Photos Courtesy Of Knott's Berry Farm
Steam locomotive number 41 was built way back in 1881 for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad where it served the lines Salina branch until it was sold to the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. In 1951 it was sold again to Walter Knott to be the main attraction of his new Knott's Berry Farm Ghost Town theme park in Buena Park, California. The Class C-19 locomotive was in need of restoration after years of storage and was shipped off to the Durango and Silverton shops in Durango, Colorado in in 2022 for the much needed repairs. After 20 months of work, Number 41 is back in perfect working order and pulling tourists around the Calico Ghost Town at Knott's.
From The Durango Herald:
Locomotive 41, a popular tourist attraction at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California, has undergone an extensive 20-month restoration in Durango and is now back in service at the theme park.
Restoration of the 143-year-old locomotive was carried out by American Heritage Railways, which owns the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It was part of the railroad’s new effort to diversify its income by doing contract work on behalf of other railroads that may lack the tools, facilities or expertise necessary to maintain their own aging fleets.
“We are finding ourselves in a unique niche to be able to provide services to other railroads – as well as ourselves,” said Matt Cunningham, operations and special projects manager for the railroad. “It’s a pretty rewarding feeling.”
The railroad began doing contract work around 2018, on the heels of the 416 Fire and before the COVID-19 pandemic. Both events shut down passenger operations for several weeks, helping the D&SNG realize it must diversify its income, said Randy Babcock, chief mechanical officer for American Heritage Railways.
Contract work began with a few small projects. D&SNG has since taken on larger projects like rebuilding Locomotive 41, he said. American Heritage Railways now has two years’ worth of contract work lined up.
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