Elvas Tower: D&RGW K27 No. 452 - ORTS Only - Elvas Tower

D&RGW K-27 No. 452, 1937 and 1946 Versions – ORTS ONLY – By Bill Pratt

The Denver and Rio Grande RR bought 15 outside frame 2-8-2’s for their narrow gauge lines in 1903. As delivered they were barely out of the 19th Century. They were Vauclain Compound engines with Stephenson valve gear, single phase air pumps, oil lights, slope back tenders and no superheaters. Still, weighing over twice that of a 60 Class 2-8-0, they were monsters that could pull heavy loads.

Over the course of their working lives, mostly from 1900-1930, there were major changes in railroad technology such that the locomotives produced for and by the Rio Grande in the 1920’s had all of the modern appliances and pretty much remain even to today “as built.” Not so the 125 Class, or K-27s, as reclassified by the Denver & Rio Grande Western in 1924. Over the years the engines received many changes and upgrades: Simple slide valve cylinders; most had those replaced with piston valves and superheaters; Walschaerts valve gear replaced Stephenson on piston valve equipped engines; electric lights, first arc and later incandescent; cross-compound air pumps, and; full size tenders. All of these changes made each locomotive a distinctly different machine within a singular class. Bill’s models of these engines reflect these differences with each being unique unto itself rather than just a renumbering of a ‘stock’ model.
The first four engines converted to piston valves – 454, 456, 458 and 461 – used the existing Stephenson valve gear and so had their piston valves inboard to align with the valve stem and rocker. They were soon modified with Walschaerts outside valve gear and required a cross-over link to line up with the piston valve. This modification is well represented by Captain Bazza’s 454 here in the library. The remaining conversions of 452, 453, 455, 459, 462, 463 and 464 had their piston valves aligned with the valve gear and were outboard of the main pistons. Bill’s engines reflect these modifications. 450, 451, 457 and 460 did not have their slide valve pistons replaced and these engines were retired early. Models of 450 and 460 by Captain Bazza can be found in the library.
This model is of D&RGW 452 as she appeared in switcher configuration in 1937 when she could be found working out of Montrose, helping trains to Cerro Summit, taking trains to and from Ridgway during the stock rush and switching the dual gauge yards with an idler car – whence the switcher pilot. The engine has the older style lettering of “Denver & Rio Grande Western” spelled out on the tender sides and the round Royal Gorge herald above. The 1937 version has two sub-versions one with white class lights for freight extras and one with no class lights lit for scheduled trains.
We also include the locomotive as it appeared in road engine configuration in 1946 when she was working mostly on the Rio Grande Southern under lease from the Rio Grande. She has the flying Rio Grande on her tender and a road pilot but she retains her back sanding lines from when she was assigned to Montrose. Like the 1937 version, we have provided regular and passenger lighting versions.
- NOTE: THESE LOCOMOTIVES ARE FOR OPEN RAILS ONLY – THEY WILL NOT LOAD IN MSTS -

WATER ALERT! The consumption of water and fuel in MSTS and ORTS is woefully incorrect. These engines come with 41,000 lbs of water in the tender, which should be about right for 5,000 gallons of water. But the consumption is very low, allowing you to run the whole RGS without having to water up. We can't fix MSTS and ORTS, other experts will have to do that, but what has been done in the interim is to reduce the amount of water to 11,480 lbs so that you run out when you should in actual operation. You WILL have to take water to complete most runs with these engines. For example, on the Silverton Branch you will need to take water at Cascade Tank and Needleton Tank to complete a run to Silverton and you will have to take water at Needleton on your return. This is realistic water consumption for miles traveled. Have fun! And if you forget you can always Shift-T to instant fill but it's more fun to do it right.

This model was built from plans found in Model Railroader Magazine from 1973, from many pictures from Herb Kelsey's collection, as well as pictures from numerous other publications and persons.

To quote Bill, “It was built by a team. Herb Kelsey was a constant source of technical data and pictures, and did file adjustments and extensive testing; Tom Werb, supplied the customized crew and did much final testing; and I did the building and swept the shop floor. It was built using 3D Canvas.”
To install, save the zip file to a location of your choice and unzip it. This will produce a “Trains” folder containing “Trainset” and “consist” folders. The “Consist” folder has light engine consists for both eras and for passenger and extra freight. Merely copy the “Trains” folder to your Train Simulator or Mini-Route folder and accept any overwrites.
“I hope you all enjoy it, Bill”