Mystery solved

A few weeks ago Maynard went around the shop asking if anybody knew what the back of the tender looked like in operation. With the cistern done, it was time to apply the hardware, but the only problem was that when the Rio Grande donated the 223 to Salt Lake City, much of the metal that was used daily was removed, presumably to repair other locomotives still in operation. The rear coupler does not have a coupler cut bar, and Maynard wanted to know exactly what was on the rear platform.

Just yesterday, a question was asked about the reason for two air hoses on the rear of tenders of the D&RGW C-class locomotives at the Narrow Gauge Discussion Forum. The answer is that one is for the brakes, and the other for the operation of the snow flangers during the winter. Jerry Day, who wrote an article about the 223 in the RGM&HS' Prospector, in answer to the question, posted a picture he found of the 223 at the Colorado Railroad Museum, and lo and behold, there was the rear of the tender, clearly sporting two air hoses and a coupler cut bar. Plus, a toolbox that we didn't even know existed!

Now, that leaves us with some more projects for the tender: a toolbox, cut bar, and applying the second air line. The flanger line is currently in one of the museum's box cars for storage; when the tender was disassembled almost 20 years ago, Maynard was confused about the second line and thought that Salt Lake had stuck it on there just for fun, so he left if off of the restoration plans.

Here is a copy of the picture. Mr. Day says that there was no indication of location or date when he found it: