Re: 69

I would be surprised if the 69 did not do well. It was in disfavor with the White Pass and sold not because of its pulling ability, but the outside frame counterweights. The 69 and her sister, the 68 which was destroyed by a boulder, were built as helpers to get trains "up the hill" out of Skagway.
The 69's counterweights, as well as those of the 7 K-28's which went north during WW II, hit the ice ledges along the rails and not only beat up the locomotive, but would lift the locomotives off the rails either derailing them, or slamming them back down on the track which was hard on the everything and everyone involved.
This explains why the K-28's, which were beloved by the Rio Grande, never found favor with the White Pass who just loved their 70 class locomotives.
Because the White Pass did not use drag flangers like the Rio Grande, the ice built up along the track. The 69 was used only in the summer months.
I would be shocked if the 69 did not out pull the 73. I have read that using the Rio Grande clssification system it would be classed as a C-31. It is a large narrow gauge locomotive.