Re: Auxiliary Water Connections on the K-36/37's

drgwk37 Wrote:
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> Jimmy I suppose this is something we can't say
> actually happened as we don't have any definitive
> proof.
>
"At Hooper, beginning of the three-rail trackage, the odd idler car unique to the branch was picked up. This was an old engine tender fitted with three-way couplers. When smaller engines had been used on the branch, it was hauled northbound full of water and used as a "tank" at Hooper. The K-36 and K-37 classes of Mikados, however, had ample water, so in the final years the idler car was hauled "dry." If an engine did need water further north, in an emergency it could draw on an artesian well at each point, which didn't have the large stream a regular tank would supply."
--"Chasing the Narrow gauge, Vol II", pg117. RW Richardson 2005
So it was certainly possible. As to when the last time the idler was hauled North with water in it, I have no clue.
hank
Ps above is from a section describing the last SB trip on the Alamosa Branch, aka the Valley Line.