Will,
The 1116 would be its D&RG gondola number. The C&S numbered its gons in the 4000 series. When I repainted the equipment up there 1,000 years ago I used the GB&L reporting marks but the original D&RG(W) numbers where possible.
The 3 was called the "Silver Plume" up on the Loop originally and was from the Camino, Cable & Northern. It is built on an old Lumber flat frame. You can see it in Mike Ramsey's photo right behind the 44 (I wonder if that's my butt in the Fireman's window). During the first years, when business was slow, I put lettering on the cars and Locomotives during the slack time. You will notice that the 3 car has some yellow striping on the side. I did that to visually make the sides seem smaller as they were 4 x 8 sheets of plywood and the belt was waaayyy too high. I understand that Phil Johnson and the crew rebuilt it when the Ashbys had him up there as Chief Mechanical Officer but back then about all we had money for was paint. A lot of the lettering paint was provided, inadvertently, by the State of Colorado when Ed Gerlits would accidently buy an extra can or two of Sign Painters One Shot Paint.
The GB&L on the tenders of 40 and 44 did not use any stencils. It was all freehand back then. We just needed lettering on those tenders to attract the tourists who didn't know that we were rebuilding the line to attract them off of I-70. Those first years we almost caused a lot of wrecks. It was fun to look at the faces of the drivers in the cars zooming down the highway and to read some of the ephipets emerging from their mouths... The lettering that I put on the 40 and 44 was sign painters one shot white, instead of the proper C&S Aluminum at the request of the management.
Rick Steele
