Rev. Phil sends news of Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge locomotive #20 (posted 10-10-06)

RGS 20 TO RUN AGAIN! In May 2006, a benefactor provided the Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation (d.b.a. the Colorado Railroad Museum) with an endowment for the restoration to service of Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20, which had been owned by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club (RMRRC). On May 31 the RMRRC transferred ownership of No. 20 to CRM, along with RGS business car Rico, and Rio Grande caboose No. 0578. The donor stipulated that the restoration be done by the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania, and also provided funds for continued operation of the locomo- tive after its restoration. The Ten-Wheeler was built in 1899 by Schenectady for the Florence & Cripple Creek and sold to the RGS in 1916.

No. 20 ran on the RGS for 35 years. During the final years for that fabled road she pulled an excursion for the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. Remarkably, No. 20 also became a movie star. In August and September, 1949; director Richard Sale brought 20th Century Fox crews to Colorado to film A Ticket to Tomahawk. This was the first motion picture made on the 45-mile Silverton Branch. No. 20 was selected because she looked more suitable as a turn-of-the-century passenger locomotive than more modern narrow-gauge 2-8-2's and 2-8-0's then running in regular service. The movie portrayed a Colorado narrow-gauge line struggling to get a train to the city of "Tomahawk" by the date specified in its charter. Failure would place the road in the hands of receivers, who were doing everything in their power to halt construction. Mr. Sale took full advantage of breathtaking scenery high in the San Juan Mountains. When the movie was released in May, 1950, expert publicity brought tourists eager to ride the "Old West" line they had seen in the picture. Soon, the normally empty combine on the mixed train between Durango and Silverton was full of passengers, and the Rio Grande was adding more coaches as more and more tickets were sold. Ironically, visitors arrived by car on roads recently built in that area, roads that would end dependence on narrow-gauge lines for freight and passenger service. But visitors kept coming, and they still do. A Ticket to Tomahawk inspired the first efforts to preserve the Colorado narrow gauge.

In keeping with the "Old West" theme of the movie, the Rio Grande decided to give Silverton passenger cars a turn-of-the-century appearance. 20th Century Fox had repainted combine No. 212 a bright yellow. Three open-platform wooden coaches built in the 1880's were repainted to match. This yellow color became known as "Rio Grande Gold." By 1957 it had replaced Pullman green as the standard color on all Rio Grande narrow-gauge passenger cars.

No. 20 also acquired a stunt double. In the movie, there is no time (and there are no rails) to lay track to Tomahawk, a decision is made to haul No. 20 through the mountains by mule team. (Just as Charles Crocker, in the winter of 1866-1867, had his Chinese laborers drag three locomotives, forty cars, and enough rails and spikes for 40 miles of track through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Truckee River canyon, where snow was not nearly as deep and tracklaying could continue during storms. On November 13, 1867, Central Pacific locomotives reached the California-Nevada boundary, although 7 miles of bridging and tunneling on a unprecedented scale remained behind them. Thus he kept pace with UP construction crews laying track up the Platte Valley). A mule team couldn't budge No. 20, so Mr. Sale first came up with the idea of taking her apart and have "everyone hauling a hunk." Rather than submit No. 20 to such indignities, the studio obtained a set of original Schenectady erection drawings and sent a team of draftsmen to Ridgway, Colorado, to measure and photograph every detail of the Ten-Wheeler. One hundred craftsmen worked for two months to construct a full-size replica of wood, fiberglass and steel at a cost of $30,000 (in 1949 dollars). This much lighter replica was then hauled by the mule team (much easier!). Eventually, this replica wound up at Hoyt Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

In 1963, TV producers came calling. Paul Henning followed his successful series The Beverly Hillbillies with Petticoat Junction (1963-1970), based on his wife's memories of riding trains as a girl to family functions. Action scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railroad, using 4-6-0 No. 3 and "shorty" combine No. 5 built for the Angels Branch, first in black-and-white and two years later in color. A sign for the Shady Rest Hotel was placed at the bottom of the Jamestown wooden water tank. An arrow pointed in the right direction (south), but those sets were located 350 miles away, on a sound stage at General Service Studio in Hollywood. Scenes with the cast at the hotel, in Sam Drucker's General Store, and aboard the train were filmed with replicas of buildings and combine no. 5, as well as No. 20. Credits at the end of the show attribute the train to "Hoyt Hotel, Portland, Oregon," above the real No. 3 "rollin' down the track" on screen.

The effect is convincing. No. 20 has three evenly spaced drivers, though the third driver on No. 3 is offset to the rear to accommodate her firebox. Also, No. 3's "backhead" extends through the cab of No. 3 (as does the"backhead" of ex-N&W 4-8-0 No. 475 on the Strasburg) and not quite as far on No. 20. However, these features are less noticeable in closeups. Railfans enjoy watching Nos. 3 and 5 in action and appreciate a bit of Colorado narrow-gauge history in scenes with the cast.

Fortunately, No. 20 was purchased by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club when the Rio Grande Southern ceased operations in 1951. Her photo and history are available online at www.rockymtnrrclub.org/no20.htm. She was displayed in the Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden, near Coors Brewery. Founder Robert ("Bob') Richardson wrote that RGS employees advised him against firing her up, though they never said why.

Linn Moedinger, Strasburg RR bigwig, is a gung-ho fan of the RGS. He is already laying a third rail for No. 20 at the Strasburg, preparatory to the rebuilding to be done there. I am imagining places that Mr. Moedinger could hide No. 20 when the Colorado Railroad Museum tries to get her back. The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania across the street is so obvious that we discounted it, but one guy insisted we include it. He read a Sherlock Holmes story, The Purloined Letter. Everybody looks everywhere for that letter. They even look for holes and slots in table legs and chairs. Sherlock Holmes finds it because he is the only one who reads letters on a desk in plain sight. BINGO!
My suggestion for a hiding place is the Red Caboose Lodge. It is located at the top of the grade from Strasburg Yard, so No. 20 would make test runs there. She would fit between black panels that conceal pipes and electric lines under every caboose, so no one would notice a "cabin car" with drive wheels Put a caboose body over No. 20 and there you are (or there she ain't).

The Tinplate Times - A nice online newsletter featuring prewar tinplate trains. Check it out at Tinplate Times (posted 1-11-06)

Fred Braun's Rare and Unusual Dorfan Locomotive
by Richard White #70-3387 (posted 1-9-06)

The 1930 Dorfan catalogue showed the new #770 locomotive. However, Dorfan was unable to deliver this as promised. Pressured by dealers, Dorfan parocured a number of Ives #1122 locos and tenders, had them painted in Cardinal Red, and decaled them "Dorfan" and "770" (refer to the January 1988 TCA Quarterly). Dorfan was finally able to produce a few "real" #770 locos, which were paired with a stock 6-wheel type tender, as shown in the following photographs. This loco is so rare that even the Greenberg Dorfan book did not have a photograph, nor to my knowledge, has a photo appeared at any time in the Quarterly or in any other publication. The locomotive pictured may have been restored (judging from the condition of the tender and cars). The boiler cab/ casting is uniqued to this loco. Fred obtained this set at the York Meet in the 90's/