The little woman and I were on our second trip thru lovely Colorado this last September, I was again reminded I needed to ask this: On the narrow gauge D&RGW coal tenders, many if not most sport a doghouse of some kind above the coal pile, what was that for as I could get no answers locally during the trip. Thanks Dave M
It was indeed for the brakeman. The K series locos had the doghouses as did the standard gauge locos, but not all of them. The doghouse was not "above" the coal pile but was attached to the tender deck. Imagine being a brakeman on a narrow gauge train in the mountains, 20 degrees, ice & snow, high winds, dark night...you would really appreciate the outhouse on the tender. Some even had a small stove! Woodie
Additional info from the DRGW list. From Jerry Day From William Reed From Tom Stamey From Jerry Day Maybe this will help some.
Awesome response!, It has bugged me forever or at least since seeing them firsthand and thanks for the info, was not aware they had front end brakemen.
Standard crew. Up front were the engineer, fireman and head end brakeman. In the caboose were the conductor and rear brakeman. When necessary, a sixth man was added, known as a "swing" brakeman.
