mines Railway #4, a Baldwin Locomotive Works narrow gauge 2-6-2, built in 1912.  This engine was unique among its roster in having been manufactured for the Klondike Mines Railway (KMRy). Operating for a mere two seasons on the KMRy, #4 and its tender were purchased by the White Pass and Yukon Route in 1942 and was their WW II Skagway Yard switcher.  The locomotive moved to Wisconsin in 1955.  The locomotive was used on theme park railways in the lower 48 states, most recently at the Dry Gulch Railroad in Oklahoma, where it started a long restoration. In October 2015, KMRy #4 was moved to the Georgetown Loop Railroad at Silver Plume, Colorado.

The locomotive left Silver Plume, Colorado, on February 21, 2017, and was trucked to Cheyenne,

Wyoming, arriving at Wasatch Railroad Contractors, for service and repairs the next day.

Photo at right: No. 4 arrives in Cheyenne.

So many "Thank You!"s go out to all of you in Colorado who are making this resurrection possible, especially from us too far away to lend a hand.  We are so grateful!



All photos, except the Loop bridge, from The South Park Rail Society's Facebook page.