Looking splendid in her original Great Western paint scheme, the Black River & Western's Consolidation #60 heads south with a mixed train on a spring evening. She is seen here passing the trackside property of the BRW's owner, whistling a salute as she does.
The 60 is one of four surviving steamers from the Great Western Railway of Colorado. Built in 1937, this engine was the sole Alco product in an otherwise all-Baldwin stable. Perhaps for that reason, she saw relatively little service compared to her sisters, and when she was transplanted to New Jersey in 1964, she was still something of a youngster in the world of surviving steam. Although she's a long way from home, she actually does have "family" in the area. Her big sister, the Baldwin Decapod #90 is one of the main attractions running on the Strasburg Railroad, about 2 hours west of this location. Her other sisters include Consolidation #51, which is still operable in private hands back home in Colorado, and Consolidation #75, which is currently undergoing a rebuild on the Heber Valley Railroad, not far from Salt Lake City in Utah.
Images of surviving Great Western Railway locomotives, painted in the liveries of their original owner, operating on photo charters on tourist railways today.
