I happened recently to ride the Royal Gorge Route with my wife - nice trip by the way.
After riding we found our way to the park at the canyon's rim. And I found this engine at the top near the visitor's center on a short piece of track. I have no idea what it is doing there. IMO it will never run again due to its location. There are no rail facilities anywhere near its location, other than 1000 feet straight down.
Comments?
John
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Another Rio Grande narrow gauge locomotive on display.
She was, I think, the last K-37 the Rio Grande got.
A forest fire hit that area a few years ago and destroyed an original D&RGW hack coupled to the back of 499, as well as 499's doghouse on the tender. If memory serves, 486 was traded for 499 so the former could run on the D&S.
I could be wrong about some of those details, I'm going from memory here...
Here she is in happier days, in 1955:
If you want to see that loco's sisters and brothers running:
Here's the display in spring of 2012 before the fire:
Good to see that 499 basically survived the fire - the visitors center and most of the park structures did not.
Looking forward to a western trip next spring to see the newly rebuilt Royal Gorge Park.
Jim
If you want to see that loco's sisters and brothers running:
Yep, my wife and I rode that in October of 2012. Such an amazing experience. If you stand in Chama, with your back to the highway and the parking lot, its as close as you can get to walking back in time.
If you want to see that loco's sisters and brothers running:
Or if you want to see a locomotive of the same class that's running (K-37), go here: http://coloradorailroadmuseum....um-home/locomotives/
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