The Colorado Railroad Museum, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, and Durango Railroad Historical Society have announced plans for locomotive loans this fall and winter that will see locomotives from the museum and D&SNGR visiting the other partner in the agreement.
The Durango & Silverton announced Wednesday (July 2) that the museum’s Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20 will haul special Cascade Canyon trips on the D&S, returning to the location where it took part in the 1950 feature film A Ticket to Tomahawk. Today (July 3), the museum announced that Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 No. 315 will come to Golden to power the museum’s Polar Express trains in November, and remain at the museum through at least May.
Ten-Wheeler No. 20, built in 1899 by the Schenectady Locomotive Works, was returned to operation by the museum in 2020 after a 14-year restoration. The locomotive first ran on the Florence & Cripple Creek, but was sold to Rio Grande Southern in 1920 after the F&CC went out of business after sustaining major flood damage. No. 20 operated until 1951; saved by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, it was donated to the museum in 2006.
It is set to run three days of Cascade Canyon trips. The “Presidential Excursion,” set for Friday, Jan. 9, will feature first-class accommodations aboard the cars Alamosa, Knight Sky, Yankee Girl, and San Juan. The general excursions, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, will feature standard coaches. Both five-hour excursions will include a concession car with snacks and drinks; box lunches can be pre-ordered but must be purchased at least one day in advance. Tickets and information are available at the Durango & Silverton website.
No. 315, built by Baldwin in 1895, is a sister locomotive to No. 318 on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum. Like No. 20, it first operated on the Florence & Cripple Creek; after its purchase and use during World War I, it was leased to the Rio Grande Southern, where it spent more than a decade. It was retired in 1949 and displayed in Durango parks until the Durango Railroad Historical Society restored the engine from 2001 to 2007. It then operated until 2021, and was restored to operation in 2023 after completion of its Federal Railroad Adminstration 1,742-day inspection.
Along with its use on the Polar Express excursions, No. 315 will take part in a Florence & Cripple Creek-themed “Colorado Crossings” event at the Golden museum in May, alongside No. 20, which will have been returned from Durango by that time.
“With the economic ups and downs of 19th- and 20th-century railroading, it was common for one locomotive over time to work for different railroads,” Paul Hammond, the museum’s executive director, said in a press release. “Today, with Colorado’s unparalleled scenic and tourist and museum railroads partnering together for the future, it makes sense to travel some of the most iconic locomotives around the state from time to time. For the Colorado Railroad Museum, the benefit is exposing new audiences to the history and magic of riding trains pulled by these amazing, transformative, and historic machines.”
— Updated at 5:20 p.m. CT to replace earlier article with full details on plans for loans of both RGS No. 20 and D&RGW No. 315.
It the 1472 day inspection, same as 26C brakes. I’d gladly take another 300 days in either case.