Steam & Excursion > SP #18 Out and About Today

It's hard to get work done in Durango these days. Working at my desk this afternoon but was interrupted by another unexpected whistle....a trip to the window revealed SP #18 had escaped from the roundhouse and was headed north with a boxcar and a couple of coaches...my first look at her. There was quite a bit of snow last night but it had warmed up by mid-afternoon. #18 paddled up to Hermosa and picked up a couple of snow-covered flats. One of the crew made a couple of makeshift snowmen on the first one. They topped off her tank and then she backed down to the event venue wye, turned and made her way the rest of the way home smokebox first as god intended just before the sun slipped behind Smelter Mountain for the night.

LJ Gross

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Thank you for sharing! Great times for narrow gauge trains. Who'd a thought this would be happening. 

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO

Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!

She sure is far from home. You second pic is stunning!

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

Love that 3rd photo--I wish I was riding in one of the coaches.

And how did this engine end up in...............Durango??

Wasn't an engine like this one just steamed up and run way out in Laws, CA on the old SP narrow guage line??

Thanks for posting these.

Hope #18 can stay awhile in Durango.  Be some interesting charters.

coach Wrote:
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> Love that 3rd photo--I wish I was riding in one of
> the coaches.
>
> And how did this engine end up
> in...............Durango??
>
> Wasn't an engine like this one just steamed up and
> run way out in Laws, CA on the old SP narrow guage
> line??

One in the same. Previous discussions said that the reason for the visit was to get the Durango & Silverton crews familiar with oil-burners in anticipation of the conversion of some of its own steam locomotives.

Very nice photos of something that we could never have dreamed of seeing just a couple of years ago.

Martin

Very nice!  Thanks for posting.

Thanks for sharing these treasures.
Bob

I wonder if one of the Rio Grande pilot plows would fit on #18?

PHall Wrote:
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> I wonder if one of the Rio Grande pilot plows
> would fit on #18?

Not without a lot of work and cutting of sheet metal.

Oh that's nice. 

I'm looking forward to the video.

It sure is great to see that engine out running again.  I used to stop and check her out in Indepence while on the way to or from Mammoth on ski trips.

The last two pix are especially nice, could almost be along the C&C.

JBWX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/19 16:52 by jbwest.