Re: Locomotive /lead or trailing truck puzzle
| June 12, 2019 11:11PM |
We spent part of the day pondering this and have arrived at the same conclusion as some of the posters above, this seems to be the remains of a D&RGW C-21 lead truck. While this seems impossible, I really don't know what else it could be given the D&RGW bearing boxes.
How it was saved I do not know. We (South Park Rail Society) got it from Lindsey Ashby (GLRR, Inc.) along with D&RGW gondola 1267. The truck remains were amongst the parts stash from the old Georgetown Loop. The parts, including the wheel set were grouped together and thought to be a locomotive lead truck. We kept them together when they were loaded into 1267 and finally got around to getting them out of the car and assembling them into what you see below a couple of days ago.
While I will not dispute Kelly's expertise on the wheel set, I will say that the wheels are a smaller diameter than standard D&RGW narrow gauge freight car wheels and are steel as opposed to the cast iron typically found on Rio Grande freight cars. They also have a white stripe completely around the side of the tread, typical of many Rio Grande locomotives. The grease/dirt combo covering the faces of the wheels matches that covering the side frame parts and t.he person who help us sort the parts, who is knowledgeable on the subject, felt that they were a locomotive lead truck wheel set.
Are there any drawings of the C-21 lead trucks? Does anyone have a folio sheet that lists the sizes of the journals on C-21 lead trucks?
Not sure what all of this gets us, but it is pretty interesting to think that, somehow, a small part of one of the Crystal River locomotives is still with us. I would love to know who saved this and how!
Jason Midyette
How it was saved I do not know. We (South Park Rail Society) got it from Lindsey Ashby (GLRR, Inc.) along with D&RGW gondola 1267. The truck remains were amongst the parts stash from the old Georgetown Loop. The parts, including the wheel set were grouped together and thought to be a locomotive lead truck. We kept them together when they were loaded into 1267 and finally got around to getting them out of the car and assembling them into what you see below a couple of days ago.
While I will not dispute Kelly's expertise on the wheel set, I will say that the wheels are a smaller diameter than standard D&RGW narrow gauge freight car wheels and are steel as opposed to the cast iron typically found on Rio Grande freight cars. They also have a white stripe completely around the side of the tread, typical of many Rio Grande locomotives. The grease/dirt combo covering the faces of the wheels matches that covering the side frame parts and t.he person who help us sort the parts, who is knowledgeable on the subject, felt that they were a locomotive lead truck wheel set.
Are there any drawings of the C-21 lead trucks? Does anyone have a folio sheet that lists the sizes of the journals on C-21 lead trucks?
Not sure what all of this gets us, but it is pretty interesting to think that, somehow, a small part of one of the Crystal River locomotives is still with us. I would love to know who saved this and how!
Jason Midyette
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
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