RGS stablemates. Occupying adjacent stalls in the fabled Denver & Rio Grande Western round house in Durango, CO, are a pair of survivors from the Rio Grande Southern, a railroad which was long the red-headed stepchild of the D&RGW. Pictured here are RGS #42, a Baldwin Class C-17 Consolidation, built in 1887 for the D&RG, and RGS #20, a Schenectady Class T-19 10-wheeler built for the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad in 1899. The 42 has been owned by the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad since 1989, and the 20 has been owned by the Colorado Railroad Museum since 1951. Although the clouds of steam and shining headlights give the appearance that both locomotives are hot, only the 20 is currently operational.
Although it was built independently, the Rio Grande Southern or RGS, was nearly always in dire financial straits and was quickly acquired by the old D&RG in 1893. The RGS was built to serve the mining operations in Western Colorado and interchanged with the D&RGW at both ends of the line. Here at that southern end, in Durango, it is all but certain that RGS locomotives occasionally spent time in the Durango round house, but this February 2026 photo event is likely the first time since 1951 that two RGS engines graced the facility at the same time, and an ultra-special one to have the 20 be here in running condition.
