RE&S Freight Expansion Pack

thumbnail is kinda scuffed, sorry 🙁

— History —

The Red Eagle Southern was founded in February of 1902 from a merger of the Red Eagle & Humphrey, Industries & Logging Railroad (RE&S I&HRR), and the Cedar & Denver Railroad.

I-1 Berkshire:

The I-1 was an experimental 2-8-4 design built by Baldwin in 1934. There were only 9 I-1s ever built, Numbered 1344 through 1353. The design was successful but not extraordinary, easily handeling Light and Medium Freight Services, and they could also be seen handling express service between Red Eagle, Montana and Helena, Montana.

Sadly, no I-1s survived into preservation.

K-23 Mallet:

The K-23 was a design based on the older USRA 2-6-6-2 design. Rolling out of ALCO’s shops in Mid-1931, the K-23s were some of the first articulated steam locomotives used on the RE&S. Eight locomotives were built, numbered 1221 thru 1228. These Articulated steamers were pretty successful, easily handling Heavy freight between Bismark, North Dakota and Red Eagle, Montana.

Surprisingly, 2 K-23s survived into preservation. 1221 was donated to the Red Eagle History Muesem for static display, and 1224 was restored to operating conditions and ran excursion trains between Denver, Colorado and Bismark, North Dakota. 1224 still remains in storage to this day, with plans for a 2026 excursion run.

K-34 Mallet

These 2-8-8-2 mallets have a very interesting story. After almost 4 years of development, the railroad created a design for a 2-8-8-2 steam locomotive for there lines around Salt Lake City, Utah. The first set of locomotives, built by Lima in January of 1940, made it seem the locomotives had promising results. The second set of locomotives built by Baldwin in February and March of 1940 made the railroad feel confident in the design. Numbered 1546 through 1555, the K-34s were beasts of locomotives. They could easily handle any grade south of Red Eagle, easily surpassing the Rocky Mountains. Designed for Fast and Heavy Freight, the K-34s were good enough at there jobs to survive well into the Diesel Age.

One K-34 survives into preservation, 1549 is currently on display at Red Eagle City Park. But since the engine has started to rust, and has started to cause concerns for park visitor’s safety. There could be a possibility that the engine faces the scrappers torch.

K-45 Challenger:

The K-45 Challenger were an interesting implementation of a 4-6-6-4 Challenger Locomotive. Designed primarily for Fast Passenger and Freight Service between Red Eagle, Montana and Denver, Colorado, the design was very unique. Built by ALCO in late 1940, they were pretty, yet powerful. Numbered 1586 through 1599, and a total count of 14 locomotives, they joined the K-34 in freight duties, while also handling express service all across the RE&S. From Denver to Bismark, you could find K-45s in operation.

A total of 3 K-45s survive into preservation. 1586 was put on static display at Wolverine Park in Red Eagle, Montana, before being moved to the Red Eagle History Meusem in 2023, where it is currently undergoing cosmetic restoration. 1588 was restored to operating conditions, but suffered a wreck in 1998, it was put into storage besides RE&S 1004, an S-1 Northern. 1588 has plans to be repaired, but this is unlikely. 1594 was put on static display in late 2000 in Portland, Oregon. But was later moved south to Las Angleas, California. 1594 was moved in 2016 to Denver, Colorado were it was restored to operating conditions at the RE&S Denver Shops Shops in Fort Collins, Colorado. An excursion from Denver, Colorado to Portland Oregon was planned for late 2019 and 2020. But it was cut short for

obvious reasons….

K-53 Yellowstone

The RE&S is very interesting railroad, one that has it’s mainline run through Yellowstone National Park (or at least very close to it. The K-53s were the most powerful steam locomotives ever produced for the Red Eagle & Southern, but also the latest. With all 14 K-53s rolling out of ALCO’s shops in Late-1948, The K-53s were the last steam locomotives ever produced for the Red Eagle & Southern. Designed for Slow, Extra Heavy Freight. They could haul trains nearly a mile and a half long! Numbered 1960 through 1973, they were perfect for the job. Based off of the Southern Pacific’s AC-9 Design, it manged to muster a total of 5,365 Horsepower on flat ground, and 5,012 on a 2% gradient.

Though the K-53s were great, they had one problem. They had been introduced too little too late. Diesel power took over shortly after the K-53s had been put into service. In 1955, the GP9s arrived onto the RE&S, and Retirements of the K-53s were starting to take effect. The final steam engine to be taken out of service, was a K-53. K-53 number 1970 was the final one to be taken out of service, pulling a excursion train on it’s final run in 1972.

1970 was put on static display shortly afterwards at the Station at Cody, Wyoming.

— Includes —

[Diesels]

F3 Diesel Set
RS-1 Diesel
SW-1 Diesel

[Steam]

I-1 Berkshire
K-23 Mallet
K-34 Mallet
K-45 Challenger
K-53 Yellowstone

— Credits —

Base Models made by Ridge Rider Harris, CygnusOX, and Trainmann