I had made many visits to Bogotá and Colombia in 2009 and 2010 and soon realized there was a steam train running every weekend to the salt mines at Zipaquirá (www.turistren.com.co). I quickly got to know the owner of the business, Dr Eduardo Rodriguez, and sometimes got permission to ride in the cab for a few hours.
I was in Bogotá in February 2011 when Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez told me that he had 5 abandoned locomotives in the yard of Station Sabana in downtown Bogotá. He asked me if I was interested in seeing any of them because he wanted to sell them. Well, I jumped on the opportunity to go to the station and wander around the yard. It is so different there, like going back a hundred years, and so quiet considering you are in the middle of a bustling city of about 10 million people.
Operating on the Central division of FCN de C in January 1970.
In the mid-1990s, the Number 8 was derelict at El Corzo.
I also sent a short email to my friend in England, Tony Streeter, who is an editor for Steam Railway. Tony put a small article in Steam Railway about the possible sale of the five locomotives.
When I went down to the station with Eduardo that day in February, I was immediately drawn to the Number 8. It is the smallest of the locomotives that Eduardo had for sale. It is a 1921, 2-6-0 Baldwin, built in Philadelphia.
Steve on the Number 8 in March 2011
I liked the locomotive on the first visit, and was very excited about the thought of possibly owning my own steam locomotive. But, there were a lot of obstacles in the way. Questions such as : How much would it cost? How much would it cost to restore? Could it be restored in Colombia? What would I do with it afterwards?
The next step was to consider whether the Number 8 was actually restorable, or did it have major boiler or frame problems. I made some phone calls to George Niederauer in Durango and chatted with him, because he had been the major force behind the restoration of the 315 in Durango. Eduardo alos mentioned that there was an engineer in Bogotá willing to do an inspection. His name was Frederico, and coincidentally he was willing to come out of retirement to restore the Number 8, should I decide to buy it.
So, arrangements were made for Frederico to inspect the Number 8 on 25th March 2011. Frederico has many decades of experience in Central and South America restoring and maintaining steam locomotives.
Frederico inspecting the Number 8 on March 25, 2011
