Rio Grande 315

Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 315 is a class "C-18" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow gauge steam railway locomotive that was originally built for the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1868. On the F&CC it was number 3, named Elkton. After the demise of the F&CC in 1915, the locomotive sat unused until the Denver and Rio Grande purchased it and four of its sisters in 1917 to help with war traffic. In D&RG service it became No. 425, but was renumbered No. 315 when the D&RG became the Denver and Rio Grande Western in the reorganization of 1924. It began its D&RG service at Alamosa, Colorado, was leased to the Rio Grande Southern for 1926-27 and then spent most of the next decade on the Gunnison Division, in Salida, Colorado, on the line to Montrose and on the branch to Ouray.[4]

Denver & Rio Grande Western 315
D&RGW 315 in 2008.
Type and origin Reference [1] Power type Steam Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Serial number 14352 Model 10-26 E Build date 1895
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0  • UIC 1′D n2 Gauge 3 ft (914 mm)[2] Driver dia. 38 in (965 mm) Adhesive weight 64,000 lb (29.0 t) Loco weight 72,000 lb (32.7 t) Fuel type Coal Cylinders Two Cylinder size 16 in × 20 in (406 mm × 508 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort 18,000 pounds (8,200 kg)
Career Operators Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad → Denver and Rio Grande Railroad → Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Class D&RG: 72 D&RGW: C-18 Numbers F&CC 3 D&RG 425 D&RGW 315 Retired 1950 (revenue service) Restored August 2007 Current owner Durango Railroad Historical Society www.DRHS315.org Disposition Operational, used occasionally on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Locomotive No. 315 U.S. National Register of Historic Places Location 479 Main Ave., Durango, Colorado Area less than one acre Built 1895 Architect Baldwin Locomotive Works Architectural style Narrow gauge Consolidation NRHP reference No. 08001008 [3] Added to NRHP October 24, 2008

As larger locomotives, notably the K-27, K-36 and K-37 Mikados came on line, smaller engines like 315 were used as yard switchers or scrapped. No. 315 spent several periods in the shops in the early 1940s, notably with a broken main rod and then later for flue work and to replace its pilot with a switch engine pilot. It appeared in the movie Colorado Territory in 1948, but was finally taken out of service in 1949. It returned to the silver screen in Around the World in 80 Days in 1956, but was no longer in operating condition, so it was pushed by a diesel locomotive disguised as a baggage car.[4]

It was leased to the City of Durango from 1950 until the railroad donated it to the Chamber of Commerce in 1968, and then was transferred to the city in December, 2000.[4] The Durango Railroad Historical Society began restoration work in March 2001 and 315 moved under its own power for the first time in 57 years in August, 2007.[5] The City of Durango transferred ownership of the locomotive to the Durango Railroad Historical Society in 2014.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Locomotive No. 315 in 2008.[3]