Re: #491 on 03/16/63 - The Rest of the Story

Having derailed Olaf's 1964 post #2 –

Or at least sidetracked and backtracked it to a previous year – I feel obligated to at least run with it as far as the bumper post at the end of the siding.  Here are the last few of Tom's photos of Rio Grande #491 westbound from Chama to Durango on March 16, 1963 —

This next one is somewhere west of Ignacio, apparently climbing the hill toward Oxford or Falfa, but I'm not sure just where:

Photo copyright © 1963, 2008 by Tom Gildersleeve - All Rights Reserved.

. . . a closer view of the double-header at the same location:

Photo copyright © 1963, 2008 by Tom Gildersleeve - All Rights Reserved.

The next slideshow photo on Tom's old backup disk is this one of #491 entering the Durango yard after dropping most of the train – pipe and drilling supplies destined for Aztec and Farmington – at Carbon Junction:

Photo copyright © 1963, 2008 by Tom Gildersleeve - All Rights Reserved.

Finally (at least 'til Scott's "going away" thread needs another bump), here's #491 pulling up to the depot in Durango:

Photo copyright © 1963, 2008 by Tom Gildersleeve - All Rights Reserved.

Somewhat surprisingly, none of these photos of #491 running west on 03/16/63 were included in the fine little book 'Narrow Gauge . . . then and now' that Tom co-authored with Nils Huxtable.  SFAIK, this is the first time they've been seen by anyone not privileged to attend one of Tom's presentations or to have a copy of his slideshow DVD.

- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender

p.s.  Three days later the power shovel was part of a work train when #492 became the first K-37 to operate on the Silverton branch.  IIRC, ice on the tracks prevented the train from reaching Rockwood, and it had to back from near Shalona all the way down to Hermosa.