Cosmetic Restoration of Rio Grande 5371

This project has gotten a good deal of internet attention. There seems to be a strong emotional interest in this locomotive, and with good reason - it was the last unpatched, unpainted D&RGW locomotive to run on former Rio Grande rails. The SD40T-2 number 5371 has gotten a facelift this past year due to the efforts of Derrick and Kerry Klarr, brothers with a long track record of quality volunteer work and private preservation.

Green masking tape marks out the work on the nose stripes; the circular holes were soon after filled by the class lights. October 2015.

With a grant from the National Railway Historical Society, they collected parts to restore the front end of the locomotive to its as-built appearance. This includes class lights and a gyralight. The ditch lights were removed and the nose striping repainted.

Work ended in November 2015 due to snow but will continue in the spring season this year. The snowplow still needs to be replaced and the pilot repainted. Depending on how far the grant can be stretched, or how much is donated, there are tentative (but not sure) plans to repaint the entire locomotive.

Nose painting done, the gyralight was removed for some extra work and was reinstalled in December 2015. From there work stopped due to snow, but will be re-initiated in Spring 2016.

A full article on the project will appear in a future issue of the Rio Grande Modeling & Historical Society's Prospector magazine.

223 Location map

Joshua Bernhard, who is working on a complete history of the 223, created the map posted below, showing the cities where the 223 was documented to have been throughout her life, 1881-present. Click on the image to see it bigger!

The 223 could have served in any of the cities along the D&RGW's narrow gauge system, but this shows the documented dates in which she was seen, assigned to, or visited them.