Uintah #51

[Keith Hayes]

Dateline Leadville, CO: C&S executives have been interested in testing one of the Uintah articulated on the South Park. Uintah locomotive #51 has been made available and arrived in Leadville today. Locals were startled at the size of the beast and quickly dubbed it "You-Ray" as an onomatopoeia of the reporting marks in the cab.

[Kurt Maechner]

Fun to imagine that event happening! Thanks for the photos.

[Mike Trent]

That almost did happen, as Keith undoubtably knows. The C&S planned to remove the saddle tanks for weight, and got an estimate for two K-36 tenders from Baldwin. They were to be numbered #77 and #78. Alas, Burlington Brass denied the acquisition, and agreed instead to lease the C&S their newly rebuilt (in their Omaha Shops) #537.

[drgwcs]

Mike Trent wrote

That almost did happen, as Keith undoubtably knows. The C&S planned to remove the saddle tanks for weight, and got an estimate for two K-36 tenders from Baldwin. They were to be numbered #77 and #78. Alas, Burlington Brass denied the acquisition, and agreed instead to lease the C&S their newly rebuilt (in their Omaha Shops) #537.

Would have been really neat to see but even with the tenders they would have required rebuilding bridges. That was probably a lot of the rejection as the cost benefit analysis would not have added up. A couple of authors have speculated that the study to purchase these as well as an earlier proposal for new ones was to gain fodder for the eventual abandonment.

But we can still dream  

Jim Curran

[Mike Trent]

[Chris Walker]

Keith,
the old adage comes to mind, "there's nothing new under the sun" and maybe, just maybe, "great minds think alike".

Sometime in 1987, before onselling my H0n3, I posed my Uintah Mallet in the hopes of getting up enough cash to get John Coker to paint this scene for me.  Never could justify that sort of expenditure on a figment of my imagination(no slight on John).

The photo hasn't faired well.