John,
You are correct about the remaining steam locomotive on the Ferrocarril al Pacifico. In November of 1992, I was chief engineer on a freighter that docked at the small port of Golfito on the west coast of Costa Rica. Right at the head of the dock was a railroad yard and shop building. Under a shed outside was parked a very nice looking Baldwin 2-8-2. Railroad operations to this port had been terminated some time before, but there were still two men on duty on the property as security guards. I received their permission to inspect the locomotive. It appeared to have been backed in after a run, the fire put out, and left, much as the 493 and 498 were in Alamosa about 30 years ago. Except the FP locomotive was in far, far better condition. In fact, its condition was remarkable. Having worked on the D&RG NG locomotives both in Chama and in Durango in the 70's and 80's, I was intimately familiar with their beat up and delapidated condition. By contrast, this FP locomotive showed evidence of light duty and high quality maintenance over the years. There were few, if any hammer marks on the side rods and valve motion. Most of the rods still bore their original Baldwin stamps. The boiler jacket was in excellent condition, as were all the appliances. The locomotive was entirely complete, including builder's plates, and looked as if it could be steamed up and put in service in a few hours. I took some pictures of it and copied down the builder's plate data, as well as the Baldwin shop number, which I always intended to send to Bernie Watts because I knew he was interested in Central American steam locomotives. I don't remember what I did with the data and pictures, but I know they're around the house somewhere. If you're interested, when I find them, I can provide more detailed information about the locomotive.
Mark Yeamans
