Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 315 is a class "C-18" "Consolidation" type

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

that was originally built for the

Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad (F&CC) was a narrow-gauge railroad running northward from junctions with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at the mill towns of Florence and later moved to Cañon City, Colorado, on the banks of the Arkansas ...

by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

in 1895. It was purchased by the

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

(D&RG) in 1917 and later became known as No. 315. It was retired in 1949 and had been on display at two City of Durango parks until th
Durango Railroad Historical Society
restored the locomotive from 2001 to August 2007. It was operational from then until September 2021. As of November 2021 it is receiving its

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...

(FRA) mandated 1,472-day inspection. Most "sister" locomotives to No. 315 were scrapped, but two others survive today such as is D&RGW No. 318 and F&CC No. 10. No. 318 is on display at the

Colorado Railroad Museum The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum. The museum is located on at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado. The museum was established in 1959 to preserve a record of C ...

and F&CC No. 10 is currently in storage at the

Nevada Southern Railroad Museum The Nevada State Railroad Museum Boulder City is a railroad museum in Boulder City, Nevada which is an agency of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. The railway is located on the tracks that were installed to support construct ...

History

On the F&CC it was numbered 3 and named ''"Elkton"''. After the demise of the F&CC in 1915, the locomotive and sister locomotives sat unused in storage until the Denver & Rio Grande purchased it and four others in 1917 to help with war traffic. In D&RG service it was renumbered to No. 425, but was later renumbered to No. 315 when the Denver & Rio Grande reorganized/merged with the Rio Grande Western and became the Denver and Rio Grande Western in 1921. It began its service on the D&RG at

Alamosa, Colorado Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colora ...

and was leased to the

Rio Grande Southern The Rio Grande Southern Railroad (reporting mark RGS, also referred to as "The Southern") was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railroad which ran in the southwestern region of the US state of Colorado, from the towns of Durango to Ridgway, ...

for 1926-27 and then spent most of the next decade on the Gunnison Division, in

Salida, Colorado The City of Salida ( ; spanish language, Spanish: , "exit") is the Colorado municipalities#Statutory city, Statutory city that is the county seat and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality of Chaffee County, Colorado ...

, on the line to Montrose and on the branch to Ouray. As larger locomotives such as the K-27, K-36 and K-37 Mikado Locomotives were introduced to line, smaller engines like No. 315 were given yard switching duties or scrapped. No. 315 spent several periods in the Alamosa shops during the early 1940s, notably with a broken main rod and then later for flue work and to replace its

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

with a switch engine pilot where it was assigned to yard switching duties at Durango, Colorado. The locomotive was then taken out of service in 1949.

Retirement

Bob Richardson's March 1950 Publication of ''Narrow Gauge News'' mentioned that No. 315 and sister Locomotive No. 319 as well as 10 other D&RGW locomotives were to be scrapped later that year. A local Durango Business Man Jackson Clark heard about this and spoke out about his family's heritage with Durango's railroad history and how one of these locomotives should be saved. He recognized No. 315 from seeing it performing switching duties around the Durango yard, so after he received backing from the Durango Rotary Club and from the City of Durango, he went to talk to the D&RGW and No. 315 was officially leased as a static display, presented to the City of Durango at Brookside Park on the 22nd of September, 1950. The D&RGW would later on end up donating No. 315 to the Durango Chamber of Commerce in June 1968 while other efforts related to disposing most of the Narrow Gauge System took place. In 1986, the Chamber of Commerce moved to Gateway Park (now known as Santa Rita park) and No. 315 was moved with it. Ownership was then transferred to the City of Durango in December, 2000.

Movie Credits

The Durango area became known as Hollywood of the rockies for a period of time thanks to the scenery and the railroad, and No. 315 managed to score some roles on the silver screen. First appearing in the movie ''Colorado Territory'' in 1948, a year before its retirement. No. 315 later returned to the silver screen for Michael Todd's 1956 ''

Around the World in 80 Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...

