Re: Which is you favorite K-36 and why?

489 in the mid 1980's to mid 1990's -

She rode well, was the best steamer of the bunch. She had the squarest valve gear of all of them. You could hook her up to 2 notches from center and she would sail along all day. She had the tightest valve rings and the sharpest exhaust. Her injectors always worked well, and she held her water well when working hard. It was the first one I ever laid hands on when I went to work in 1981.

And she had that AWESOME Powell 3 chime whistle.

487 comes in second. She was the first one I saw back in 1967 (coming from Farmington with a freight). In the fall of 1981 she was the first one I ever ran on the road. She road well, her valve gear back then was so-so, she'd hook up to 3 or so of center before she went lame. She was touchy to fire though. If you played the game her way, you did OK, but if you tried to force her, she'd choke up and die. Great D&RGW 5-chime.
487 was my favorite until I met 489. Have a nice HOn3 487 in a box somewhere.

484 is third. She was OK. Nothing great, OK steamer, valve gear not-so-hot. Her running gear in the 80's was a Frankenstein conglomeration of 495's drivers and 484's parts. It was out of quarter and pounded bad. Jack and John B got her sorted out in the early 1990's and she ran quite a bit better.

488 is last of the C&TS engines. Never bonded well with her. Didn't like her stiff throttle that liked to creep shut. Valve gear pretty lame (went lame 5 notches from center). Burned lots of coal, started lots of fires. Couldn't keep the buffer tight between the engine and tender, so the cab rode real rough and the slack banged in and out all the time.

Only worked on 2 480's in Durango, 480 and 486. Didn't like either one of them. Rode like tanks, lame valve gear, hard steamers.