Re: Sargent 1940

Earl Wrote:
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> 491 still has a spark screen on its stack,
> indicating it still has a Master Mechanic Front
> End in the smoke box. According to the AFE book,
> 491 received a Cyclone Front End on 10/31/42. As
> the flying Rio Grande debuted in 1939, the date is
> somewhere in the middle. When the Cyclone Front
> Ends were installed in the smokebox, the stack
> screens disappeared.
>
> Well...... according the AFE book BOTH 490 and 491
> got Cyclone Front Ends in 1942. So.....where does
> this leave us?

Interesting puzzle! Further review of the Friend's Dorman 490/491 folder (convenient for this inquiry) shows 490 without stack screen in 1937 & 1938, with a flat-topped screen in 1939, a dome-top screen in early summer 1940, and a flat-top screen in August 1940, which it continues to wear through 1941. Whereas the 491 consistently shows a flat-top screen over this period, like in Jerry's posting below.

With no previous snow accumulation in the hills, this looks like an autumn scene. I'm pretty sure the gray stripe visible below 490 is the turntable pit. But the turntable and its railing are not apparent, so we can rule out 1939. The lower range would be the Sept 1940 roundhouse/turntable removal, and the upper range is the 491's Cyclone job on 10/31/42. If 490's Cyclone conversion was earlier than 491's, this could point to Sept/Oct 1942 as the plausible date.

However, perhaps 490 was running without the stack screen on this particular day in 1940 (or 41). Perhaps 490's Master Mechanic screen was clogged and they wanted to improve exhaust flow on a day with low fire danger? The freight consist looks more like 1940 to me: the drop-bottom gons have the herald scheme, and the first two stock cars have late-30s lettering. The 3rd stock car does look to have the lettering boards of the speed lettering repaint. This consist does not rule out late 1942, but it seems more likely in late 1940.

So, inconclusive so far, but narrowed down to autumn 1940, 41, or 42. The stack screens seem to favor the 1942 interpretation, while the photo note and freight consist point to 1940.