With the coming return to service of T-12 168, there has been a lot of talk as to when the T-12’s were finally retired from service on the D&RGW. I posted the following on the On3 Discussion Group and thought it might be of interest to the NGDF—
As far as I have been able to determine, the T-12’s saw their last regular use in the spring of 1933. Two events occurred to bring about their final retirement. First, the Santa Fe Branch went from a regularly scheduled passenger train to a mixed train generally served by K-28’s. Secondly, the Lake City Branch shut down in May 1933. The last T-12’s in service in 1933 were 169, 174 and 175 on the Santa Fe Branch and 168 and 172 holding down duties on the Lake City Branch. In fact, 168 made the last run to Lake City. 168 was also run on the point of a flanger train to Pitkin earlier in 1933. I don’t know of any further use of the T-12’s after early 1933, with one notable exception. In 1936, the 168 was pulled from the Alamosa deadline, fitted with a diamond stack and sent south to Santa Fe, then to Buckman for a day’s use in filming a movie. Then it was back to the Alamosa deadline. In 1938, 168 was again pulled from the deadline, dressed up and donated to Colorado Springs where it remained on display till sent to the C&TS for restoration. There was a publicity film made at the time of the 1938 donation that showed the 168 “moving” alongside a recently delivered D&RGW M-68 4-8-4. People have wondered if 168 was under steam or the smoke coming from the stack were the result of burning oily rags. I don’t know but lean towards the latter, simply because the smoke was not coming from the stack in “puffs” as one would expect from an engine under steam and moving under its own power. That was my view from looking at this film years ago.
Then in 1939, the remaining T-12 (the others being scrapped) 169 was dolled up and fitted with its own diamond stack at Burnham and sent to the 1939 New York Worlds Fair. When it returned a couple of years later, it was donated to Alamosa, where it has remained ever since.
That is what I have been able to figure out about the final use of the T-12’s. If anyone can add to this or can correct anything I have stated, I would love to hear from them.
Bill Moyers
