Steam & Excursion > This Steam Locomotives Footboards Were An Impressive Break Spot!

There were times in the day of every steam locomotive crew that they needed to take a break from the day's action.  Maybe they had order that they were waiting on, or maybe another train was delayed that they were to assist.  Whatever the reason, there were times that the crew of a steam locomotive simply needed to use the footboards of their locomotive to "take the weight off" while they took a few minutes off.

On July 10, 1948, the 3-man engineer, fireman and head brakman of Denver & Rio Grande Western #3374 found them selves at Utah Junction in Colorado with a few moments to kill so they decided to use the footboards of the big 2-6-6-0 for their break spot as we see here.

#3374 was inherited by the D&RGW in 1947 whe they absorbed the Denver & Salt Lake RR.  The 1916-built ALCO came along to the D&RGW along with the largest group of 2-6-6-0's in the U.S..  Thse unique engines continued to work their orginal territory between Denver and Craig, Colroado.  #3374 sports Boxpox centers on the main drivers as well as a mechanical stoker.

All in all, not a bad place to rest your feet.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/19 04:02 by LoggerHogger.

---

Someone I have forgotten wrote about these engines:   "Scarcely more powerful than a mike".

Pilot deck looks big enough to put a table and chairs and maybe a recliner. Great picture.

Posted from Android

'Looks like the guys are using their "smart" phones...LOL

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Drivers look like Scullins, don't they Martin?

Cheers, Dave

That's really a great shot.  Lot to look at there.  Thanks for sharing.

I agree this is a very nice photograph.  Also the locomotive is attractive, despite its odd proportions.

An interesting comparison is between this and the photo of the Norfolk and Western Y5 posted on Sunday.  There is an enormous difference is size, particularly of the boiler and the low pressure cylinders.  And yet production of the Y2 (which had almost the same dimensions as the later Y5) began in 1918, only 2 years after the D&SL Mallet was built.