Greg, the covered cars were stored at Tall Timbers on a spur, not a passing track. The switch for the spur is on the north side. So the 493 picked them up on the north bound run to Silverton. They turned on the wye at Silverton and went back to Rockwood. As the crew was out of time, they left the 493 and the cars at Rockwood on Thursday and brought them into Durango Friday. There were not enough empty flats to require the 493 so the 1203 made a run with a few flats.
The run served three purposes....1. to double check the clearances (they had been checked before). 2. A load test for the 493's first run all the way to Silverton. 3. To bring the stored passenger cars back to Durango.