Re: K-36 drawings

When I worked in the machine shop at the D&S in the '80's, the original D&RGW tracings for the K-36's were in the possesion of the D&S. I'm not sure where they were prior to the disastrous roundhouse fire, but when the new shop/roundhouse was built, they lived upstairs in that building. We had a duplicator that a tracing could be run through to produce a good quality paper drawing to work from in the shop. I worried about the long-term health of the tracings with constant handling over the years ahead and actually looked into getting them digitalized, but at the time, scanner technology was in its infancy and the cost was too high to interest anyone.

I'm not sure where the tracings are now,but I expect they are still there. Perhaps they have been digitalized by now. If not, they should be so that the original tracings can be re-located to a safe place, as, in my opinion, they are priceless. Perhaps some entrepreneur should approach the D&S with some sort of offer to pay for the cost of digitalizing the tracings in return for the right to sell copies. I can't see where the D&S would be hurt by the drawings being made available to the general public. I'd sure like to have a set myself, as I might someday attempt a 1-1/2" scale live steam model of a K-36.

I've spent many hours studying some of those original drawings. They have lots of interesting notes penciled in over the years by the D&RGW mechanical department. One example which would be interesting to know the story behind is that the 486 has different combination lever dimensions than her sisters. The 486 was put back in service after I left the D&S so I never got a chance to run it, but I've often wondered if the suttle difference in the lap and lead characteristics would be discernable on the road.