D&RGW K-36

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

**Denver & Rio Grande Western K-36 class**
Power type	Steam
K-36 #488 on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Build date	1924–1925
Configuration	2-8-2
Gauge	3 ft (914 mm)
Driver size	44 in (1.118 m)
Boiler pressure	195 psi (1.34 MPa)
Valve gear	Walschaerts
Tractive effort	36,200 lbf (161.03 kN)
Locomotive brakes	Air
Train brakes	Air
Career	DRGW, D&SNG, C&TS
Number in class	10
Number	480–489
Locale	Colorado and New Mexico
Disposition	nine preserved and operational; one (#485) scrapped

The Denver and Rio Grand Western K-36 class is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Mikado type 2-8-2 steam locomotive built for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW). Ten were built, numbers 480–489, by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Pennsylvania. They were shipped to the Rio Grande in 1924 and 1925, and were first used along the Monarch Branch and Marshall Pass, , but later were sent to the Third Division out of Alamosa, Colorado. Out of the ten originally built, four are owned by the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG), numbers 480, 481, 482 and 486, and five are owned by the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TS), numbers 483, 484, 487, 488 and 489. The only engine not in existence today is 485. An accident in Salida, Colorado occurred where it fell into the turntable pit, thus causing it to be damaged beyond repair. It was scrapped in Pueblo, Colorado in 1955.

[edit] Common Uses

The K-36s were used primarily as freight locomotives out of Alamosa to Durango, Colorado and to Farmington, New Mexico. They were built with special valves to allow brake control between locomotives while double-heading, and were commonly found between Alamosa and Chama, New Mexico. They were heavily used during the pipe boom in Farmington, New Mexico, and hauled long freight trains between Alamosa and Farmington, returning with natural gas and other goods.