Re: D&RGW #223 ?

Since the 223 boiler is not the original Grant boiler, it might be considered un-prototypical to now put builder’s plate on it. But just in case one wonders, attached is a zoomed copy of what one would look like. The locomotive and plate in the photos are Grant shop No. 1447, a.k.a., Proposed D&RG RR Class 60 #232.

The first line on the builder’s plate is the shop number. In this case it is “1447,” but in the case of D&RG #223 it was “1436.” The second line, arced upwards, says “LOCOMOTIVE WORKS.” The third line, in bold letters, says “GRANT.” The fourth line, arced downwards, says “PATTERSON.” The fifth line says “N.J.” There is no date.

In 1882, the D&RG RR admitted that it “had a contract with the Grant Locomotive Works for forty engines to be delivered last fall. They delivered thirty; the remainder were not delivered within the contract time.” 3 The Railway Age Monthly and Railway Service Magazine 506 (Aug. 1, 1882), Col. 2 (Denver & Rio Grande), at, [babel.hathitrust.org].

The purchaser of Proposed D&RG ##230-239 had spilled the beans, when it said “The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, being unable to pay for several locomotives ordered to be built several months ago, they have been sold by the builders to the Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis Company …” 109 Cincinnati Daily Gazette, No. 144 (June 17, 1882), at page 8, Col. 2.

The D&RG later admitted its January 27, 1882 announcement that there had been a “changed financial atmosphere” [i.e., the bubble had burst in the railroad equipment bond market]. See, 14 Railroad Gazette 731 (Nov. 24, 1882) (Denver & Rio Grande), at, [babel.hathitrust.org].

Proposed D&RG ##228 and 229 were sold to the Texas & St. Louis R.R. T&StL ##228-229 were Grant shop ##1441-1442. Proposed D&RG ##230-239 were Grant shop ##1443, 1446-1451, and 1456-1458. (#1444 had been built for the Richmond & Alleghany R.R. #1445 had been built for the T&StL. ##1452-1455 had been built for the Richmond & Danville R.R.)

The only way that you can figure out the Grant shop numbers of Proposed D&RG ##230-239 is to learn the Grant shop numbers of the surrounding and intervening locomotives. These latter shop numbers are all known from purchasing railroad records. It turns out that ##1443, 1446-1451, and 1456-1458 are the only ten un-accounted-for Grant shop numbers in the right time frame.

Robert