PROTOTYPE HISTORY
Baldwin Locomotive Works built twelve 2-8-0 locos for the Rio
Grande narrow gauge lines in 1881 and numbered them 400-411.
With cylinders at 16”x 22” and drivers of 37” diameter, these locos
became the largest consolidations in service on the Denver and Rio
Grande, intended for helper service on the 4 percent grades over
Marshall Pass, Cerro Summit, and Cumbres Pass.
As larger versions of the Class 60 consolidations, these new class
70 locos weighed in at approximately 70,000 lbs. Five of these
locos got converted to standard gauge in 1889 and given a class 74
designation.
In 1900 these five were all switched back to narrow gauge and put
back into the original 400-411 series, but not given their original
numbers. They retained the class 74 designation, however.
In 1916, the Rio Grande Southern acquired the 409 and the “sec-
ond” 402 (originally 411), re-numbering them to RGS 40 and 41.
In 1921, the D&RG re-organized to become the Denver and Rio
Grande Western. In 1924, the ten remaining Class 70 (and 74)
MRH Product Showcase - 2
MRH-Sep 2013
