DSP&P 191 in the roundhouse in Golden

 Someone posted a photo of DSP&P 191 in the roundhouse at Golden at the Colorado Railroad Museum. Not sure what she's in for.

Here she is back in 2023 when I last visited.

The 5 Remaining C&S Locos - Update 9

  As my reading and research continues I want to continually update this article from its original form as published in The Bogies and the Loop.  Updates are in bold and underlined.   Thanks to recent research, this update includes new details related to C&S No. 9.

And Then There Were Five:

 The Stories of the Remaining Five C&S Locomotives 

By Kurt Maechner  

          On a cold winter morning in 1986 C&S 71 was hauled up onto a flatbed truck in Central City. The destination was the newly reconstructed portion of the Georgetown Loop route. The engine got away, but much to their surprise, when they tried to move the tender, they were met by a string of Central City residents barring its passage out of town. They gathered in protest like Greenpeace stopping a whaling ship. What is it about these little engines that pulled people out of bed to protect it? Why do we still haggle on internet groups about the fates of these relics of a bygone railroad? Perhaps they each say something about life, even about us. Maybe we can even learn from their stories.

         Five engines remain of the C&S from its roster of 69. Each has an intriguing story of how it outwitted the grim scrapper. These are their stories…and a little about what each says about life.

The Other 64 

    A vast majority of the C&S engines met the scrapper one way or another. 35 of the 69 were scrapped by the C&S itself. 29, though eventually scrapped, were sold or traded to various companies and lumber railroads including Morse Brothers, Hallack & Howard Lumber Company, Manistee & Luther R.R., Clarkson Saw Mill Company, B.G. Peters Salt & Lumber Company, Oak Grove & Georgetown R.R. Co., J.J. White Company, Ed Hines Lumber Company, and the Montrose Lumber Company. A few notable exchanges include C&S 55 that was sold to the Milwaukee Road and operated on their Bellevue & Cascade narrow gauge line. Number 64 was moved to Mexico to run for the Sosa & Garcia Company. Two engines (no. 69 & 70) went to the White Pass & Yukon Route in Alaska. Finally, two of the C&S’ last and largest engines, no. 75 and 76 were eventually purchased, and converted to standard gauge, by the Central Railway of Peru to be used for the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corp. There are several hearsay reports that one of the engines tumbled to the bottom of a canyon due to an unrecorded derailment. 

In 2017 I was contacted by Bob Whetham, author of In Search of the Narrow Gauge.  During

a trip to Peru in 1965 he stumbled upon what he and others believe to be the remains of either C&S 75 or 76 in a scrap yard in Huancayo.  He noted at the time that he "remember[ed] the canted cylinders which were very unusual."  His photo (right) shows the tender in the background and the boiler behind that tender (it is not the engine in the foreground). 

Mike Trent on the DSP&P forum commented, "I would state that I am quite certain, beyond a reasonable doubt, that this is #76's tender. I have spent quite a bit of time comparing this image to others of #76. This had a distinctive rivet pattern, and it seems to fit, right down to the bunker sides.  It seems likely that the boiler in the back is one of the two. The only other photo I have ever seen shows a boiler complete with piston valves with the steam dome cover removed in what appears to be a different location than this one. The boilers would be harder to distinguish....But I'm going to get on board that this is #76's tender."

Presumably, it was eventually scrapped completely at a later date.

     And then there were five.

71: All Roads Lead to Home  

       Do all roads really lead to Rome? In real life, all roads lead to home. In all its small positive and negative nuances, our home affects us more than any other influence in life. Whether we love it or have run from it, it must be reckoned with. One C&S loco was adopted by a town, and despite unsuccessful efforts to remove it, and successful efforts to abuse it, it remains affectionately at its adopted home.

       When the railroad finally received permission to abandon the South Park in 1937, the C&S, finding no buyers in 1938 for their surplus locomotives, began the process of scrapping them.  This began in 1938 with No. 5 and one month later consumed 65 and 58.  

     There was an attempt at saving at least one engine for posterity.  The railroad made an offer to any town along its line: A free narrow gauge locomotive to stuff and mount. This would have been engine 6.  Despite the number of people who protested the abandonment of the line, not a single town along its remaining rails took them up on the offer.  A memo to the Superintendent of Motive Power stated that "the scrapping of 6 narrow gauge engines, one of which we asked you to hold up anticipating that we could use the engine for historical purposes.  We now find that none of the towns is agreeable to accepting this engine.  You may therefore scrap engine 6."

     However, by 1941, one town (and eventually Idaho Springs), Central City, who had lost its railroad connection 10 years earlier, changed its mind and said yes, though it had to fight the management of the Burlington Route (now owner of the C&S) for many months to get it at this point.  By this time the Q didn't want to give away any assets, even if it was scrap value. Engine 71, that had the unfortunate privilege of being used on many scrapping operations on the line, was chosen. Along with gondola 4319 and combination car 20, it was taken to the end of track at Black Hawk in April of 1941. It was then hauled by truck and found a home on exhibit near the site of the Central City depot.

     There it would remain for a little over 45 years.

   She did receive some attention over the years.  During the 1950's or 1960's, the CB&Q sent someone along to spiff up the paint and, in the process, added the Burlington herald to the whole train.  A fence was also added to keep vandals out.  Rick Steele comments in the Narrow Gauge Forum that he scraped and repainted the engine and No. 20 back to the original C&S markings in 1970.

