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

I had always heard the C&S #9 was dead in that picture. Makes for a cool train though. The tender sandwiched between the engines has a strange look to it, for sure. Really nice sound coming up the hill though!

I don't ever recall a second section but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. They run many trains a day and have a great capaicty. The 2-6-2s will handle trains alone in the spring and the fall a bit, pretty uncommon though. The first train of the day and some light trains are usually handled by the "stinky D". Hated that damn horn waking me up the mornings after I had handled a wedding until 3 AM. The whistle is such music to the ears.

I do remember just after I moved to Keystone, one of my New Mexico buddies called when I was standing on my front deck, he said "it's got to be killing you to be so far from Chama. Are you having steam withdrawals?" I told him to hold on a second as the 2-6-6-2 blew the whistle for my driveway!

Not narrow gauge, but cool !