Known as "mudhens" because they would frequently derail on lighweight
rails and scoot across the ties like a waddling hen, Engine 463
is a K-27 class 2-8-2 built in 1903 and used until 1955 on the Silverton (Southern)
Branch of the Denver " Rio Grande Railroad. Engine 463 is one of only
two surviving K-27s.
Gene Autry purchased the locomotive after it was retired from service, and stored it
in the 1960s at his Melody Ranch in Placerita Canyon, where it was used as a movie prop (as were other
retired locomotives, including the Mogul Engine No. 1629, which Autry later gave to the Santa Clarita
Valley Historical Society).
The 463 was a derelict when, in March 1972, Autry "returned" it to the Rio Grande. There, it
was restored and put to work hauling tourists on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad beginning in 1994.
A tourist line that uses part of the San Joan Extension of the Denver & Rio Grande, the C and TS is owned and administered jointly by the states of New Mexico and Colorado. It is America's longest and highest
narrow gauge railroad, running from Chama, New Mexico, to Antonito, Colo., and is a national historic landmark. It is leased to a private operator
who is responsible for carrying tourists on scheduled rides and maintaining the rolling stock and the associated rail museum.
