Last week I visited San Antonio for the first time. The former SP depot (now night club "Sunset Station"), is beautiful and has a former SP steam loco on display outside.

What caught my attention was a strange piece of equipment, enclosed in a metal cage atop the tender with a pipe extending from there to the smokestack. There is also natural gas piping feeding this "device" on the tender. Is this some kind of smoke machine? What have they done to this engine?

tr2manz@frontiernet.net

All of the special affects equipment has been removed from the locomotive. The only remaining part is the natural gas boiler that was placed in the doghouse. It too will be removed next year.