During the winter months, the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad runs a daily train from Durango to Cascade Canyon. Departing at 9:45 and returning at 2:45, this train provides rides with some of the most beautiful scenery along the Animas River, often in a snowy setting. Being of shorter duration than the regular summer excursions to Silverton, it can be the perfect narrow gauge railroad experience. This video is a tribute to 476 which was put back in service in February of 2018 after being removed for almost twenty years.
The Rio Grande’s Class K-28 Mikados were its newest fleet of narrow-gauge 2-8-2s since the fabled Class K-27 “Mudhens” purchased at the beginning of the 20th century. These new steam locomotives were built following the end of World War I, corrected flaws in the earlier K-27’s, and were slightly more powerful. They were well-built machines and proved so reliable from an operational standpoint that other railroads purchased the design.
The fabled narrow-gauge operations in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico of the Denver & Rio Grande Western were so unique that they continue to garner attention in books, magazines, and model railroad layouts even today. After the mining industry’s decline in the late 19th century this network of trackage relied on a mix of freight traffic (from drilling equipment for the oil industry to various agriculture and less-than-carload movements) and continued to haul passengers through the first half of the 20th century.
During 1923 Denver & Rio Grande Western received a new batch of ten K-28’s from the American Locomotive Company (otherwise known as Alco) numbered 470-479. These new 2-8-2s offered a slightly better axle loading and additional tractive effort, and their taller drivers (earning them the nickname as “Sport Models”) meant th