Today's (Wednesday 8/20/08) Picture

Not that I needed to look up the location (Dolores on the RGS) but I like this shot for several reasons. First of all, it's on the RGS and shows a D&RGW K-27 (according to the caption, it's 462, taken on October 10, 1945... World War II had just finished a couple of months previously, and normal railfanning could resume (of course Otto Perry wasn't stopped by a trivial thing like World War II). Secondly, it shows the coaling facility at Dolores... surprisingly primitive, but effective nonetheless. It consisted of a depressed track (occupied by the 462) and an adjacent track with a couple of gons with coal. All you needed was a laborer with a shovel, and some time, and you got yourself a load of coal. Maybe even the fireboy would supply the labor... Simple and effective, but unfortunately in this new post-war era, labor was no longer cheap. Oh, yes, note the RGS lumber flats a couple of tracks over... probably for the McPhee operation. I can't tell if this was a Sunday or not (the RGS usually operated on a Sunday schedule all week long) but it just has that lazy quiet look to it. Don't you wish it would go on forever?

Bill Daniels
Santa Rosa, California