Re: NNG - EP&SW 217 as Southern Pacific 2510

Here is EP&SW 217 in it's 1924 to 1949 configuration as Southern Pacific 2510. During it's service on the Cloudcroft branch under SP ownership, the engine received a second sand dome close to the cab front, as plenty of sand would have been required to hoist tonnage trains on the 6.3 percent ruling grade. The engine also received a tender dog house for helper service. Helpers normally
were placed mid-train and worked only as far as Cloudcroft, then returned light engine to Alamogordo, with the road engine handling the train unassisted on the easier grades to Russia.





As far as the Cloudcroft Branch book is concerned, I sort of stopped working on it when my publisher, Texas Western Press, decided to re-print Dorothy Neals's "The Cloud-Climbing Railroad" book instead. I wrote a foreword for that book and let the project go. I still have a ton of material I gathered over the years along with about 800 photos and will give the book project some renewed consideration.