Rio Grande’s T-12 Locomotive and the Return of the 168

By Jerry B. Day.

Softcover, perfect binding, 8½ inches wide by 11 inches tall, 72 pages including covers and a two-sided fold out. $25.00 plus shipping.

Published by the Rio Grande Modeling & Historical Society
P.O. Box 25005
Salt Lake City, UT 84125-0005
https://rgmhs.org

This book became available sometime between the May 2021 date of the dedication of the newly restored D&RG 4-6-0 #168, and the Victorian Iron Horse Roundup on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad that opened on August 21, 2021. It was available for purchase at the later event.

The Introduction includes a folio sheet for the class 47 (later named class T-12) and text with the context for understanding how the six locomotives delivered by Baldwin in 1883, along with another six in 1884, fit into D&RG passenger train operations at the time, and why they were all phased out of regular operations by 1933.

Chapter 1 covers each locomotive from #166 through #177 with two pages of photos and information on each, except #168 with eight pages of coverage and #169 with five pages of coverage. Numbers 168 and 169 are the two surviving members of the class. The information on each engine is derived from newspaper accounts and records of the D&RGW, and make for enjoyable reading.

Chapter 1 includes a double-sided fold out with pages 19 and 20 displaying a painting titled “Cumbres Loop ­— 1918” showing engine #425 with a work train on the upper part of the loop and engine #168 with a passenger train on the lower part of the loop, both heading in the eastward direction. This painting by J. Craig Thorpe was commissioned by the C&TS. Pages 21 and 22 is a color photo of inside the cab of restored #168 with call outs of the appliances and controls.

Chapter 2 is about the preservation and restoration to operation of #168, told mostly through captioned photographs, the majority of which are in color. For the section titled “Engine #168 Comes to the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad,” half a page of text is included along with captioned photos. This text documents some of the effort involved in getting the permissions needed to make such a restoration possible, and makes visible that none of this happens without passionate and pragmatic individuals hanging on to a long-term view.

“Restoration Begins” outlines the fundraising, the assembly of the restoration team and the work required on the tender. The tender was then used as a background piece for fundraising. Pages 51 through 57 are photos and captions of some of the locomotive restoration process from June 29, 2018 through the first test run on Sept 30, 2019. Photos of more test runs on October 9 and 14, 2019, follow. Photos and captions resume for the October 1, 2020 test train with the historic passenger consist. This test was in preparation for the Kobalt Tool Company video shoot on October 4, 2020, that is covered by photos and captions, including an exterior and interior photo of RPO #65 and Coach #256. Photos and captions then pick up with a test train on May 28, 2021, and continue with the dedication train of May 29, 2021.

References fill page 70, and Acknowledgments and a little bit about the author make up page 71.

If you are a D&RG/D&RGW fan or a small steam fan, this book needs to be in your collection.
-Dave Adams.

Ron’s Books
P.O. Box 714
Harrison, NY 10528
914-967-7541
ronsbooks@aol.com
www.ronsbooks.com

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