# An Event (and a promise kept) at the Colorado RR Museum!



## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

This last weekend, at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, CO, I had the opportunity to witness the first operation of the restored steam powered D&RGW OB Pile Driver! The power was being supplied by D&RGW #346. We got to the museum and right after we finished admiring the restored DL&G #191 we heard the announcement that the OB Pile Driver demonstration would be going on just north of the main building (where RGS #20 used to be) so we hurried on up there. Talk about timing!!

Here is the #191 in the newly fallen snow. What a beautiful engine!!









Here's the OB Pile Driver getting ready to deploy:









Steam power was supplied by 2-8-0 C-19 #346:









Here's the OB fully deployed:









The weather was decidedly _non-_October-like! During our visit the temp. was _18 degrees!! _Train rides this weekend were courtesy of another event: the return of Westside Lumber Co. Shay #12! The last time she ran was on the Georgetown Loop over five years ago! In addition, she was freshly painted and lettered back in her Westside Lumber Co. livery! We took a ride in coach #280 while we warmed up (those stoves really work!) and I had an idea....

You see, five years ago, I took my father up to the Georgetown Loop during their "Open House" where they were double-heading their Shays and also running the #40 as a "heritage train." I had finagled my dad a cab ride but due to a freak torrential downpour, he was unable to do it which really bummed us out and here we are riding behind Shay #12 again..... I took a chance and checked with the engineer and fireman and explained our situation. It turns out that they were the same guys running the #12 then as now and they were more than happy to let dad ride....and me too!! It took five years but I was able to keep a promise that I made to my father. It's all the more special to me as my father is suffering from Alzheimer's and I'm not certain how many more of these visits we will be able to have together but at least _this_ weekend was a special one!

Here I am helping Dad into the cab of #12:









Here's a shot of the #12:









There's nothing like a cab ride!









A promise kept and a memory for a lifetime!









Thanks guys! What a great ride!!


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## R Snyder (May 12, 2009)

Steve, that's really neat that you and your dad got to ride in the cab of the shay! I still remember being allowed to enter the cab of one of the last steam engines operating in Salina when it was fired up in front of the Salina Depot sometime in the middle 1950's.


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## sbaxters4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Way to take a chance and create a lasting memory!!! Great Job and thanks for sharing your memory and photos with us!


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice story and great pix Steve.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes great story and picks Steve 

Thanks for posting.


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

Steve - Does this look familiar? I was lucky enough to get a cab ride in #12 on the loop in 2003. I now use this photo taken that day as the desktop on my PC.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve so glade that after 5 years that promise could be kept. I'm sure it will be remembered by you for a long time. Thanks for sharing. Later RJD


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Del,
Yep! With the exception of the view outside, it's right where I was standing! The steam pressure was 200 psi too! I talked to Phil Reader who was on #12 and asked him how she was handling compared to back on the Loop and he said, "She's settled right back to running the way she way she did!" Man, was if fun!!


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## RimfireJim (Mar 25, 2009)

Great story, Steve. Thanks for sharing. 

I think it's neat that locomotives like WSL #12 are getting repainted to reflect their origins, or last working incarnation. True, locos were sold and relettered all the time during their working lives, but that was while they were earning their keep in a "blue collar" manner, before they became museum or excursion pieces. Even on an excursion railroad, which I consider a form of living history, I'd rather see the equipment retain its heritage lettering, as that is the real history. I suspect most of the non-railfan public wouldn't understand why an "X" loco is pulling a "Y" coach on the "Z" railroad, though.


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## CCSII (Jan 3, 2008)

Way cool. Wicked cool. (I think that's what they say now.) My dad would have loved it.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

FYI, OB will be fired up one last time again this weekend at the museum before being loaded and shipped back down to the C&TS. It will be SUBSTANTIALLY warmer this weekend. 

Later, 

K


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