       Puffs of steam would return to the air in Central City, however, in 1968 as the Colorado Central Narrow Gauge tourist railroad laid track to Packard Gulch. They ran trains with two Central American locomotives. This group, along with the locos and rolling stock, eventually moved to take over operation of trains on the Georgetown Loop project in 1973. The Colorado Historical Society (CHS), who owned the track, had the idea of also taking 71 to Silver Plume to restore it and run it on the Loop. The engine was indeed taken to Silver Plume in 1986 which lead to much consternation in Central City. A town newspaper referred to the situation as the “Great Train Robbery.” When the CHS then tried to move the tender, this is when some city residents came out to stop it. Their town had requested the locomotive and they wanted to keep it. Following this incident, the engine was promptly returned home...sort of.

   For reasons I have yet to determine, around this time, instead of returning the engine to its display site in Central City, it was placed on display, along with the rest of its train, on a new stretch of rail in Black Hawk.  During the winter of 1987, a trucker by the name of Steve Clifford, who related his story in The Bogies and the Loop, happened to pass through Black Hawk when he noticed "a flimsy make-shift shed constructed over locomotive No. 71 and its tender."  This chance encounter led him to find out just what was going on (and also to him receiving a bid to transport the train on his truck back to Central City).

      

     Something was indeed going on.  Steam rose again from the bear trap stack of 71 from 1987 to 1990. Another organization stepped in to run the Central City line, this time named The Blackhawk and Central City Narrow Gauge Railroad, and No. 71 was their star. There is a lot of discussion on the efficacy of the running of the locomotive in these years. That being said, she did live again, if even for a brief moment of relived
history. The group certainly had big goals. A tourist guide from 1988 states the railroad as planning “to reach Blackhawk in the next five years.” This, unfortunately, was not to happen. The railroad folded and 71 sat again, still, with her gondola and combine until she was moved once again. 

  The Narrow Gauge Discussion forum states that at some point the land where the train had previously been displayed was sold, and so the train, minus the gondola, was transferred to the Couer d'Alene Mine on the opposite side of the valley in the early 1990s.  By 1996 a chain link fence had been erected around the engine .

Casinos came to the City of Central in 1991 and she was eventually placed high up with the combine on a display track by Grand Z Casino and Hotel. The gondola sits in a park near Eureka Street. There’s much consternation over her most recent appointment, but, let’s face it, she’s at least at home.

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.  Mike Trent on the Rio Grande Southern Technical Page wrote, "In February 1982, the train was moved about 40 feet north of its original location to allow improvements to be made in the park and because the track under the train had deteriorated badly. Almost all ties under the engine were completely rotted away, and the weight of the locomotive had caused her to settle about three to four inches. The BMRC volunteers were called upon to help, and they did, in a big way. Rail was located and donated with the help of the Georgetown Loop Railroad and State Historical Society. The City of Boulder bought brand new ties, and the volunteers, along with some willing professional help, laid a curved section of track for the train's new home. Dr. Schoolland was present to help drive the 'Golden Spike.'"  For a few months after the move the engine was dressed up in C&S livery and even sported a fabricated Bear Trap stack before being returned to its original look as C&N #30.

In the early 2000s the Colorado Historical Society shipped it to a company to see if the engine could be restored for use on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. This was decided against, but 74 was cosmetically restored by the West Side Locomotive Company of Denver and returned to Boulder.  In 2012, she was leased to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden where she resides today.  Who could have guessed that being left behind in 1948 would have saved her for our enjoyment today?

9: Sometimes reinventing yourself opens new doors.  

     Most of us like to stay on the rails marked out for us. With change comes friction and we like to avoid it at all costs. But complacency can also destroy us. Some of us learn that to find life anew we must reinvent ourselves in some way: physically, occupationally, or spiritually. Sometimes that reinvention comes whether we like it or not. This is the story of little number 9, a mogul that has lived more lives than any other C&S engine.

     If ever there was controversy surrounding a C&S locomotive, number 9 takes the cake. Built by Cooke in 1884, the loco started out on the South Park Line. She had the honor of pulling the last scheduled passenger train from Denver to Leadville in 1937. She spent two more years on the Clear Creek line and South Platte branch, but an opportunity in 1939 put the engine out of the scrapper’s hand. From 1939 to 1940 New York hosted the World’s Fair. Many railroads sent representative trains. The Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy, which now owned the C&S, planned on sending one of their Cooke moguls as a narrow gauge representative.  Engines 5, 6, 8, or 9 were the options.  They settled on No. 6, leaving the others to be scrapped.  However, according to Narrow Gauge to Central and Silver Plume, "the suggestion was made that the 9 was in better shape and might well be used instead--which was in fact done."

   According to The Mineral Belt Vol. 2, "C&S 2-6-0 Number 9, Railway express and RPO car 13, and coach 76 were put on exhibit in Denver before being moved to the New York World's Fair in 1939.  Number 9 had just been run through the backshop and coaches were resplendent in new paint.  The 2-6-0 was the only engine of this wheel arrangement saved from scrapping."

     Evading the torch by inches, number 9 then was sent along with her two cars to the World's Fair. CB&Q then kept the little train in storage at their Aurora, Illinois shops until 1948 when Chicago held its railroad fair. The engine and her coaches were leased to the fair to be run as a quaint old time western train. Painted for the defunct Deadwood Central (which, incidentally, according to The Mineral Belt Vol. 1 was the railroad from which CB&Q 537 came from), labeled “Chief Crazy Horse”, and sporting a hack false balloon stack, the engine chugged around a small track pulling visitors.

     She was again stored until the Burlington loaned the engine and 3 cars in 1956 to the tourist hauler Black Hills Central in South Dakota.  According to the July 1956 edition of Narrow Gauge News, the line planned to use ex-White Pass & Yukon No. 69 for power, and intended No. 9 for standby power. The line simply put the engine on display. I have read in a few spots that some believe the engine was pulled

behind another engine and made to look operational by burning tires in the boiler.  Jason Midyette, author of a book on No. 9, pointed out that a 1912 law in South Dakota forbid the use of coal-burning locomotives anyway.  Since No. 9 was intended for backup use, maybe the Black Hills hoped to someday convert it to burn oil?

