Steam & Excursion > 4449 East in NM!

4449 and SF 5704 lead the AFT past the depot at Hatch, NM in February 1976.  Hatch is best known for being the green chile capital of the world!  Happy 250th America! 🇺🇸
Bryan Moseley 

---

Whoa!  That looks like a very secondary line--was it???  And imagine doing all that work with 4449, and no extra water tenders!  The logistics alone for constant water refills must have been daunting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/26 11:23 by coach.

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Whoa!  That looks like a very secondary line--was
> it???  

Simple answer to your question is yes.  The train was en route from Tucson to Albuquerque which required movement over two "secondary" SF lines.  SP moved the train from Tucson to Deming, NM and SF then took it to AQ.  This photo shows 5704 and 4449 at Deming shortly before 5704 was cut In behind 4449 for the trip to AQ.
Bryan

---

Water wasn't a huge problem- the 49's tender had fittings at track level so that any fire hydrant would do- and local Fire Departments where more than happy to come out and help!   Fuel range was up around 500mi, and very few AFT movements came anywhere near that.
Keeping the T-1 fed was far more complicated.  About a dozen hoppers & gons in captive service were constantly in motion being refilled and spotted, along with a bucket crane, at preset locations.  If no local switcher was available the needed coal hopper was added to the AFT consist...   but the crane still needed to be contracted.   This system wasn't always 100% reliable and headaches ensued!
SR

Nice catch, Bryan!

Tom