Re: NNG: A second operating mallet for the Black Hills Central...

Not much they can do to extend the run except lay track. The CB&Q rails that Hill City sits on was dismantaled years ago for the MIckelson walking and biking trail. This runs from Edgemont to Deadwood. There are parts that still have rail under the gravel, but.... Keystone dead ends at the main drag and if they extended it across it doesn't go much of anywhere. It was great years ago when it would run down to Custer or up to Deadwood. There might have been turning facilities in Keystone at one time but the 1972 flood destroyed that whole end of the railroad along with part of Keystone and a lot of Rapid City. There are three very nice turntable bridges sitting in Hill City that would sure look good in Chama!

I can understand where having two locos that have that much in common would sure be the way to go. The grade coming out of Hill City is stiff and we used to load a group at least once a week at the K Bar S Lodge which meant restarting up hill on a tight curve. The front driver set would slip a bit but the big engine handled it well. This railroad really was run down years ago but the family that has owned it for some time now really does a nice job. The rolling stock is in very nice condition and they run a full schedule all summer long with very few snags.