Re: ouray motive power

As much as I love the 340, even when brand new - as the D&RG 400 - she had a reputation as a poor steamer. She was never a favorite with crews and was usually one of the first engines set aside when ever there was a business slow down. That's one of the reasons she was still on the property in very good condition at the end of the Ouray branch. She was second fiddle to the 318, which was a very good steamer from all accounts.
Both 454 and 456 were good engines. They had the destinction of having the round number plates of an exemplary locomotive. Prior to the 1924 merger, in the days when engines were assigned to a specific crew, and the crews were charged with all maintenance of their engines (except shop repairs), the Rio Grande would reward enginemen who's engines proved reliable and roadworthy with a round number plate. This instantly identified the crew as exemplary to all who saw the engine. Some of the best engines carried these round plates for the length of their careers. The fact that 454 and 456 had these plates tells us that they were good engines. Those which were good prior to 1924 generally continued to maintain their reputations. Some others which come to mind are 402 (RGS 40), 420 (RGS 42 - although the Southern gave her a rectanglular plate in later years), and 346. K-28's and later never had round plates as they were purchased after the practice had ceased.
454 and 456, however, could only go as far as Ridgway. The rail and bridges from there to Ouray was too light for the K-27s. They handled the interchange traffic to and from the Rio Grande Southern while the 2-8-0s handled the Ouray traffic. After the RGS gave up the ghost the K-27s went to scrap and the 2-8-0s prevailed until the line was standard gauged in 1953.