>
Was it a common practice in the sixties for
> the Rio Grande to keep the same two engines
> 'paired up' for a few weeks at a time??
>
> - Roosso (MUY) Loco
I would say yes that engines were teamed up a lot together especially in the last 3-5 years, as only so many were active at one time. The need was not great for steaming a lot of engines on a given week.
Look at 1968 for example, 483 and 493 paired up a lot. 498 ran solo a lot out of Durango. In 1967 497 was active but not in 1968. I think 487 ran also in 1967, as my brother was out there for a bit of action and I do recall seeing 497. I think Earl has a listing of which engines were operational and when retired in the last 10 years of operations.
In looking at the Narrow Gauge circle, 1951 was a bad year, when we lost the Valley Line to Alamos, and the Rio Grande Southern. In 1955 we lost the Marshall Pass Line, and 1956 Monarch Steam ended with converting the line to SG. Thus after 1956 it was all the stuff that remained to the end...Alamosa-Durango-Farmington. Plenty of power except for the losses of 485 and 496.
I imagine engines were also rotated based on scheduled maintenance like boiler washes and flue time as well.
Greg