Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 315 is a class "C-18" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow gauge steam railway locomotive that was originally built for the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1895. On the F&CC it was number 3, named Elkton. After the demise of the F&CC in 1915, the locomotive sat unused until the Denver and Rio Grande purchased it and four of its sisters in 1917 to help with war traffic. In D&RG service it became No. 425, but was renumbered No. 315 when the D&RG became the Denver and Rio Grande Western in the reorganization of 1924. It began its D&RG service at Alamosa, Colorado, was leased to the Rio Grande Southern for 1926-27 and then spent most of the next decade on the Gunnison Division, in Salida, Colorado, on the line to Montrose and on the branch to Ouray. As larger locomotives, notably the K-27, K-36 and K-37 Mikados came on line, smaller engines like 315 were used as yard switchers or scrapped. No. 315 spent several periods in the shops in the early 1940s, notably with a broken main rod and then later for flue work and to replace its pilot with a switch engine pilot. It appeared in the movie Colorado Territory in 1948, but was finally taken out of service in 1949. It returned to the silver screen in Around the World in 80 Days in 1956, but was no longer in operating condition, so it was pushed by a diesel locomotive disguised as a baggage car. It was leased to the City of Durango from 1950 until the railroad donated it to the Chamber of Commerce in 1968, and then was transferred to the city in December, 2000. The Durango Railroad Historical Society began restoration work in March 2001 and 315 moved under its own power for the first time in 57 years in August, 2007. The City of Durango transferred ownership of the locomotive to the Durango Railroad Historical Society in 2014. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Locomotive No. 315 in 2008.
Operations
The 315 has operated on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. In 2016, the 315 made a return to the C&TSRR to participate in their Narrow Gauge Rendezvous event held on August 25. It remained on the C&TSRR to play a part in the festivities associated with 37th National Narrow Gauge Convention on September 4, 2017. The engine will remain on the C&TSRR at least through the end of the 2022 operating season. The C&TSRR will perform the FRA required 1,472 day inspection during the winter of 2021-22.
