Steam & Excursion > Once Upon a Time

There was a beautiful little Mogul running out of Alamosa, CO. I guess she is gone forever, this time.

Ed

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She rode like a tank, but I still miss her. I hope somebody, someday rescues her and gives her a good home. It was cool to run a real SP steam locomotive. I still use "Valleymalley" as a couple of internet sign-ins. One this for certain is she will never again climb La Veta Pass.

I rode behind that engine over La Veta. Beautiful exhaust as it was working HARD with its load. Earl was the engineer. Beautiful trip. Shame it is no more.

Glad to have ridden behind #1744 when at Heber in the early 80's. Several decades later in May of 2008 we would arrive at Alamosa at the San Luis & Rio Grande looking forward to getting reacquainted. We found her under the tent and far from ready go anywhere and had no way of knowing that a return to service would be so drawn out and perhaps never occur. The upside was that I had called in advance for a cab ride and #18 was hot and ready but the tanker truck hauling water to La Veta was down though it was scheduled to be serviceable the next day so we rescheduled our trip accordingly. We then made a dash for the Cumbres & Toltec to enjoy my second visit there, again 30+ years later.

Back at the SL&RG the next day and after being introduced to the crew before entering the cab of #18 I expressed that I was somewhat disappointed to not be getting in #1744 at which time both crewmen echoed EarlK's sentiments about her riding qualities and assured me we were all in a better place! Running at 35-37 mph (GPS) on the flats out of the station #18 had the engineer bouncing pretty good so I can only imagine the ride in #1744. The consist was a pair of the commuter coaches along with one of the full domes which I was told by the engineer was the limit for #18 on the grade we would encounter. In any case I soon witnessed the hardest I had ever see a steam locomotive work in my very limited experience at that time. If memory serves the throttle was basically kept nearly wide open with minor adjustments to the reverser as needed for about 15 minutes during the climb to the summit.

I've ridden behind many steam locomotives before and since and even run a few but that remains one my best experiences on the planet to this very day. To top it off there was no additional charge for the cab ride and my wife enjoyed the great scenery and service in the first class dome for her $58.00 ticket, the same as mine. There seemed a lot of promise for steam on the SL&RG back then but it remains a great example of making it a priority to get there when the opportunity exists, wherever it may be.

Would the 1744 be considered a "Tank Engine"?

Mike Root
Madras, OR

Maybe-  depends on where you're seated.
SR

shortlineboss Wrote:
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> Would the 1744 be considered a "Tank Engine"?


No, since it has a tender, and no water tank over the boiler.

Pssssst...
Pssssst.....  Jack...    I think he was just making a funny...
SR

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> Pssssst...
> Pssssst.....  Jack...    I think he was just
> making a funny...
> SR


Well, OK, but it didn't seem "funny". Hard to tell with some of the questions and "statements" here on the steam board.

I had the opportunity to ride a private photo charter aboard #1744 over
La Veta Pass and the run-by heading up to the top were amazing. Great
crew and great memories.

Jack, Earl said it rode like a tank, therefore it must be a Tank Engine.

Mike Root
Madras, OR