Denver South Park & Pacific 191

I noticed that the Colorado Railroad Museum is putting their #346 through an inspection/ repair of that locomotive bringing it up to FRA standards. Paul Hammond mentions in his "Telegrapher" that this is being done with the idea of taking the locomotive to host railroads. That got me to thinking about their locomotive 191 which I think originally came off the Denver, South Park & Pacific railroad. They say at the Colorado Railroad Museum that this locomotive is the oldest in Colorado. It may be, but both Eureka and Glenbrook are older (both built in 1875) and both have run in Colorado as most everyone knows. Anyway, if the 191 is he oldest historically extant locomotive from Colorado, I think it is worthy of restoration to operating condition rather than sitting out in the elements. Someone once told me that the 191's boiler was iron and not steel. However, I do not think any metal tests have actually been done to make that determination. I know that sometimes back in those days when Eureka, Glenbrook and 191 were made Baldwin put steel boilers on their locomotives rather than iron. If the 191's boiler is steel, it has the potential of being restored to operating condition and taking its rightful place in the roster of Colorado's historic locomotives. Even if has an iron boiler, a new steel one can be made. After all, Dave Kloke made his boilers for the Leviathan and the York , and the Lyon. It is very doable.

Out here in Nevada and California we have restored and brought back to life Eureka, Glenbrook, Inyo, Tahoe. and in the near future, Emma Nevada. All built in 1875 and early 1880s. If we can do it here, Colorado should be able to resurrect the 191 as well. I think the 191 would be a fantastic addition to the stable of 19th century survivors

Any thoughts on the subject?

Dan Markoff