Re: C&S 75 in Leadville . . . but when?

Posted by Mike Trent on Apr 04, 2016; 12:01pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/C-S-75-in-Leadville-but-when-tp5051p5052.html

Hi Jim,

The biggest clue to the dating of your photo is that the Brooks steam dome cover evident in the 1931 Perry photograph was replaced after the 1936 wreck, as it was clearly seen in pictures taken at the wreck site.

I've seen a couple of dated photos that indicate later in '36 and the Brooks cover is still being used, but I can't be confident that that is correct. The picture from Boreas, where Anderson says the engine has pushed a freight up the hill also shows the distinctive rounded replacement steam dome cover.

Take another look at the front steps in the first picture. In the 1931 picture, #75 has identical front steps as those which were on #74 until it's recent reassembly, through which those steps were either lost or simply not put back on. They were open in the middle. It appears to me that a welded triangular plate has been added to the single welded step that you see in the Boreas picture. #76 also carried the single welded steps like #75 had at Boreas.

Next, take a close look at the angled rear end beam on #75 at Boreas. I believe all of the B-4-F's carried that angled beam until later, when they were replaced with straight cut beams. #74 came to Boulder with a straight cut beam. I believe #75 has a straight cut beam in your Leadville picture. In the Boreas picture, the end of the beam looks to be square, in the Leadville picture it is clearly rectangular and looks in profile the way #74's beam was in Boulder.

I'm going to have to say that I would be inclined to agree with 1940, and maybe even a bit later for the Leadville picture.

By the way, note the odd way the coal is loaded into the bunker, clearly stacked up against the upper coal gate.

The profile of the coal bunker was modified after the engine rolled over in the Platte River Canyon in 1922. It was thought that the tender was top heavy and they cut it down to 12". The other oddity is that the bunker was 12" longer in length, leaving only a 4' deck at the rear. Both #74 and #76 had a 5' deck at the rear, and 24" high sides. As luck would have it, it was #75's profile which was drawn for the folio sheet, showing the 75's tender profile, rounded steam dome cover, and replacement sand dome, which was also replaced after the 1922 wreck. Samhongsa/Sunset relied on that folio sheet quite a bit when they modeled #74 in On3 in 1979, which resulted in #75's sand dome, and tender bunker length among several other gaffs.

Probably somewhat more than your question called for, Jim, but that's how we roll..... Chris has probably been working on a list too...