No. 18’s tender rests on the turntable at Durango, Colo., on Thursday.
Randy Babcock
DURANGO, Colo. – Southern Pacific 4-6-0 No. 18’s whaleback tender has arrived at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s main shops this week after traveling by truck from its home in Independence, Calif. The locomotive is still en route to the Centennial State.
Once the locomotive and tender are remarried in Durango, they will be used to train Durango & Silverton employees on how to maintain and operate oil-fired steam power. The Colorado railroad is in the process of converting its fleet of former Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge 2-8-2 Mikados from coal to oil firing.
No. 18 was recently restored to service by volunteers with the nonprofit Carson & Colorado Railway, headed by Dave Mull. It is scheduled to be in Colorado until June 2019. In addition, Durango & Silverton will operate excursion trains with No. 18 on select Thursdays in January and February 2019.