     Twenty-four years later, in 1981, the Colorado & Southern was finally absorbed into the Burlington Northern and the controversy began. By 1986 BN and the Black Hills Central entered a legal fight over the ownership of the mogul. The end result was that BN decided to send it home by giving it to the Colorado Historical Society. They had it stored on Morningstar siding near Silver Plume on the Georgetown Loop RR. It was relettered on one side in alignment with C&S days, though it still retained a red cab for some time. Its greatest surprise was yet to come.

     When the CHS, who owned the GLRR trackage, and the folks who owned and operated the railroad  reached an impasse in negotiations, a major debacle resulted. The end result was that the operator took all of the rolling stock and locos off the property and moved or donated them elsewhere. Still wanting to operate the railroad, the CHS, hunted for a new operator. However, they had no locomotives…except number 9. Both 74 and 9 were shipped away to check the feasibility of restoring one of them to operation. It was determined that number 9, using 74’s tender would be the best bet. In 2006 Uhrich Locomotive Works completed work on number 9 and sent her back to the Loop. It was an exciting day, yet, retained a bitter end.

     There was already an uproar over the changing of GLRR operators, but the furor was somewhat tempered by the excitement of seeing a real C&S loco run again. When number 9 was pulled out of service due to mechanical problems before the end of the season in 2006, many people’s anger erupted. Regardless of opinions on all sides of the issue, number 9 was traded to the town of Breckenridge. They had an old Sundown and Southern locomotive at their Rotary Snowplow Park. This engine seems to have had more promise to have the power to pull trains on the Loop and is being refurbished.

     The trade originally required that number 9 had to be operated. There were plans to build a short section of track in Breckenridge and run the loco off of compressed air. This has all changed and, after an impressive cosmetic makeover at Mammoth Locomotive Works, the engine was put on display in December 2010 between a rotary and a C&S boxcar at what is called Highline Railroad Park. Reinvented once again.

31: Age Matters 

     Popular culture (read: those trying to make money) bombard us with a belief that whatever is young and new is better. It wasn’t that long ago, however, when age was venerated, when being older made your opinion and insight valuable to others. Today, it seems, all it takes is being young, trendy, and having the ability make a hit song. C&S 31 comes from the former era and it holds a title: the oldest locomotive in Colorado; and that counts for something.

     C&S 31's story is not as storied as her other surviving companions, but it contains its curiosities just as well.  In the words of Jason Midyette who chronicled her story in The Bogies and the Loop, her "survival was more a result of random chance than any actual plan; had the C&S kept it, it would have been rebuilt and modernized (and ultimately scrapped) and had the locomotive been in better shape, it might not have been set aside for display in 1932."  

    Built in 1880, C&S 31 began its career as number 51 on the South Park Line. It later joined the Denver, Leadville, & Gunnison as 191 and finally the C&S as number 31 (though it was never renumbered in actuality). It served for 22 years on those lines until it was sold for $2000 in April 1899 (or 1902-sources vary), a year after the creation of the C&S, to the Edward Hines Lumber Company in Wisconsin and run as Washburn & Northwestern #7. In 1905 it was sold to the Robbins Lumber Co. in Rhinelander, which was bought in 1919 by the Thunder Lake Lumber Co. As a side note, one source said that the cautious owner of the line thought it was too heavy to be used unless the ground was frozen. Midyette states that "By 1932, No. 191 was completely worn out and seldom used."  It was retired that year and placed on display at Wisconsin's Rhinelander Logging Museum, next to the paper mill in town, moving there under its own power for the last time.  It was later moved to Rhinelander's Pioneer Park.  The engine remained on display for a little over four decades.


    The locomotive's time at Rhinelander was not kind.  The museum at the time pursued a philosophy that the more access the public has to history, the more likely they are to feel connected to it.  Consequently, the engine was fully accessible and climbable.  As a result, many parts went missing and the loco's condition diminished.
     
    At the beginning of the 1970's, Cornelius Hauck, co-founder with Bob Richardson of the Colorado Railroad Museum, learned of the existence of 191 and contacted the Rhinelander museum.  The logging museum was open to 191 moving to Colorado if a fitting replacement locomotive could be found for them.   Hauck discovered a Mexican railroad that owned a former Thunder Lake Lumber Co. engine was closing down.  This engine wasn't a trade or later purchase for the Wisconsin line, like 191, but was actually built new in 1925 specifically for the Wisconsin logger.  Hauck convinced the Rhinelander Museum to accept his offer that if he could get this engine to them, they would give him No. 31/191.

  

    Finally, in February 1973, Bob Richardson made the trek to Mexico to orchestrate the move of the Thunder Lake engine to Wisconsin and then oversaw the move of 191 from the Rhinelander museum onto a railcar for its move back home to Colorado. 

   Now back in her home state she was restored to her appearance as Denver, Leadville & Gunnison 191, including cutting back her smokebox to its length while on the South Park.  One very unique aspect of 51/191/31 is that, as stated in The Bogies and the Loop, she "received little in the way of updates and has remained a remarkably original example of an 1880's narrow gauge freight locomotive."  In addition to its authenticity, it is believed to be the oldest surviving locomotive in the state at over 130 years old.  One more curiosity to South Park fans is that the link and pin coupler installed on the pilot of 191 by the Colorado Railroad Museum was found along the grade to Alpine Tunnel, likely there as a result of some distant wreck.  In 2009 the engine received an entire cosmetic make-over at CRRM and has been proudly displayed on numerous publicity materials related to the museum. For at least a few of us, yes, age matters.

 60: Stay ready for work 'til the end.  

     For those who relish the goal to eat, drink, and be merry, life’s twilight years hold little promise. But for those who believe their lives hold a greater purpose, one that outshines occupation, we want to stay ready for work, whatever divine work this might be.  One of the five C&S survivors did just that.

