Hi Guys:
I'm back.
Here is my theory.
Those 2 engines are probably well preserved.
Why would I saw that?
I rode a train over that route (Mexicali down into the neighboring state of Sonora) across the Colorado river in November 1999. That area has totally changed since the 4-4-0 and the 2-6-0 was "sunk" in the then muddy bayou-delta. Up until the mid-30s that area was a delta-swamp and did swallow the engines. But after the mid-30s it all dried-out where now there's just that one simple river flowing through the region separating Baja C. from Sonora. Why-- Hoover Dam, Lake Meade, and the states of Nevada, Calif, and Arizona diverted nearly all of the water. The Mexican "Imperial Valley" with its once great agricultural fields turned into desert. Ergo..., as long as the engines didn't fall into the Colorado River (and they didn't), but did fall into one of the ancient, now gone, flooded alluvium fans-canals, then they are now just buried in the dry desert and forgotten.
Now if others would like to hear my idea for a next step recovery...let me hear from you via this venue. I am happy to share my thoughts.
regards
pmcassell