On October 17th, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (DSNG) announced that they intend to return locomotive #478 to service. The 1923 built 2-8-2 steam locomotive last operated in 2016 before being placed in the railroad’s Roundhouse Museum. The announcement was made with a line-up of all three of the railroad’s K-28 locomotives outside of their Durango depot. The other two K-28’s, #473 and #476, are both operable.
The locomotive will be converted to burn oil as part of the work to be done to return the locomotive to operation. This will be the railroad’s 7th operating engine, with three K-37 class engines (nos. 480, 481 and 482) and one K-37 class engine (no. 493) joining the three K-28 class engines. The need for a 7th locomotive comes from strong ridership numbers, necessitating the railroad to frequently schedule their trains as double-headers (using two locomotives).
Alongside this announcement is the news of the railroad’s intent to convert #481 to oil. The railroad originally intended to keep one coal fired engine operational, but found that it was not economical to do so. The 8th steam engine owned by the railroad, K-36 #486, is coal fired and will remain in the Roundhouse Museum with no current plans to return it to operation.
Image from the Durango and Silverton Facebook page
Learn more
Durango and Silverton announcement
Facebook post from the D&SNG
Narrow Gauge Discussion Forum Topic