The History of Engine 169
And Railroading in Alamosa, Colorado
August 8, 2000, The Denver &
Rio Grande Railroad locomotive No. 169, located in Cole Park, was
listed in the Colorado State Register of Historic
Properties. National registration is pending.
Locomotive No. 169 is a narrow gauge,
coal-fired, 10-wheeler steam locomotive built in 1883 by Baldwin Locomotive Works
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It could haul 11 cars at
71 miles an hour!
Built for the Denver & Rio Grande
Railroad (D&RG) to meet the need for additional and larger engines
to haul passenger trains, it was part of an order of 12 locomotives and
is one of the oldest surviving locomotives of the D&RG Railroad.
The No. 169 is also a rare remaining example of
a special type of narrow gauge steam locomotive. Part of the
Class T-12 series, it was built with a large wheel size that made it
one of the fastest narrow gauge engines built.
During its operational life of 55 years, No.
169 was assigned to every division of the D&RG, working out of
Denver, Pueblo, Alamosa, Salida and Grand Junction. It was
also assigned to the "Chili Line" that ran regularly between Alamosa
and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In 1933, the railway company began retiring the
T-12 class and, a few years later, decided to scrap the remaining
engines. Only two were saved from this fate, the 168,
now in Colorado Springs, and the 169.
The 169 was removed from service in 1938 and
was stored on a dead line at the Alamosa rail yard. It was
taken out of storage in 1939 to represent the D&RG Railroad at
the 1939-40 World's Fair in New York City.
The locomotive was refurbished at the Burnham
Shops in Denver, then shipped to New York to be displayed as part of
the transportation exhibit at the fair.
After the World's fair, the locomotive had one last run to make.
In 1941, the 169 came to rest at Cole Park, a gift to the city
from the railroad. It was relocated to its present
location within the park in 1965.
Hooked to the engine is the B-1 Business Car,
which was built in 1880 as Coach #33. It was converted into a
private car and used in the D&RG's President's Train for railroad
officials, mining tycoons, and Eastern financiers.
The B-1 was the "Commissary Car" of the
President's Train. It contains a coal stove with six burners,
a complete working galley kitchen, cupboards and ice chests, three
swing-down upper berths and two lower berths.
carried President Taft to the 1909 opening of the Bureau of
Reclamation Project in Gunnison.
Alamosa was platted in
April, 1878, by ex-Territorial Governor Alexander Cameron
Hunt. The first buildings were shipped by rail from Garland
City to Alamosa, thus creating a true "rail town"
For decades afterwards, Alamosa was the hub of
intense rail activity. At the turn of the century, Alamosa was
one of two three-track switching yards in the world; switching
and servicing both narrow gauge trains that were still operating, as
well as the newer standard gauge equipment.
Adapted with Permission of The Alamosa
From a Story First
Published August 22, 2000, in The Alamosa Valley Courier
And from Information Provided by
The Alamosa County
Chamber of Commerce