Denver & Rio Grande Western 4-8-2 1705 raises an impressive smoke plume as it lifts a troop train up the Front Range of the Rockies at Tolland, Colo., on May 16, 1943. Robert McKell photo
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Built in 1929 by BLW, the D&RGW Class M-64 4-8-4 #1705 was scrapped in 1954… Note that the first ten M-64s were actually ordered from Alco, patterned after the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western’s 4-8-4s and including Alco’s newly-offered single-piece cylinder and frame casting. However, Alco was overbooked with orders at the time, so they subcontracted construction to Baldwin. The D&RGW was not pleased, and consequently Alco purchased the engines and leased them back to the D&RGW, with the terms that they could be returned in five years if the railroad was not happy. Also as a part of this deal, the final four (1710-1713) were acquired under the same terms. Clearly the railroad grew to like them, as they kept them through the end of steam.