     C&S 60 began her life on the Utah & Northern in 1886. She eventually joined the DL&G and ultimately the Colorado & Southern. A story concerning her latter days suggests that the engine was being used to scrap the remainder of the Clear Creek line in 1941 when, well, she just broke down in the town of Idaho Springs where the loco was subsequently donated to the city for display.  

     The "break down" story, however, is likely a myth.  The Colorado & Southern Railway Society, a historical preservation group that has taken on the mantel of caring for No. 60 and her coach, have studied the engine's service records at the Colorado Railroad Museum and there found evidence to discredit such a story.  

     Their research reports, "The C&S mileage records for 60 show she received a complete overhaul in April of 1936. She ran for a year till mid 1937 when she was stored serviceable in Leadville from mid 1937-January 1939.  The records contain monthly inspection sheets filled out for every month of her layup and which state she was stored serviceable in Leadville."

     There the diminutive consolidation lived out her remaining years ready to do the work she was born to do.  In fact, she had the chance to do just that one more time when in the early winter of 1939 she again plied the rails for 6 months.  She was stored again in June, but this time, as she awaited another fire in her belly, the mileage record demonstrates that it was not to happen again.

     The C&S Ry. Society, consequently concludes that "all of our research seems to support that the idea of the breakdown is a myth."  They theorize that "the story of the 'breakdown' seems to come from having one of her eccentric links disconnected.  We haven't determined why that is or when it was done.  However, from the records, and from physical inspection this far, 60 appears to be in excellent mechanical condition with only mild wear from her service time."

     In 1938 the C&S offered towns along its line a locomotive for display purposes.  No one took the bait.  Yet, a 1941 article in the Clear Creek Mining Journal calls No. 60 in Idaho Springs a "gift."  There is a bit of a complication in this gift, though.  Apparently, Clear Creek County argued, as long ago as 1936, that the railway had not paid a tax debt.  In 1941 the county accepted the locomotive as a settlement for this dispute.  Curiously, the town specified in the agreement that they wanted No. 60 to wear a snowplow.

     On Tuesday, May 13th, scrapper Rube Morris hauled the engine and a coach (no. 70) to Idaho Springs using engine 69.  The engine and her small train were on display on a small strip of land between Miner Street and Colorado Blvd.  At some point a log-cabin styled gift shop was built next to the train.  Some have referenced that the gift shop owner sometimes burned old tires in the boiler to simulate steam in order to garner customers.

   As in the case of engine 71 in Central City, it appears that the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad sent a crew to spiff up the engines in the 1950s or 1960s and consequently repainted the engine with the Burlington herald on the tender and "C&S" under a smaller engine number on the cab.  When the paint scheme was returned to the original, as it is today, is unclear.

     Using temporary track, the train was moved forward on March 14, 1987 into what is now Harold A. Anderson Park, the spot where a few year earlier, an old school house was moved as well which serves today as Idaho Springs' city hall.  This is where she is today.  In the summer of 2015 the C&S Ry. Society completely needle scaled and repainted 60's smokebox with a graphite based paint mix to reflect its appearance while in operation.  They also added coal boards to the tender.

     In the early 2000s number 60 also was taken into consideration for operation on the Georgetown Loop.  Jason Midyette, one of the directors of the South Park Rail Society, explained that, "CHS (now History Colorado) did approach Idaho Springs in 2004 about using No. 60 on the Loop and Idaho Springs was seemingly favorable to the idea. In further discussions, it was brought to everyone's attention that 60 was the only surviving C&S narrow gauge locomotive that was completely original and essentially untouched from its days on the C&S. As returning it to operation would entail changes and replacement parts, a case was made that 60 should be preserved as a record of C&S practices which would be irrevocably lost if the locomotive was operated on the Loop. CHS and Idaho Springs decided that the locomotive should be preserved and it was no longer considered for operation.  
     Today number 60, with her coach, still sits proudly on the track looking ahead down the former right-of-way on Idaho Street.

     History has led these five locomotives down a trail as serpentine as the grades they once climbed. Where will history take us? It might, like 71, take us back where we came from. We might find ourselves left behind like 74, but it could turn out better than we expect. Maybe we’ll find ourselves in a situation that requires us to reinvent ourselves like number 9. For those of us who’ve earned our keep, we may need to remember that age matters like C&S 31. Yet, no matter what life brings our way, no matter when we might finally drop off the serviceable list like number 60, there’s a calling to keep doing the work we were created to do until we change trains at that great Union Depot that awaits us all.

References

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Trent, M. (2011). Engine No. 74 – Back Home Again (1952-present). Retrieved from http://www.riograndesouthern.com/RGSTechPages/_bdwhite/index.htm Page.

Trent, M. (2011). Engine No. 74 – The Colorado & Southern Years (1921-1945). Retrieved from http://www.riograndesouthern.com/RGSTechPages/_bdwhite/index.htm Page.

Trent, M. (2011). Engine No. 74 – The Rio Grande Southern Years (1948-1952). Retrieved from http://www.riograndesouthern.com/RGSTechPages/_bdwhite/index.htm Page.

Trent, Mike (2017).  "Possible Photo of C&S 75 or 76 in 1965." Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad Forum. Retrieved from https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DSP-P/conversations/topics/19725 

Whetham, Bob. Correspondence via email and blog comment.  Retrieved from http://alpinetunnel.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-five-remaining-c-locomotives.html?showComment=1483821780124#c8669007517712290998

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1975 C&S News (1) - Charles Ryland, Stolen engine bells, Loop bridge studies, 1903 Loop footage

 A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1975 editions.  

