Re: C&S 75 & 76

Robert D. Wheatham's Railways of Peru (Volume 2 - the Central and Southern Lines) published by Trackside Publications in 2008 contains a motive power roster of the Ferrocarril Huancayo-Huancavelica Railroad which lists two locomotives specifically identified as ex-Colorado & Southern #75 and #76. FCHH #9 is listed as a 2-8-0 built by Brooks with CN #2969 in June, 1898 and FCHH #10, also a 2-8-0 with Brooks CN #2970 and the same builder's date. No information is provided as to acquisition or disposition dates.

The photo of the hulk of the engine prior to scrapping shows the engine sitting on 3' gauge track with what appears to be a standard gauge boxcar sitting nearby. The only site on the FCHH where standard and narrow gauge equipment could be seen together would have been in the Huancayo yard of the Ferrocarril Central del Peru. However, that yard was very neatly maintained as a park-like setting when I visited the area several times in the mid-sixties when the railroad was still owned by British interests and contained housing for local officials of the railroad.

The FCHH depot, yard, and shops were a short distance from the FCC yard but I do not recall a standard gauge connection. It is possible that the photo may have been taken in the Guadalupe Shops of the FCC in Callao which was the FCC's primary shop facility.

I also consulted Elio Galessio's excellent volume entitled Ferrocarriles del Peru published in 2007. His roster of FCHH's motive power contains identical information for FCHH's #9 and #10, but does not mention the heritage of the engines nor the dates when they were acquired by the FCHH.

C. Owen