Randy,
Thank you for your comments on this question, and especially for the 1872 newspaper image. It's amazing to me that such detailed information on early D&RG rolling stock and early B&S narrow gauge practice in general would come from the pages of the Otta-Quechee Post in Woodstock, VT.
However, what caught my attention was the mention of a proposal to use NG for the Woodstock RR, which was ultimately built to SG. (Incidentally, I recall Ed Lecuyer saying that one of his ancestors was an employee of this picturesque little Vermont short line.) This would undoubtedly explain why a small-town newspaper on the other side of the country would have an interest in the D&RG.
Reading on, the other detail that jumps out to me is the mention of 6' broad gauge cars moving on NG trucks from an interchange at Chenango Forks, NY. When I first read this I thought it was referring to the mysterious Central Valley RR, the famously poorly documented first NG railroad in New York state which opened in the spring of 1872 and originally planned to connect with the DL&W at Chenango Forks. However, I think now that it's describing early operations on the DL&W Utica Division (Utica, Chenango, & Susquehanna Valley RR), which was built to SG while the earlier portions of the DL&W system were still 6' broad gauge for interoperability with the Erie RR. In this context, the "narrow gauge" trucks the cars are riding on are actually SG.
-Philip Marshall
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2020 05:00PM by philip.marshall.