The Locomotives of The Tincup & Western Railroad

Tincup & Western Consolidation #23 exiting the tunnel beneath Park Cone (at the head of Taylor Canyon) on its return to Tin Cup, about five miles northwest of Hillerton (ca. 1911).

The locomotives employed by the Tincup & Western varied in both size and function. Originally, Coupeau had contracted with the Denver, South Park & Pacific for the lease of four surplus 4-4-0 American type locomotives. The history of these tough little locomotives on the railroad was rather short lived owing to the fact that they were already nearly 30 years old when initially leased, they required near constant maintenance, and that no other locomotives were available to the road. They, thus, provided both switching and road service duties. Coupeau began examining his options in 1898 and acquired four Baldwin 0-4-0 switchers the following year. This freed up the Americans for road service and permitted the Tincup & Western to employ switchers both at the mines and the small yard at Hillerton. But, despite their shortcomings, the Americans provided faithful service on the road until early in 1904 when it took delivery of the first of its former DSP&P 1885 Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidations from the Colorado & Southern. By August of 1906, all of the Americans had been replaced by the sturdier Consolidations.

The acquisition of the Consolidations and the switchers, although a sizeable purchase, greatly aided the Tincup & Western in achieving its goal of providing rail service to Tin Cup and the nearby mines and mills. The switchers obviously assisted in moving rolling stock around at the various facilities and assembling trains. But the Consolidations gave Coupeau his first opportunity to pull larger trains up and down the road's 2% grades without the necessity of double-heading virtually every train. Rarely were the Consolidations seen double-heading the trains.