Friday Night Steam

If you ever had some questions on how a steam engine works, this video should answer a lot of them!

Source:

Jeff Berrier

•A video guide that walks through and describes the functions of the various controls in the cab of Denver and Rio Grande Western (D&RGW) steam locomotive #491. Big thanks to Mike Spera for heading the restoration on this wonderful piece of American history. •The locomotive seen in the video is Denver and Rio Grande Western (D&RGW) mikado (2-8-2) #491, one of the largest narrow gauge locomotives ever created. It now runs at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado. It has ~37,100 pounds of tractive effort, and weighs ~150 tons or ~302,000 pounds. It was built in 1928 by the D&RGW Burnham shops in Denver, Colorado using the boiler off of a standard gauge D&RGW 2-8-0. #491 is a pristine example of a locomotive perfectly suited for rugged, mountain climbing work. •Thanks to Erik Lindgren (@ColoradoRailPhotographer) for the great still images used in this video.

Denver & Rio Grande Western Steam Locomotive No. 491 (N)

D&RGW Railroad Steam Locomotive No. 491 is the largest operating narrow gauge steam locomotive in the western hemisphere. Locomotive 491 is truly a “Colorado original” having been built entirely in Colorado during the spring of 1928 through a cooperative effort between the Stearns-Roger Manufacturing Company of Denver and the D&RGW Denver Burnham Shops. It ran for the D&RGW until 1963 when it was donated to the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado) and placed on display at the Museum on loan in 1985. Locomotive no. 491 was donated by History Colorado to the Museum in June 2013 and was returned to service on August 28, 2014. Along with D&RGW 346, D&RGW 491 is becoming our most important operating steam locomotive, serving the Museum’s large themed events such as Day Out With Thomas™ and The Polar Express™ Train Ride.

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