In July of 1950 Mr. Radcliffe spotted D&RGW 2-8-2 locomotive #473 with it’s train in Silverton, Colorado. The #473 is another of the class K-28 locomotives built by Alco in 1923. She is still in service today with the Durango & Silverton Railroad.

In the late 1940s Hollywood noticed this locomotive and it was featured in several movies. In an unfortunate attempt to make it look older than she was, she was adorned with a fake “diamond” stack, and a box headlight (an attempt to make it appear as a kerosene light). They also applied what became known as the “Bumblebee” paint scheme. The locomotive cab and the tender were yellow with black stripes. The headlight was yellow, and the smokebox and cylinder head covers were aluminum.

The train appears to be ready for it’s run, with the tender piled high with coal. It looks like a man and his young son have engaged the engineer and fireman in conversation prior to their trip.