Jim Manley sent us three photos taken by Bette Fineman, one of his dad's neighbors, of an incident on the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad in Colorado when a cross head key failed resulting in the failure of a piston head on locomotive 484. Jim asked if I would like to post them here. I told him I sure would, and I'm glad he sent them. They're very interesting.

I contacted the Cumbres and Toltec asking for more information about the incident and received a reply within a few hours from Mark V. Yates, the railroad's chief dispatcher. We're fortunate that the Cumbres and Toltec is alive and well, and that they and the Durango & Silverton Railroad are preserving nine vintage Baldwins. Here's what Mr. Yates wrote:

Dear Mr. Downs:

Your email requesting information on locomotive 484 was passed on to me for a response.

Locomotive 484 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in August 1925 at the Eddystone, PA shops. It is one of 10 locomotives built, nos. 480-489. They were originally classified as the 189 Class and later reclassified as the K36 Class. The "K" indicates mikado or 2-8-2 for the Rio Grande and the 36 represents the tractive effort of the locomotive (36,000 pounds). These were the last new narrow gauge locomotives built for the D&RGW. The K37 Class, which followed between 1928 and 1930, were built from C-41 Class locomotives ("C" for consolidation or 2-8-0 and "41" representing the tractive effort).

Of the ten K36s built, nine survive. The 485 was scrapped in 1955 by the Rio Grande after it went into the turntable pit at Salida, Colorado. The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is fortunate to have five of these locomotives, Nos. 483, 484, 487, 488 and 489. The other four are at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Nos. 480, 481, 482 and 486.

Regarding the incident you refer to in your email, on Tuesday, June 8th after departing Chama for Antonito, the left crosshead key sheared into several pieces around milepost 338.6. With nothing securing the piston rod in the crosshead but the tapers of the rod and the crosshead, it quickly worked loose (within 60 feet) and went through the piston head. The locomotive quickly came to a halt (within 15 feet) as it could not pull the seven cars up the 4 percent grade on just one piston. The train was backed up to a road crossing 1/10th of a mile where waiting busses picked up the passengers. The train was then backed to Chama, where the locomotive was taken to the shop for repairs. New studs and crosshead key were made and the piston head replaced. The locomotive was returned to service on Saturday, June 12th.

I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to email me.

Thank you for your interest in the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.

Sincerely,

Mark V. Yates, Chief Dispatcher

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