''. At first the D&RGW refused to let Michael Todd use No. 315 because of the lease they made to the City of Durango, but he insisted using the 315 and posted a $1,000,000 bond to the D&RGW that the locomotive would be returned in one piece. By then the locomotive was no longer able to operate under its own power, so it was pushed by a narrow gauge diesel locomotive leased from the US Army that was disguised as a baggage car for the movie. Modifications were made to the locomotive such as an installation of a steam generator and smoke machine that ended up damaging the tender cistern and smokebox, and despite the bond that was made, multiple parts had mysteriously disappeared upon No. 315's return to Brookside Park.

Restoration

In 1995, No. 315 had received some cosmetic maintenance for the first time since it was placed back on display in Brookside park after the filming of Around the World in 80 Days. Many Narrow Gauge Railfans, as well as Members of a local Model Railroad club known as the San Juan Large Scalers, and more specifically member Tom Mosher were dissatisfied with the locomotives appearance. Tom had intended to do something about it and wanted to see the locomotive in its original condition, but was diagnosed with cancer later that year, and passed away in 1997. The club held a memorial service for Tom in front of the locomotive, and later on started to consider the idea of adding the original lettering back and performing other maintenance to bring the locomotive to its 1930s appearance. After speaking with city officials, the first work session was held in October 1998. The project was assisted by the D&SNG's Museum Curator Jeff Ellingson who redid the lettering and also evaluated No. 315's overall condition. Later on the SJLS' Board of Directors decided the project would be too big to perform under the club name, and formed the ''315 Committee.'' Later in 1999, the Committee reconsidered the end goal of the restoration and also decided to reorganize as a Non-Profit Organization under the name of the ''Durango Railroad Historical Society''. In 2002 the boiler received a

Hydrostatic Fluid statics or hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies the condition of the equilibrium of a floating body and submerged body "fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and the pressure in a fluid, or exerted by a fluid, on an imme ...

and

Ultrasonic Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...

test and was deemed to be in good condition for returning the Locomotive to operational condition. It was then decided that the DRHS would go through with performing a complete restoration of No. 315. On August 24, 2007, a fire was lit inside No. 315's firebox at the D&S Roundhouse and that evening the locomotive moved under its own power for the first time in 58 years. The Locomotive first ran at the D&SNG after fixing some minor issues and having to borrow D&RGW 223's tender trucks. It made its official shake down run on September 7th and pulled its first excursions in late September. No. 315 was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Locomotive No. 315 in 2008 and the City of

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

transferred ownership of the locomotive to the DRHS in 2014.

Operations since Restoration

No. 315 has operated on the

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a fe ...

and the

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, often abbreviated as the C&TSRR, is a narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on of track between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, in the United States. The railroad is named for two geogr ...

multiple times since its restoration. 315 was a common Attendee of the Railfest events held at the D&SNG from 2007 to 2016, visiting the C&TS often as well. In 2016, No. 315 went to the C&TS to participate in their Narrow Gauge Rendezvous event. The DRHS and the C&TS then decided that the Locomotive is to remain on C&TS Property until 2025, where its played parts in the festivities associated with 37th National Narrow Gauge Convention, the C&TS opening day 2018 and 2019, multiple private charters, and the Victorian Iron Horse Roundup to Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the C&TS. By the end of the C&TS 2021 season, the locomotive is required to receive its

FRA A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

mandated 1,472-day inspection.

The DRHS in Silverton

When the locomotive isn't out running on the D&SNG or at the C&TS, it is stored in the original Silverton Northern Railroad Engine house. The DRHS has teamed up with th
San Juan County Historical Society
to restore the structure and turn the area into a historic, informational park. Rails were laid back inside the engine house in 2009 and since then the DRHS and SJCHS has rebuilt an amount of track on the original SNRR Grade with the help of the D&SNG, also tying into D&S Trackage on the Shenandoah loop for easy access to the D&SNG. In 2019, two spurs were built to display their collection of restored D&RGW Freight and MOW equipment. The DRHS has currently restored: * Drop Bottom Gondola #871 * High Side Gondola #1400 * Stock Cars #5564 and #5627 * MOW Outfit/Bunk Car #04432 * 30 ft. Refrigerated Boxcar #39 * MOW Flanger #0T * Flat Car #6215

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places Railway vehicles on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in La Plata County, Colorado Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places La Plata County, Colorado 2-8-0 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1895 0315 Narrow gauge steam locomotives of the United States 3 ft gauge locomotives Preserved steam locomotives of Colorado