Russo Loco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> 2) There is no mention in Hereford &
> Robart*** - nor in any of the "Mad Dash" posts -
> of #473 operating from Durango to Alamosa during
> 1968, yet she is pictured pulling the last train
> from Alamosa to Chama and on to Durango on
> December 5 & 6, 1968. When did #473 travel
> from Durango to Alamosa, and was #473 - not #476
> or #478 - the last engine to receive class repairs
> in Alamosa?
>
> Thanks in advance for your assistance!
>
> - Russo
>
I have no listing of 473 on any freight or ferry run, so I suspect there are two explanations possible, and I would guess Earl would have the true answer.
(1 guess) It had come over in the fall of 1967 and was simply being shopped during the summer months while the 476 and 478 were in Durango.
But I suspect this is not the case, since it would have left zero K28's
in Durango until May when the two went there.
(guess 2) It was sent over light sometime, during the fall after the excursion season was finished, and they did the repairs on it before its trip to Durango in December.
Greg
> * Per Hereford & Robart***, the "Cumbres Turn" of
> July 18 was the only one during 1968, and the last
> one operated by the D&RGW.
>
> ** Here's a photo of the NPS special approaching
> Lobato, given to me several years ago by Ray
> Osterwald and "discovered recently in the vaults
> of the theatre, still in working order":
>
>
> *** 'Rio Grande Narrow Gauge - The Final Years,
> Alamosa to Chama' by Joseph P. Hereford, Jr. and
> Ernest W. Robart © 2001 R. Robb, Union
> City, Ca. This small but excellent
> book is filled with beautiful B&W photos of the
> last few years of D&RGW operations, and also
> contains several detailed maps and a good summary
> of the history of the line over Cumbres Pass.