Two of a kind. Two of a kind may be a common hand in poker, but it's certainly not a common hand when it comes to steam tourist railroads. Outside of the Colorado Narrow Gauge lines, it is uncommon to find pairs of virtually identical steam locomotives at all, much less find them at the same railroad. But such is the case at the Black Hills Central, which is luck enough to own two of the three extant, operable Baldwin 2-6-6-2T Compound, Articulated, Mallet Saddle-Tankers. Built in 1926 and 1928 respectively, Black Hills Central Locomotives #108 and 110 are indeed nearly identical, boasting 37,500 lbs. of tractive effort each. The most obvious difference between the two is that #108 has a full saddle-tank, whereas #110 has a split saddle, similar to a set of side tanks. There are also minor differences in the pilots on the front of both locomotives. In this rare view, we see the pair teamed up for an afternoon double-header celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Black Hills Central as a tourist railroad. Both locomotives are sitting on the small wooden trestle at Milepost 0.1, conducting simultaneous blow-downs, which needless to say, attracted a lot of attention from passers-by.
Not
just heritage schemes, not just commemorative schemes - this album is devoted to some of the world's most interesting paint schemes, past or present.
