Ridgway Colorado USA - Chris Weiser and Karl Schaeffer have signed a contract to fund the re-creation of Rio Grande Southern steam locomotive 36.
 
The work is to be done by John Braun at Mammoth Locomotive Works in Palisade, Colorado.
 
This will be a full size operating steam locomotive which will look exactly like RGS 36 as purchased by Otto Mears from the Denver & Rio Grande on 27 Nov 1891.
 
At that time locomotives were still colorful and shiny rather than dull and dusty as they would later become.
 
No. 36 is part of the heritage of Ridgway.
 
It was a small 4-4-0 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and released 9 Jan 1880.
 
The engine was D&RG 93 "Roaring Forks" before Mears' purchase.
 
The RGS 36 was the smallest locomotive Otto Mears bought.
 
It was used for pulling his private car "San Juan" and for pay train work.
 
It was later used as a helper, but it was a small passenger locomotive better suited for fast passenger service than a slow drag freight.
 
It was eventually sold to a railroad in Arkansas and probably scrapped by 1916.
 
The new locomotive will be stationed at the Ridgway Railroad Museum (RRM) in Ridgway.
 
Construction is expected to start May 2015 and be completed May 2017.
 
We expect to operate it at the RRM on compressed air frequently, and occasionally on live steam over a short demonstration track.
 
We hope also to take it to various narrow gauge railroads as invited.
 
This will be a major addition to the RRM and will add greatly to our mission of education and preservation about the local railroads.
 
It will create many opportunities for museum members to learn how to operate and maintain a steam locomotive.
 
Donald Paulson.