The Locos We Lost, Part 1

I know I should be thankful that we have 5 very well-preserved locomotives of the C&S.  And I am!   Goodness, there are some railroads with no saved engines. 

But one can't help thinking of what might have been.  In my readings and research over the years I've noticed that there were a few other engines that came close to being saved, but for various reasons were lost.  The next few posts will explore these.

The first lost loco did not make it to the C&S era.  In fact, it was a Mason Bogie.  Yes, a Mason Bogie from the South Park was actually preserved!  Unfortunately, how it got saved is a complete mystery.  In fact, which locomotive it was is a mystery as well.

So, here's the story.

According to an article of his in the 1948 Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, Mac Poor, author of the renowned DSP&P book, was doing some research on locomotives and discovered that there was "an old bogie type engine" on display at Iowa State College since roughly 1905.  He found some info on the engine in a school publication listing the various railroads that had at one time owned this engine.  No mention of the South Park was found there. 

However, upon inspection it was found that "The drive wheel diameters, wheel base, firebox dimensions, gauge and valve gear coincides exactly with the specifications of Mason engines built for the South Park." 

The real giveaway came when the a "D.S.P" was found on the casting of the right hand cylinder.  In addition to this, "Cast in a front wheel truck are the words 'Denver Wheel G.W. Co. Denver, Colo. Jan. 14, 1896 U.P.D.&G.'"

So, what happened to it?  Alas, World War II happened.  According to The Pictorial Supplement to the DSP&P, which has a photo of the loco on display in a somewhat deteriorated condition, the engine was lost to the wartime scrap drive in 1942. 

The caption there reads "The last surviving example of a South Park Mason bogie stood for 37 years on the campus of Iowa State College....Many erroneous and confusing statements were made concerning the history of this locomotive, but there is no doubt that it was a South Park engine."

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Side note: Mac Poor's article was published in 1948, but he makes no mention of the engine being scrapped even though, if The Pictorial Supplement is correct, the locomotive was gone already for six years.

C&S Display Trains: Given or Pulled?

For a long time I have taken it for granted based on several references that when the C&S was in the process of abandoning their Clear Creek line in the early 1940s they offered a locomotive for display to any town along its line.  The story was that initially no one took them up on the offer until Central City changed its mind and then Idaho Springs followed suit.  Silver Plume came a little later after this with acquiring a caboose.

However, after reading Daniel W. Edward's most recent A Documentary History of the South Park Line: Vol. 6: Abandonment of the Leadville Line, I have come to the conclusion that this narrative is simplistic at best.

Edward's has a chapter devoted to letters sent between several individuals.  For simplicity's sake it is largely a correspondence between C&S officials and CB&Q officials.  Basically, it shows a tussle over the town of Central City's desire to acquire a display train for their town.  The C&S is supportive and requests permission from the Q who repeatedly tries to turn down the offer.  The Burlington folks keep putting off the C&S folks' request by stating that the C&S is headed toward bankruptcy and cannot afford to give away any of its assets, including locomotives destined for the scrapper.

This back and forth haggling goes on for roughly 7 months from August 1940 to March 1941 until the CB&Q finally relents and allows engine 71 and a combine to be loaned...not donated, loaned.  Somehow or other the gondola gets included, though the Q tried to get out of that too, and full ownership of the display train is eventually transferred to the Central City Opera Association.

So, what about No. 60 and coach 70 at Idaho Springs?  Wasn't that a benevolent donation from the railroad?  Nope.  The further I looked into that situation, I found out that the train was given to the town to the town to satisfy a claim by Idaho Springs that the C&S had not paid a tax debt.  Thus, the donation of the train settled that financial squabble.

The story of how caboose 1006 made it to Silver Plume is a bit murkier.  Based on some research you can see on a previous series of posts, the town seems to have pursued this and had to pick up the caboose themselves.

The story that the C&S offered display trains to towns along their route and happily obliged seems now incorrect.  However, I have a theory.  I surmise that the C&S did make a benevolent offer to the towns in 1938, but no one accepted the offer.  This idea is based on the book Narrow Gauge to Central and Silver Plume when it details a meeting that was held to determine the disposition of all the narrow gauge equipment as abandonment was progressing.  Besides No. 9 that was sent to the World's Fair, the Superintendant of Motive Power mentions in a memo that "one [engine was held] up anticipating that we could use the engine for historical purposes.  We now find that none of the towns are agreeable to accepting this engine."

It wasn't until 1940 that Central City, in anticipation of developing the historical nature of the town, came to the idea of acquiring a display train.  At this point, it seems the financial situation had worsened and management, at least of the parent CB&Q, was not feeling particularly benevolent.

In summary, the C&S made an offer of a display train to Clear Creek towns in 1938, but there were no takers.  The process of acquiring No. 71 and train for Central City began in 1940 and was initiated by the town (though credit goes to C&S management for pushing the Q to make it happen).  No. 60 and her coach were given to Idaho Springs as a means to pay a tax debt.  And, finally, Silver Plume, like Central City, seems to have pursued a caboose by their own initiative.

As you can see, I'm putting pieces together, so I'm very open to alternate explanations.  If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear!



Photos
No. 71 and train
No. 60
1006: Otto Perry, 1941

C&S No.9 at Heritage Park

Just enjoyed this beautiful night shot of C&S No. 9 at Heritage Park in Breckenridge.  

http://breckheritage.com/rotary-snowplow-park/