Re: RGS #20 Paint Question

20 kept part of the movie paint after the movie the RGS painted the upper part of tender, above the clipper ship, black. Then lettered that portion RIO GRANDE
SOUTHERN
The Emma Sweeny and the orange and gold scroll work on the cab were painted over with black and the number 20 was repainted. The sand dome also got a number 20. The cab window frames kept their yellow paint. There is a wealth of info in the RGS Story, volume VII, pages 54-57. 20 was purchased by the Rocky Mountain Rail Road Club and was displayed at the Narrow Gauge Motel in Alamosa. (RGS #20 pulled Uncle Bob's 346 from the Montezuma Lumber Company's spur in Dolores into Durango) After arriving at the Motel it was painted/lettered Florence and Cripple Creek with the name Portland on the cab. A few years after arriving in Golden, the Museum volunteers repainted/lettered it Rio Grande SOuthern in the sunburst herald style. This was done without the Rocky Club's knowledge. (but that's another story) About 1980 the Club sandblasted the tender in preparation of a repaint. I was involved in this operation and was very very careful in removing layers of paint. Everyone wanted to see the Tomahawk and Western and the clipper ship "painting". layers of black paint were removed and very faint traces of the clipper ship were found, again very faint. No trace of the Tomahawk and Western lettering was found. A lot of flat orange and gold paint was revealed. Under that movie paint was bare metal, leading us to believe the tender was stripped/sandblasted before the movie paint was applied. In later years John Bush fabricated a new boiler jacket and removed the Asbestos. Then one of the Museum volunteers rebuilt #20's cab replacing a lot of wood. Now, with any posting on this forum, someone will argue the timeline, authenticity of this post,
but this info was given to me, personally, by Bob Richardson. Old RMRRC members Bill Gordon, Ed Haley, Dick Kindig. These men have passed on, but their stories were all the same. During that time I was the equipment chairman of the RMRRC as well as a Museum volunteer so I had a hands on relationship with this historic locomotive. The RMRRC gave #20 to the CRRM and Strasburg is bringing it back to life.I hope I am still around to pull the throttle on this engine,
F.Y.I
Bill Gould