My question:
Do you know how 1006 ended up in Silver Plume after the
C&S was abandoned? Post abandonment photos show it in the dirt or
on wooden blocks. It doesn't seem like it was left as a display item like
the locos and trains in Idaho Springs and Central City. Those were all
painted up and displayed well, while 1006 seemed "dumped."
Response from The Colorado & Southern Railway Society:
We've done a lot of research on this very question. Initially we assumed that the Caboose was left in Silver Plume when the tracks were pulled up.
It turns out; we have found photos of the Scrap train,
and 1006 was the caboose used to dismantle the clear creek branch.
When the Narrow gauge was abandoned the C&S
management actively chose a number of locomotives and cars specifically for
preservation.
While 1008, and 1009 were retained for use on the
Leadville branch till it was upgraded to standard gauge in 1946, 1006 was
deliberately chosen for preservation and trucked to Silver Plume.
Based on their response, I surmise that maybe 1006 was nicely displayed at one time, but the photos I've come across showing it in a dilapidated state must be later when it had been neglected. If I'm right, it doesn't explain why the trains in Idaho Springs and Central City were occasionally maintained by the CB&Q, such as when they sent people out in the 1950s or 60s to repaint the trains in current CB&Q livery, but this did not, as far as I am aware, happen to 1006.