At this point I believe that the DSP&P locomotive that was sold to the Catskill & Tannersville Ry. and became C&T 1st 1 is Brooks 783 (DSP&P 38, C&S 20), rather than any locomotive sold by any Union Pacific subsidiary in the 1893 time frame (as posited in “Ulster & Delaware” by Best page 199, “Rip Van Winkle Railroads” by Helmer, “The Colorado Road” by Wagner page 47, “Colorado Rail Annual No. 12” page 253, “Colorado Rail Annual No. 15” page 69, “Narrow Gauge Pictorial Vol. VI [6]” page 224, etc. The speculation of a circa 1893-sold Brooks 2-6-0 ending up on the Catskill & Tannersville was based on the mis-assumption that the Kaaterskill Railroad purchased the locomotive in 1893 and resold it to the Catskill & Tannersville in 1899. The problem with the assumption is that it conflicts with the Kaaterskill Railroad records.
Basically, my belief is based on process of elimination.
I looked at the Kaaterskill Railroad records at Syracuse U., and *NO* Kaaterskill Railroad Locomotive was sold to the Catskill & Tannersville. Ever. This means that no DSP&P locomotive was sold to the New York Equipment Company, or to the Kaaterskill Railroad. No circa 1893-sold locomotive was Catskill & Tannersville 1st 1. The archivist at Syracuse told me that from the condition of the records, it looked like I was about the first person to ever look at the Kaaterskill Railroad records. I take his statement to mean that Best, Helmer, Wagner, Richardson, Hauck, Chappell, Farrell, Coleman, et. al., didn’t look at them when they made the assumption that I am challenging.
The Catskill & Tannersville was five miles long and very hastily built. Based on the New York Railroad Commission reports, the first three miles of the Catskill & Tannersville was completed by July 1, 1899, its first locomotive was delivered by that date, and it was operating as of that date. In July 1899, a second construction contract was executed to build the last two miles of the railroad. The last two miles was completed and in operation in August 1899, and the second locomotive was purchased sometime between July 1899 and June 1900, most likely about August 1899.
There is a widely published photo of Catskill & Tannersville 1st 1, appearing in “The Colorado Road” by Wagner page 47, “Ulster & Delaware” by Best page 117, “Rip Van Winkle Railroads” by Helmer, “Light Rails and Short Ties” by Ham & Bucenec page 256, etc. This is obviously a Brooks 2-6-0 that came from a Union Pacific narrow gauge. It has a Union Pacific pancake spark arrestor and “UNION PACIFIC” embossed in the cylinder shrouding. It was purchased for the Catskill & Tannersville sometime between January and June 1899, inclusive.
The circa 1893-sold U.P. locomotives were too long gone, so it was NOT one of the 1893-sold locomotives, and it was thereby not Utah & Northern. In addition, the photo in “Colorado Rail Annual No. 15” page 52 shows that the Utah & Northern check valve location and cab windows do not match those in the Catskill & Tannersville photo, as discussed three paragraphs below.
The pancake spark arrestor on the locomotive in the photo tells one that it was NOT Kansas Central; the Kansas Central locomotives all had small diamond spark arrestors. In addition, all Kansas Central Brooks 2-6-0’s MAY be accounted for, to the extent that they were not sold to the Catskill & Tannersville. That leaves the former Denver, South Park & Pacific Brooks 2-6-0’s and the former Colorado Central Brooks 2-6-0’s.
The locomotive in the photo is a former South Park locomotive, not a former Colorado Central locomotive. The way you can tell is by the location of the check valve and by the top of the cab windows. The check valve is the one-way valve that connects the boiler with the pipe that comes from the injector. When the injector is activated, the pressure in this pipe rises above the boiler pressure, and the check valve allows water to flow into the boiler. When the injector is not activated, the pressure in the pipe is below the boiler pressure and the check valve prevents the flow of any air or water.
In the locomotive in the photo, as well as on South Park Brooks 2-6-0’s, the check valve is toward the front of the boiler, near the smokebox. By contrast, on Colorado Central Brooks 2-6-0’s (and on the Utah & Northern Brooks 2-6-0’s), the check valve is further back. On the locomotive in the photo, as well as on the South Park Brooks 2-6-0’s, the tops of the cab windows are straight lines; by contrast, on the Colorado Central Brooks 2-6-0’s (and on the Utah & Northern Brooks 2-6-0’s), the tops of the cab windows are curved or form an arc. The changes in design happened somewhere in the Brooks 600-700 serial numbers, in very early 1882. The Colorado Central 2-6-0’s were purchased from Brooks before that date and serial number. The South Park 2-6-0’s were purchased from Brooks after that date and those design changes.
After the circa 1893 selloff, there was only one South Park Brooks 2-6-0 that was sold to an unknown buyer before July 1899, Brooks 783 (DSP&P 38, C&S 20), sold for $1,000.00. By process of elimination, it’s highly likely that it is the locomotive in the photo. It is highly likely that it was Catskill & Tannersville 1st 1.