1975

Part 1

January

(Theft! Stolen railroad passes)

ON AUGUST 23 a collection of railroad passes was stolen from the home of member Charles Ryland. Some have appeared in antique shops and through the help of some members and friends a number  have been recovered.  Among those not yet located are an 1879 Colorado Central #679, a Denver Pacific 1870 issued to Casement, several Colorado Midland Indian passes, a Denver, Lakewood & Golden 1899 and many others. Any information about these or others will be appreciated.  A list is available from Charles Ryland at 1914 - 19TH St., GOLDEN, COLORADO 80401. 

(Ed. Charles Ryland, a WWII vet and a former president of the RMRC, was the man who persuaded M.C. Poor to let the Club publish his DSP&P book when the original publisher demanded Poor cut the book in half.  Poor said in 1965, "The silver lining to my dark cloud was none other than Charlie Ryland)

(Theft again! Stolen engine bell)

Unloading Potosi & Rio Verde No. 4 in the early '70s 

CAN YOU HELP?? - On or about December 6th, the bell on Mexican Engine No. 4 at the Colorado Railroad Museum was appropriated by persons unknown. Due to the substantial weight of the bell and the fact that it was welded on, it can be assumed more than one person was involved in this theft. The Colorado Railroad Museum would greatly appreciate any information in regards to recent attempts to sell or otherwise dispose of an engine bell.  The museum is looking for any clues that will help locating the historic piece.  

(Ed. This is the engine, Potosi & Rio Verde No. 4, that was "thrown in the pot" when Bob Richardson of the Colorado Railroad Museum agreed to do the work to get an original Thunder Lake engine from Mexico to a Wisconsin museum.  For all the work, Richardson got DSP&P No. 191 from Wisconsin for CRRM, along with a narrow gauge Mexican engine.  This engine was later sold to the Huckleberry Railroad in Michigan.  See the April edition below for the outcome of the theft)

February

(early filming on the original Georgetown Loop)

"Rivers of Silver, Ribbons of Steel" 

As we were about to print this newsletter, we received confirmation that Mr. William L. Loeffler of Long Island, New York will be here for the February meeting and will present a 25 minute, 16mm sound production covering a 100 year retrospective look at the narrow gauge empire in the Rockies. From color sound track of the Durango-Silverton run back through black and white newsreel footage and animated stills including early filming of the Georgetown Loop.  Mr. Loeffler has prepared a TV production complete with narration.  This should provide a fine climax to the Otto Perry showing. 

March

(Early footage of Kenosha Pass and the Loop presented)

The February program was a double barrel "shot in the arm" for narrow gauge enthusiasts and others who "packed the house" for the double feature presentation. Leading off the program portion of the meeting were scenes from the famous Otto Perry movies including the San Juan at various locations along its rout.  Rocky Mountain Railroad Club excursions including a Rio Grande narrow gauge trip over a dozen cars including the Silver Vista, the South Park at Kenosha Pass, the Pikes Peak  Cog Railway prior to the elimination of steam power and many more views to numerous to mention. 

Following the Otto Perry selection we were privileged to view a showing by Mr. William L. Loeffler of "Rivers of Silver, Ribbons of Steel", a 25 minute 16mm color and sound motion picture production concentrating on the history of the narrow gauge railroads in the west.  The film is designed for showing to viewers in a television audience who are not familiar with mountain railroading.  It is an enjoyable retrospective look at the reason for the narrow gauge form of railroading and the importance it played in the development of the western U.S. including scenes with rare sequences of a Uintah train working up Baxter Pass, a rotary snowplow operation on Cumbres Pass, and a tourist train running over the Georgetown Loop filmed by the Biograph Studio in 1903.  (Ed. You can see this footage here)

Recent films taken of the Silverton train portrayed how it is still possible to ride a train similar to those of years ago that provided the only decent form of transportation into the mountains.  We are indebted to Mr. Loeffler, who produced the film, for arranging his personal schedule so that he could show the film at the meeting.  Mr. Loeffler teaches motion picture production and is involved with educational TV.  He is presently with the Department of Communication Arts of the New York Institute of Technology, Long Island, New York and stopped in Denver for the meeting while on his way to the west coast.  When the use of the Georgetown Loop, Uintah and Cumbres Pass footage for the production of the film was completed, Mr. Loeffler donated it to the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club film library. The sequences are of high quality and were meticulously copied from the original 35mm nitrate film in the Library of Congress.  It was certainly an enjoyable evening for all and we thank Mr. Loeffler for his time and effort in brining “Rivers of Silver, Ribbons of Steel” to Denver for our viewing pleasure.

(Studies underway to reconstruct the Loop High Bridge)

A LITTLE CLOSER EVERY DAY - Preliminary engineering studies are underway for the rebuilding of

The High Bridge

the high bridge on the Georgetown Loop. The bridge will be designed to resemble as closely as possible the original structure. Construction would begin as soon as the required funding can be obtained. 

(Ed. Funding to rebuild the bridge would not become a reality for roughly seven more years-1982-when the Boettcher Foundation gave one million dollars to the project)

April

(DSP&P book reprint in progress)

PROGRESS REPORT ON REPUBLICATION OF DENVER SOUTH PARK & PACIFIC - Ed Haley reports that the work is going "full steam ahead" with the Denver South. Park & Pacific. All 209 photographs included in the original book have been acquired with the exception of five. Of these, three are being replaced by almost exact duplicates, one is being eliminated and will be replaced by a photo more compatible with the text, and one we are still trying to acquire from Life Magazine. We have added 28 more excellent photos to the 209 in the original book and will possibly add four more. 

