To answer a few questions...
I believe the Colorado Railroad Museum wants to have another k-37 for their Polar Express event. I'm not totally sure if that's entirely true or not.
The Durango and Silverton has their hands full maintaining the current fleet of locomotives and they don't really have the time to complete a restoration at this moment, hence why it is going to the Colorado Railroad Museum.
Also the 497 had a trailing truck problem that was never corrected after it wrecked on Cumbres with the 498 in 1965. Because this fault was never corrected, the trailing truck was very rigid, and therefore derailed on the sharper curves of the D&S. Basically it was a locomotive issue, not a class issue.
Interesting tidbit, the k-28s have the longest wheel base of any of the k class engines. If they can make it, then the k-37s can!!
The 493 is in very good condition, and can be fully restored by the Colorado Railroad Museum and their staff. With this lease opertunity, the Colorado Railroad Museum will be restoring the 493 by their own means for their own operation. Although it is true that it will return to the Durango and Silverton operational, it is not simply because the D&S is up for free labor. Either way, it is getting restored to operation, which is a great thing in itself. Both the Colorado Railroad Museum and the Durango and Silverton will benefit from this.
Kyle Colley
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2016 08:35AM by Kyle W. Colley.