On Saturday of the annual D&S winter photographers weekend, the visiting SP 18 pulled a three car train from Durango to Tall Timber. Originally the plan was to go to Cascade, but a snow slide blocked the line between Tall Timber and Cascade. Despite the missing few miles, there were plenty of good photo ops including this runby at Tall Timber. Due to severe summer fire risk, the D&S is in the process of converting one or more of their coal burners to oil, and the SP 18 was leased to provide D&S personnel with more familiarity with the logistics and operation of oil burners. The latest information indicates it will be at the D&S until sometime this summer, and will make occasional scheduled runs as well as some photo charters.