Four plates required for reproducing one of the paintings in color have been made and proofs are on hand. A second color reproduction is at the engravers now. Negatives for reproduction of photographs in the first third of the book have all been made and proofs received. Negatives for the photos in the second third of the book have been shot and proofs are being made. Photos for the final third of the book are in order and ready to be taken to World Press. World Press has been doing its own camera work and proofs received indicate a remarkable improvement over reproductions in the original book. As of this date there has been no actual printing. The Club has received orders for 1,508 books. Watch for our advertisements in all of the railfan and modelers' magazines. 

(Stolen engine bell found!)

GOOD NEWS - The bell stolen off the Mexican Engine in early December at the Colorado Railroad Museum has been recovered.

June

(First annual rail fan weekend at the Georgetown Loop)

Also in June we are pleased to announce that the State Historical Society and the Georgetown Loop Railroad Company are having their first annual rail fan weekend at Silver Plume, Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22, starting at 10:00 A.M. each day. $5.00 per person each day. Steam will be operated. 

(Colorado Rail Annual)

** BOOK REVIEW **

THE SOUTH PARK LINE, A Concise History, by Chappell, Richardson, and Hauck. (Colorado 

Rail Annual No. 12.) 280 pages, illustrated, maps. 

This well-produced volume covers the famous South Park line briefly, but adequately. Gordon S. Chappell

has written the history of the line during its construction period and early years of operation. The period of Union Pacific control and subsequent receivership was prepared by Cornelius W. Hauck, while Robert W. Richardson has covered the Colorado and Southern operations, and the final abandonment. A pictorial section on Alpine Pass includes the famous snowplow trails, and a well-deserved tribute to railroad photographer, Richard B. Jackson, provides additional excellent illustrations. A locomotive roster and some miscellaneous information completes the book, which is highly recommended to anyone interested

in this famous Colorado railroad. The book is available from the Colorado Railroad Museum, Box 10, Golden, Colorado 80401, at $14.75 per copy, postpaid. Colorado residents, please send $15.34, to include sales tax. 

1973 C&S News - M.C. Poor passes, High Country RR is born, DSP&P 191 returns to CO

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1973 editions.  No C&S-related info showed up in the 1972 editions

1973

May

(Mac Poor's Passing)

MEMBERS OF THE RMRRC will be saddened to hear of the passing of Mac Poor, one of Colorado's
foremost railroad historians, and the author of one of the most famous railroad histories ever published, "DENVER, SOUTH PARK & PACIFIC” (1949), He died Tuesday, April 17, 1973 at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, after a short illness. 

Mr. Poor was a long time member of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, and was well liked by all those who knew him, either personally, or as a fellow railfan and history buff.  He was also a member of the Denver Posse of the Westerners, the Colorado Consistory A & A S R, the Union Lodge #1 of the Odd Fellows, and was active in the Highlands Methodist Church. 

Poor holding up the result of his 10 year journey

Born in Caledonia, Washington County, Missouri, on June 28, 1901, Mr. Poor lived in Chicago for many years, retiring in Texas in 1950, and moving to Denver in 1952. 

His interest in the South Park Railroad began with visits to Colorado in the early 1930's.  In 1938, he began gathering material for a complete history of the famous branch of the Colorado & Southern Railway.  Ten years of devoted work went into the compilation and preparation of this material and his book was published by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club in 1949.  It has since become one of the most sought after railroad books in the World. 

In 1959, he co-authored “PICTORIAL SUPPLEMENT TO DENVER, SOUTH PARK & PACIFIC”, and had previously written short histories of the Denver, Boulder & Western Railroad and the Argentine Central Railway. 

He was buried in Bonham, Texas. Mr, Poor is survived by his wife, Cleta, and a brother, George L. Poor of Sunnyvale, California.  A Mac Poor Memorial Fund has been established at the Highlands United Methodist Church, West 32nd Avenue and Osceola St, Denver, Colorado 80212, 

April

(High Country Railroad is Born)

HIGH COUNTRY RAILROAD at Heritage Square, Colorado's newest railroad, a 24" gauge, 1 ½ mile scenic tourist line, is the result of the efforts of 5 Rocky Mountain Railroad Club members. Stuart Anderson. Jim Ehernberger, Ed Gerlits, Dave Gross, Dan Peterson and non-member Jim Karins. 

Three years ago, they acquired 2 German built 0-4-0's and during the course of time completely overhauled one of the locos to an extent she never enjoyed before. Resplendent in 11 coats of orange and black automotive enamels, with new electric headlight, flues, steam fittings, lubricators. etc., the group invited the RMRRC members to share in their enthusiasm of operating for the first time over a short piece of track on the Anderson Farm near Boulder. 

The group subsequently faced the problem of what to do with a completely overhauled locomotive. Does one just play with her or put her to work in come capacity? The group chose to formally incorporate and find a place to operate. Soon they emerged with a lease from the Woodmoor Corporation, tore up the old 3' gauge of the former Magic Mountain RR, graded and relaid the track to 2’ gauge. Two new excursion cars were commissioned and built by the Great Western Ry in Loveland, Colorado, a private car was acquired and shipped from Indiana, air brakes applied to the cars and by October 1, 1972, the High Country RR was in full operation. 

The line, complete with high fills, deep cuts, trestle, show shed and whistle echo's winds around the foothills, around Lake Heritage and back through the woods on its return to the station. The line overlooks Golden and Denver and has beautiful scenic vistas. 

Heritage Square can be reached by traveling West on 6th avenue to U.S, 40, then West on U.S. 40, ¾ mile to the entrance. The railroad will be operating daily service from May 1, 1973 to October 31, 1973. The fare is $1.00 for adults and $0.50 for children and under 5 free. The address is: High Country Railroad, P.O. Box 404, Heritage Square Station, Golden, Colorado 80401 

(The High Country Railroad is not directly C&S-related, but is listed here because the previous them park railroad at Magic Mountain, which later became Heritage Square, included the use of two ex-C&S cars refrigerator car 1116 and boxcar 8308.  Both were converted to rider cars.  There was a brief hope that the original Magic Mountain train was to run again, but the 2-foot gauge High Country Railroad was built instead. -Ed.)

