{"id":22314,"date":"2024-03-25T06:36:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T20:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=22314"},"modified":"2024-03-25T06:36:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T20:36:39","slug":"durango-silverton-runs-final-coal-powered-steam-excursion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=22314","title":{"rendered":"Durango & Silverton Runs Final Coal-Powered Steam Excursion"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Railfan & Railroad Staff<\/span><\/p>\n

The final regularly scheduled coal-powered steam excursion on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad operated on March 23. Former Denver & Rio Grande Western K-36 481 had the honor of leading the train from Durango to Cascade, Colo., and return.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The operator of the famed Silverton Branch has been slowly converting its narrow gauge 2-8-2 locomotives from coal to oil since 2018. Late last year, the railroad announced that it would convert the final K-36 to oil in 2024. Locomotive 481 has run a handful of times this winter, including on a photo charter earlier this year, but the final coal-powered run was a bit of a moving target. According to sources close to the railroad, Saturday became the final regularly scheduled run for a simple reason: the railroad had run out of coal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once 481 is out of the shop, the D&SNG will have seven oil-fired 2-8-2 locomotives in service. Initially, the railroad wanted to keep at least one coal burner around. But last year, railroad officials said it didn\u2019t make sense to keep one coal-fired locomotive when they would not be able to use it year-round (specifically during the wildfire-prone summers).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA few years ago I always thought we would want to keep a coal burner,\u201d said Randy Babcock, AHR Chief Mechanical Officer. \u201cThe reality is that it just doesn\u2019t make business sense to maintain a locomotive that we only intend to use a quarter of the year.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Durango & Silverton Runs Final Coal-Powered Steam Excursion<\/a> appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Railfan & Railroad Staff The final regularly scheduled coal-powered steam excursion on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad operated on March 23. Former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":22315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-22314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","tag-usa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t