C&S 74 dedication at Boulder 1953

A while ago I published an article chronicling the lives of the 5 remaining C&S locos in The Bogies & the Loop magazine.  One of those locomotives was C&S 74 (ex-C&NW 30, ex-RGS 74).  Recently, I found an article that looked back on the story of how 74 originally made its way to the park in Boulder in 1952.  It also details a bit about the dedication ceremony.  Find the article here at www.dailycamera.com.  The photo below is from that article and shows the 74 during its 1953 dedication.

It was interesting to learn from the article that not only was the caboose displayed with the engine destroyed by dynamite (only a few years after it arrived), but the replacement caboose was damaged by arson!

Below is the portion of my previous article that covers #74's post C&S and RGS life.

74: Being left behind may be a part of the plan 

     We are all prone to asking, “What might have happened if…” Regret and longing make us wonder if we had not been left behind by some person, job, or opportunity, would we have found what we really wanted? Then again, maybe being left behind was part of the plan, a far greater plan than our own. 74 may have wondered this as it sat lonely at Morse Bros. Machinery in 1948.
     World War II either saved or destroyed many an engine. Many of the unemployed locos were scrapped for the war effort. Others were used where needed. C&S 74 had the privilege of working with two sister engines on the last remaining narrow gauge portion of the railroad between Leadville and Climax. Molybdenum was a hot commodity in the war effort and Climax had a lot. So much, in fact, that they needed to standard gauge the line, which they did in 1943. Numbers 74, 75, and 76 were then placed on flatcars and shipped to Denver. They were sold to Morse Bros. Machinery and sat on their property for three years. That’s when a Peruvian railroad came looking for some narrow gauge motive power. They took 75 and 76. 74 was left behind to wallow away alone. Left behind.
     Two years later, though, another life awaited 74. In 1948, the Rio Grande Southern was wheezing out its last breaths. The Galloping Geese had bought it a few more years, but the light was fading. The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club knew their chance to see and ride the line was dwindling. They wanted to plan as many excursions as possible. When the club approached the RGS receiver about this, he remarked that it was too costly to lease a D&RGW engine to haul their trains. The Club countered by suggesting that they buy a locomotive. For whatever reason, they took the bait and purchased 74.
     One member of that railroad club was a man named Dr. John B. Schoolland. He was very interested in the Colorado & Northwestern Railroad which ran through his resident town of Boulder and discovered that 74 had started its career on that very railroad. Recognizing that the RGS was near its terminus, he set out to save the engine so it could be displayed in Boulder. The city’s community started various fundraisers that eventually ‘bought’ 74 and had her shipped via rail. 74 returned home in August of 1952 and was placed in Central Park along with a D&RGW coach and RGS caboose.

  The years were not kind as neglect and vandalism set in. Various community members and students worked to touch up the engine off and on. Unfortunately, the RGS caboose was destroyed via a student prank using dynamite and was replaced with a Rio Grande caboose. In 1979 the Boulder Model Railroad Club committed to taking care of the site. 74 and her train were eventually moved a bit to a new curved track and have been maintained beautifully since. It wears its original no. 30 from its C&NW days. The most recent chapter in this engine’s life is that the CHS shipped it to a company to see if it could be restored for use on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. This was decided against, but 74 was cosmetically restored and returned to Boulder. Who could have guessed that being left behind in 1948 would have saved her for our enjoyment today?