Re: WP&YR K-28's WWII

Mike:
I have read almost all of the Colorado newspapers from the narrow gauge circle and other areas. Comparisons with D&RGW records of the same event showed they were pretty accurate.
Dick Kindig wrote a history of K engines in the September 1961 issues of "Trains" magazine and he quoted a March 12, 1943 issues of the Greeley, Colorado Tribune...
"Army Wastes Locomotives. Seven smart little Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad engines which the army requisitioned, over the protests of Coloradoans, for use in Alaska have never been put to continuous, effective use, a report published in the Alamosa Daily Courier states.
In the hands of amateur railroaders, four of the seven were allowed to freeze and burst, two plunged into the Whitehorse River, and the seventh is still on the docks in Seattle.
The Army is now trying to grab other D&RGW narrow gauge locomotives (the K36s and K37s...Jerry) in apparent disregard of the fact that the grab would seriously hinder the movement of important war materials in southwestern Colorado.
I served in the Air Force for 22 years and have seen the waste and poor maintenance that can happen in peace time, I can image what a mess it was in WWII.
Jerry