D&RGW 463

D&RGW 463
Sister D&RGW 453
Power type	Steam
References:[1][2]
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Build date	April, 1903
Total produced	15
Configuration	2-8-2
UIC classification	1′D1′ v, later 1′D1′ h
Gauge	3 ft  (914 mm)
Leading wheel diameter	28 in (711 mm)
Driver diameter	40 in (1,016 mm)
Trailing wheel diameter	28 in (711 mm)
Wheelbase	24.5 feet (7.5 m)
Length	33.7 feet (10.3 m)
Weight on drivers	105,425 lb (48 t)
Locomotive weight	136,650 lb (62 t)
Superheater type	yes, later
Cylinders	Original: Four Vauclain compound, Later: Two, simple
Cylinder size	Original: 13 × 22 in (330 × 559 mm) and 22 × 22 in (559 × 559 mm) Later: 17 × 22 in (432 × 559 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaerts
Valve type	Original: slide valves Later: piston valves
Tractive effort	27,000 lbf (120 kN)
Career	Denver & Rio Grande Denver & Rio Grande Western Rio Grande Southern Cumbres & Toltec Scenic
Class	D&RG: 125 D&RGW: K-27
Number in class	15
Nicknames	Mudhen
Preserved	Two: #463, 464
Engine No. 463
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	C&TS shops, Chama, New Mexico
Coordinates:	36°54′10.4″N 106°34′40.7″W / 36.902889°N 106.577972°W / 36.902889; -106.577972Coordinates: 36°54′10.4″N 106°34′40.7″W / 36.902889°N 106.577972°W / 36.902889; -106.577972
Area:	0 acres (0 ha)
Built:	1903
Architect:	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Governing body:	Local
NRHP Reference#:	75000502 [3]
Added to NRHP:	May 12, 1975

D&RGW 463 is a 3 foot narrow gauge, Mikado type, 2-8-2 steam railway locomotive built for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1903. They eventually became known by the nickname "Mudhens". It is one of two remaining locomotives of D&RGW class K-27.

Fifteen locomotives were built, originally class 125, then reclassified K-27 in 1924 when the Denver and Rio Grande became the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The K-27s were built as Vauclain compounds, with two cylinders on each side, expanding the steam once in the smaller cylinder and then a second time in the larger one. The extra maintenance costs of the two cylinders were greater than the fuel saving, so they were converted to simple expansion in 1907–1909.^[2] They were Rio Grande's last purchase of compound locomotives. They pulled freight, passenger and mixed trains on the D&RGW in and over the Colorado Rocky Mountains, traversing the entire length of the railroad. They were built with their main structural frames outside the driving wheels, with the counterweights and rods attached outside the frames.

Like most of the D&RGW locomotives, we know something about 463's service from photographs taken of it. 463 was in Chama, New Mexico in 1923, in Alamosa and Montrose, Colorado in the thirties, and spent most of the forties and early fifties on the Rio Grande Southern and the line to Silverton, with one photo of it on the Farmington, New Mexico branch in 1947.^[4]

Number 463, was sold to cowboy actor and singer Gene Autry in May 1955. Autry never used the Mudhen and donated it to the City of Antonito, Colorado. It was restored by and entered into service on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad in 1994. It was taken out of service with a broken side rod in 2002. In 2009, it was moved to the railroad's shop at Chama, New Mexico where a major rebuild is underway.^[5]

463 was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 as Engine No. 463.

References

1. ^ Official Roster No. 11 of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad System. Denver: The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad System. April 1, 1923. p. 94. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Brewster, Allen J. (March and June, 1973). "D&RG's K-27, parts 1 and 2". Model Railroader (Milwaukee: Kalmbach). 
3. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
4. ^ "Denver & Rio Grande Locomotive History: 463". Rio Grande Modeling and Historical Society. http://www.drgw.org/data/steam/history/drg463.htm. Retrieved 28 January 2010. 
5. ^ "A chronicle of the rebuilding of D&RGW locomotive #463". DRGW463.COM. http://www.drgw463.com/. Retrieved 6 February 2010. 

• O'Berry, Dennis. (1995). The Mudhens, A Photographic History.