Saturday April 23rd the boiler was removed from the frame and the running gear moved into the shop, allowing the next phase of restoration to begin. This was made possible by the generous donation of services by Wagstaff Crane Inc. to the Golden Spike Chapter R&LHS.




In addition, to fund the most expensive portions of the restoration (boiler work, painting and FRA certification), a Gofundme campaign has started. All donations will contribute to the 223 being under steam by May 2019. https://www.gofundme.com/D-RGW223

Regular updates are posted on the D&RGW 223 facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DRGWenginenumber223/?fref=ts

Thank you,

Joshua Bernhard

Is this the D&RGW engine that was taken from a park last year to be restored to operation?

No, that's 169, a T-12 4-6-0, which is currently in Antonito Colorado on the Cumbres & Toltec. The 223 is a C-16 2-8-0 at the Utah State Railroad Museum that was previously displayed in a park in Salt Lake City but has been under slow restoration since 1991.

http://www.trainweb.org/GoldenSpikeLRHS/

Wow, another slim gauge 2-8-0 on her way back to steam! This is most appropriate, considering how these 2-8-0s were the workhorses on this railroad for as long as they were.

Best of luck, and let's hope she'll have trains to pull!

Congratulations on this important step. It's great to see the project moving forward.

For the record though, the engine moved last year from Colorado Springs, CO to the C&TS in Antonito, CO is D&RGW 168. Her sister 169 is still on display in Alamosa, CO.

-Philip Marshall

Whoops, my mistake.

Weren't they restoring an engine at Durango too? I seem to remember seeing something several years ago about it.

I think you must mean D&RGW 315, which was restored to operating condition by the Durango Railroad Historical Society in 2007. She's currently located in Silverton, CO.

(Yes, I know that's a lot of D&RGW narrow gauge steam to keep straight!)

-Philip Marshall

The other two existing C-16s are stationary display locomotives. When the 223 is completed it will be the only operating C-16.

And more notable is that it is traced back to a Grant 1881-built locomotive while the other two are BLW. Of course, along the way the C-16s got new boilers, etc.

In response to Frisco1522:
D&RGW 315 that was in a Durango park was restored and is now kept at Silverton. In its place the wooden, movie-prop locomotive from "A Ticket to Tomahawk" was placed in the park and is being fixed up and made more presentable.

#315 is a D&RGW class C-18 2-8-0 that was built by BLW in 1896 for the Florence & Cripple Creek.

The wooden movie-prop was made for the sequence in the movie where script called for the locomotive (played at other times by RGS #20) to be hauled overland by a horse team. Latter this prop was used for studio shots for the TV show "Petticoat Junction."

And let us recall that RGS 20 is also under restoration!

Here is the lift on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiBtBiaDIMY

Where is the one that was on display on the short section of bridge at Cimarron? Is it back there yet?

And, Josh.....

I grew up in SLC where the locomotive has moved from park to park to park over my short life time. I first remember it downtown at Liberty Park, then moved behind the D&RGW Depot, then moved to Ogden. Same with the two 0-6-0 switchers, they have been in more than one park during their lives as well.

Great post, Josh. Keep up the good work! I'll be at Lagoon in a few weeks, maybe I will stop by!

That's D&RGW 278. My understanding is that the engine plus the boxcar and caboose were removed by the National Park Service for cosmetic restoration a few years ago, but when (and if) the equipment will be put back on the bridge in Cimarron Canyon I don't know. They're reportedly stored at the NPS maintenance facility in Cimarron, so not too far away.

EDIT: The stored equipment is visible here in Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cimarron,+CO+81220/@38.440088,-107.5529871,137m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x873f6f26adec71b3:0x10e349c975f8cbb7

-Philip Marshall

I was told that #223 is the last Grant locomotive extant. Is that correct?