Re: D&RGW 223

Back in the early 90’s when this whole 223 mess was unfolding, I was taking a class at University of Utah from a board member at the Utah State Historical Society. I was also involved with the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden, Utah. The professor and I became really good friends through this. I don’t claim to know all of the details but it is a lot simpler than what most people would like it to be.
The Utah State Historical Society inherited the locomotive and let it sit and rot on their back porch for many years. At the time they did not have much money and their philosophy was to take a picture of an artifact and then get rid of it as it was cheaper to maintain a photograph in a file than an artifact. The 223 sat out back for many years with no maintenance. The tender had all but rotted away, the cab was falling apart and the locomotive was a great liability for the State as the homeless in the shelter next door used the 223 as their personal Port-O-Potty.
The state began looking for a new home for the locomotive. Several options were put forward but only two were really viable, one being to turn the locomotive over to a group who would keep it in Chama. The second option was to give it to the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden. I can tell you that some outrageous ideas were floated in front of the board and they were obligated to listen to each one. There were several emotional board meetings about the issue and yes they spent a great deal of time arguing whether or not the locomotive ever ran in Utah. As my professor friend laughed about how comical the argument was when there was not one person in the meeting that knew one thing about railroads let alone the 223’s specific history. It was the blind leading the blind. When all was said and done the board chose to let the museum in Ogden decide if they wanted the locomotive since they were a Utah organization and if not the 223 would go to Chama. Both were qualified to care for the locomotive there were no politics involved. Considering the proposals that could have been accepted by a board that had very little knowledge to base a decision off of, I personally think they successfully waded through a lot of garbage and made a wise choice. When the museum in Ogden was asked if they wanted the locomotive they debated this issue carefully as it was an expensive move and the locomotive was very deteriorated. The museum board in Ogden found people willing to help pay for the move and others put forth a plan for restoration so in good faith they said yes.
The locomotive was moved and fundraising has been going on ever since to restore the locomotive. I know that the small group restoring her would like to complete a full restoration to operation and the work on the tender has been to that end. I don’t know what will happen as the group has had many disappointments and they really are looking at a brand new locomotive if it is restored to operation. Progress is slow but there is progress. While I personally would like to see the locomotive either cosmetically restored and taken care of or turned over to someone else who has the means and the facilities to support the operation of the locomotive, I do have a great deal of respect for the two or three people who have stuck this project out for the past 15 plus years.