(DSP&P 191 Returns to Colorado!)

How 191 will look decades after her return

THUNDER LAKE LUMBER CO. (Rhinelander, Wisc.) No. 7 Ex DSP&P No. 51 narrow gauge 2-8-0 has been obtained by the Colorado Railroad Museum and is now on display at Golden, Colo. The Museum negotiated a trade whereby obtained an Ex Thunder Lake Lumber Co. engine built in 1925 from the Ferrocarril Mineral de Chihuahua and traded it to the logging museum in Rhinelander for the Ex South Park locomotive. 

(This post tells about the day of her arrival.)

The Railroad Riches of Golden, part 7

See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.

See Part 3 here.

See Part 4 here.

See Part 5 here.

See Part 6 here.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1973

GOLDEN, COLORADO

THE COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM

Today, seventy one years after she was shipped away from her home state, Bob witnesses DSP&P 191 arrive in Golden after her journey via standard gauge gondola and then motor truck. He is relieved the 2-8-0 made it.  Along the way from Wisconsin, the engine was briefly ‘lost’ when an ice storm caused a break in communication lines with the Santa Fe.  Thankfully, she was ‘found’ and made the rest of the journey without incident.

Despite the cool February Rocky Mountain air, it is still warmer than, as Bob will later write, the “usual zeroish winter weather” of northern Wisconsin where she was shipped from. This may give the Colorado Railroad Museum crew hope that the 191’s wheels can finally be convinced to move.

The 93-year old locomotive rests on a lowboy trailer in the museum yard, waiting for the adjacent crane, it’s tall spindly arm pointed high with cables descending around the engine, to finally reunite 191 with rails on native soil.  With only a stubby running board where a cow catcher pilot once proudly strutted forward, an elongated smokebox added from one of the logging roads where her original shorter one should be, and her original balloon smoke stack long ago replaced with a thin straight one, she lacks some of the distinctive features that would tag her as her former 1880s self, though in reality her main structure has actually changed very little since she left the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

Regardless of her look, she is a gem, the oldest native Coloradan locomotive in the state, the museum’s only South Park engine, and the most authentic DSP&P loco in existence.  It has cost more than $8000 to get No.191, along with her stiff wheels, to this spot, but finally, the cables running up to the crane’s arm, cables that seem so small compared to 191’s 56,000 pound girth, lift her in the air and then ever so gently set her down on Colorado rails.

Denver, South Park & Pacific No. 191 is home.  

But like a stubborn child, her wheels still will not move. 

The Colorado Railroad Museum’s small Plymouth diesel was called on to assist 191’s mobility issues.  The little diesel tugged and pushed, but the 2-8-0’s wheels, doused with penetrating oil, refused to rotate.  The process was continued for several weeks by a surely discouraged crew until the amount of oil used reached into the gallons.  Suddenly, one day, the Plymouth “Peewee” locomotive tugged once more and DSP&P 191’s wheels moved for the first time in four decades.

Despite the thousands of dollars spent to get her to Golden, a cost that was gratefully later diminished by the sale of the other Mexican engine and a few cars to the Huckleberry tourist railroad in Michigan, the engine that struck out its pilot north of Gunnison towards the Pacific, towards a grade that was never completed, and the same engine that was later shipped so far east had finally come to rest in the state that nearly a century ago had called for her birth.

*******

Post-Bob Richardson: One more acquisition and a prodigal returns

It was a triumph and a joy to bring No. 191 back home again in 1973, and eighteen years later Bob made the decision to also go home.  In 1991, after 33 years at the helm of the Colorado Railroad Museum, it was time for Bob to rest on his laurels and retire.  Like 191 did at the birth of the twentieth century, Bob moved east.  While he loved his Colorado narrow gauge relics, even they could not compare to being near family, and so Bob packed up his belongings and settled in Pennsylvania.  

While this tale will now take two short branch lines away from Bob Richardson’s journey, both occurred before his passing.  Two Colorado & Southern narrow gauge rolling stock stories from the post-Richardson era at CRRM bear telling.  The first relates to a car that was saved and then nearly lost by a contemporary of Richardson’s.  The second concerns a twist of fate regarding one of the C&S freight cars Bob himself saved, but later sold after the move to Golden.

The only fully intact C&S refrigerator car  

While Bob Richardson remained a bachelor his whole life, he knew how to pass on a legacy as good parents do with their children.  When he left his position and the state in 1991, the Colorado Railroad Museum that he left behind continued to flourish and save history, including more pieces of the Colorado & Southern narrow gauge.  

One very important piece of C&S rolling stock that came to Golden after Bob’s tenure arrived through a sad demise.  Unlike Bob Richardson and Cornelius Hauck, who built their museum with a vision to outlast themselves, another Coloradan who also amassed large quantities of saved narrow gauge equipment seemed to have lacked such foresight.

  Don Drawer operated a small airport in the Colorado prairie near Fort Lupton, north of Denver, but his dreams revolved more so around trains than airplanes.  In the early 1970’s he started snatching up whatever narrow gauge equipment he could find, moving it to his large property with plans to construct and operate a narrow gauge steam railroad and a fictional town where visitors could come to learn all aspects of train operation.  He named his railroad-to-be the Sundown & Southern.

By 1972, when Bob and Cornelius were just learning of their chance to acquire No. 191, Don had already amassed over 200 pieces of rolling stock, including C&S refrigerator car 1113, last used on the Rio Grande Southern.  Unlike her sister survivor C&S refrigerator 1116, acquired by Bob back in 1954 and later sold to the failed Magic Mountain resort, 1113 was not cut up and turned into an amusement park piece.  Instead, Drawer had her moved to Fort Lupton just as she was found in Ridgway, Colorado after being on display there for roughly two decades since the demise of the Rio Grande Southern, still fully intact as she was designed: an old, but authentic, narrow gauge refrigerator car.

