Re: Carson & Colorado (SPNG) Then and Now #65

The wreck occured on July 3, 1923. The two 4-4-0s had been the helpers of an Owens Valley bound train. They had cut off at Mount Montgomery and were decending ahead of the regular tri-weekly mixed train. This movement would place them on the correct side of the "hill" for the next train.

During the 'teens and the early 1920s photos show that the typical operation was to have 4-6-0s as the road engine and 4-4-0s as the helper. The stock extras appear to have used a mix of helpers -- there are pictures of four locomotives on the headend of these trains

It is reported that the engineer of the second helper ran back around a curve and flagged the regular train to keep it from running into the the cut.

Both 4-4-0s were original C&C locomotives that had reportedly received new boilers in the mid-teens. Both of the locomotives were shipped from Mina to the division shops at Sparks and repaired. They then remained in service until the newer N-C-O 4-6-0s arrived in the late 1920s.

Brian Norden