Re: What about running #19 Cumbres to Osier??

drgw0579 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The track crew was using 19 to haul ballast out of
> Antonito all last week (except Thursday, I'm
> assuming attention was on other pressing issues).
> They had been shoving 2 of the EBT hoppers heaped
> full of nice looking granite ballast up towards
> Lava. I got to believe they made 15-20 trips on a
> typical day.
>
> It don't look great, but it is now one of the 1st
> "Gen Set" locomotives in this part of the country.
>
>
> Bill Kepner

HHMMmmmm - at over twenty miles for a round-trip to Lava, that's 300 to 400 miles per 8-hour day, or about 50 mph - not counting time to dump the rock and re-load in Antonito.  I'm just guessing, but they probably make one trip in the morning, and another in the afternoon - especially if they're going beyond Lava to mp 294.5 or so (where the 'Springtime' charter staged its third run-by) or to the lower level of The Whiplash. (IIRC, the upper and middle levels of The Whiplash were re-ballasted in '08 or '09.)

But it's good to know #19 is going strong - she's probably going to get to pull some passengers again in the next few weeks!  Much as some of us would like to see #315 or some other guest locomotive(s) in service on the east end of the railroad, the most cost-effective solution for the C&TS is of course to use its own equipment as much as possible. Ninety percent or more of the passengers are tourists - not railfans - and probably don't care too much what is pulling the train. (But per Phil Reader, more people than expected are paying the extra fare to ride behind #12 instead of a diseasel at Georgetown.)

- Russo



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2010 05:43PM by Russo Loco.