The Bogies and the Loop

Drawer’s lack of foresight will later be evidenced, but he certainly made up for this in tenacity.  For just one example, his growing collection, that included C&S 1113, was in need of an engine and he set out to get one.  In an epic move, Don traveled to Central America in order to personally escort a steam locomotive,* business car, and caboose from the country of Guatemala to his Sundown & Southern.  On his way north, tragedy struck when the business car was ransacked by vandals and thieves while the train sat on the track overnight.  Numerous fixtures and historical features were stolen.  Don refused to let this setback stop him and he continued north with plans to restore the engine, committed to his dream because, as the Fort Collins Coloradan newspaper that reported the incident put it that year, “as a railroad nut, he loves it.”

Sadly, the fire in the boiler of Don Drawer’s determination never caught flame.  According to his son Brian, “red tape and county politics” kept his father’s dream from ever becoming reality.  Hundreds of pieces of narrow gauge equipment, in various stages of disrepair, littered his property when he died in the early 2000s, leaving pieces like C&S refrigerator car No. 1113 with an uncertain future.  

The Bogies and the Loop

While the passing of Don Drawer’s dreams and the Sundown & Southern was tragic, he saved lots of equipment that might otherwise have been lost, and when the derelict rolling stock was auctioned off in 2002, it allowed many pieces to get into more steady hands, including refrigerator car No. 1113 which was purchased by CRRM for $500.  Moved to the Museum, the only fully intact surviving C&S refrigerator car was restored in gleaming yellow paint and adorned with the lettering of the line she spent most of her life serving. 

* International Railways of Central America No. 111, later used on the Georgetown Loop

Part 8

The Railroad Riches of Golden, part 6

See Part 1 here.

See Part 2 here.

See Part 3 here.

See Part 4 here.

See Part 5 here.

Back home again

While a rotary had now made its appearance at the Colorado Railroad Museum, a volunteer to fetch the Mexican engines in exchange for 191 still had not.  This was the first of many mishaps along the journey to get No. 191 back home to Colorado.  Months drifted by with no bites on the volunteer line when Bob finally found his man.  Whether he wanted to or not, it had to be himself.   

In November of ‘72, with his carpet bag and an assortment of tools stowed in the Gutbuster Chevy Carryall, Bob turned the key in the ignition and headed for Mexico.  Knowing that he had to quickly resurrect his fluency in Spanish, Bob tried to read through a couple of Spanish newspapers and magazines that he picked up at a stop in El Paso.  He also worked on his pronunciation by verbalizing Spanish signs along the road as he sped down the highways. Despite the work ahead, he comforted himself in the knowledge that one thing he loved would be in large supply: Mexican food.

Just under 900 miles later, Bob and the Gutbuster arrived in Chihuahua, Mexico where the next mishap occurred.  To begin with, temporary three foot gauge track had to be laid between the engine house where the two locomotives were stored and the nearest standard gauge track with its waiting gondolas, since the narrow gauge railroad’s track had already been pulled up.  This temporary track also had to be laid over top of a 2.5 foot gauge electric mine line in between the two, all of this adding significant time and expense to the job. The next part of the plan was to steam up one of the two engines and use that one to pull the other out of the old engine house and then push it onto one of the standard gauge gondolas after which it would steam itself up and into another one.  As if this was not enough of a challenge, the transfer needed to be done in time to clear the electric mainline before the regular ore train came through. 

After days of work to put down track, the gondolas were finally lined up, and one of the two engines was steamed up to push the other into its gondola before hauling itself into the other.  Before the steaming engine could even pull itself or its partner to the loading site, it ruptured some flues, rendering the loco useless.  More time was lost.  Eventually, they convinced a mine truck driver to pull the two engines out using a cable attached to his dump truck. A diesel locomotive from the nearby smelter then did the work of getting the engines up onto the gondolas.  The work took them to midnight of the final day.  Thankfully, all this, including the removal of the temporary track, was done in time to clear the mainline for the morning’s ore train and the now two-week process was at last complete. Finally, on December 15, the two engines were billed out on the Chihuahua al Pacifico, one off to Golden and the other to Wisconsin.

And this was just the beginning of the difficulties. The next mishap occurred two months later on a very cold February 1973 day in Rhinelander, Wisconsin after the coveted Thunder Lake locomotive arrived.  The logging prodigal, still perched in its gondola, was placed on a spur of the Soo Line Railroad a few hundred feet away from 191’s display spot, but it took close to seven days to make the anticipated switch in the nearly constant snowy weather.  The primary problem was that four decades of sitting out in the open, in addition to the treacherously cold weather during the move, had done a number on 191’s moving parts and her wheels simply would not move. 

As a curious side note, while the workmen attempted to get 191’s wheels moving, a construction worker lit a cigar and tossed the match in the firebox.  Whether he knew it or not, a fair amount of garbage was inside, apparently discarded there regularly by the park’s cleanup crew over the decades.  The lit trash caused light smoke to curl out from the long-dead engine’s stack for several days during the moving process from which some local residents wrongly assumed the engine had been steamed up.

Despite their efforts through the frigid temperatures and blowing snow, nothing seemed to get the engine to roll.  At last, a final decision was made.  The crew greased up the rails and slid her with a winch, wheels locked, onto the lowboy trailer.  After the stubborn engine slowly slid off her 40-year home, she was maneuvered on the trailer around trees, electric poles, and serpentine roadways to reach her waiting gondola. After almost a week’s worth of work, ex-Thunder Lake locomotive No. 5 was at last in her place and No. 191 was moving west by rail towards home.

Part 7