Re: Photos of C&S 6, 9 and 40 at derailment in snow, c1912

Posted by Jim Courtney on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Photos-of-C-S-6-9-and-40-at-derailment-in-snow-c1912-tp6076p6083.html

Wow, Chris!

You certainly have a talent for remembering obscure details of vintage photos (especially if there are goats in the image).

So this is fascinating.  Why is number 9 off the rails south of Como, away from her usual stomping grounds in Platte Canon, on the passenger run?  Did she take a turn on the Alma mixed?  Or was number 6, in the same series of photos, running the Alma mixed and got stuck in the snow?  Perhaps number 9, with her pilot plow, was dispatched light to rescue number 6 and train, but ended up in the snowy ditch.

Have you noticed that number 9 seemed to have trouble staying on the rails when it snowed?  I can recall two other winter derailments involving number 9: At Maddox (with number 70) and at Dillon, both in the 1910-1915 era.

And studying the photo of number 9, the injector on the engineer's side is located outside / forward of the cab, between the cab and air pump--I don't recall any other rebuilt Cooke with this arrangement.

Jim