By Railfan & Railroad Staff

The final regularly scheduled coal-powered steam excursion on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad operated on March 23. Former Denver & Rio Grande Western K-36 481 had the honor of leading the train from Durango to Cascade, Colo., and return. 

The operator of the famed Silverton Branch has been slowly converting its narrow gauge 2-8-2 locomotives from coal to oil since 2018. Late last year, the railroad announced that it would convert the final K-36 to oil in 2024. Locomotive 481 has run a handful of times this winter, including on a photo charter earlier this year, but the final coal-powered run was a bit of a moving target. According to sources close to the railroad, Saturday became the final regularly scheduled run for a simple reason: the railroad had run out of coal. 

Once 481 is out of the shop, the D&SNG will have seven oil-fired 2-8-2 locomotives in service. Initially, the railroad wanted to keep at least one coal burner around. But last year, railroad officials said it didn’t make sense to keep one coal-fired locomotive when they would not be able to use it year-round (specifically during the wildfire-prone summers). 

“A few years ago I always thought we would want to keep a coal burner,” said Randy Babcock, AHR Chief Mechanical Officer. “The reality is that it just doesn’t make business sense to maintain a locomotive that we only intend to use a quarter of the year.”