Re: Last runs of 463 and 464

In the last years of 463's service, she was used on the Silverton Branch when not leased to the RGS. When it came out of the Alamosa Shop for the last time in 1949, it was equipped with the big wedge plow for use in the Silverton Branch in the winter. Once the San Juan was taken off, the 470's were available for the Silverton Branch and 463 was used much less. At some point the big plow was removed and stored on a track off the turntable in Durango.

In the winter of 1952, the Silverton branch was blocked for a couple of months by snow slides, and I've wondered why they did not put the plow back on 463 to assist in that effort. They did all the work with 476 and 478 until they derailed 476 and tore it up pretty bad and sent it to Alamosa for repairs. Then they put 464 back in service and used it with 478. T believe 464 still had a pilot plow on it then. I think they found the using bulldozers on the snowslides was more effective so perhaps the big wedge plow wasn't needed anymore. 473 was in Alamosa getting repaired after it's dive into the Animas River near Needleton the summer before.

Crew call books show 463 used on the Silverton Train once the slides were cleared and later when the passenger train started running to Silverton again in July. Once all the snow started melting up in the Animas Canon, the Branch had some washouts that spring that took a while to repair.