Remarks: Video of Baldwin 2-6-2T No. 104 in service pulling the Black Hills Central Railroad's "1880 Train" between Keystone and Hill City, South Dakota. This little gem was built in 1926 for the Silver Falls Timber Company, and ended its freight service days in the mid-1960s working for the Peninsula Terminal in Portland, Oregon; has operated on the BHC since 1967. Four cars is the maximum it can pull over the roller-coaster profile of this ex-CB&Q branch line. The late Jerry Drager is at the throttle.
I rode behind this loco in the late '90's. I boarded the train and there was an open air car coupled directly to the loco which was running cab first. This put the the smokebox only a few feet away from where you could sit in the open air car. I was one of the few brave (or stupid) souls that stuck it out for the whole trip sitting right up there while the 104 climbed the steep grades on this line. At times it seemed as it the smoke box door would implode with the incredible amount draft being produced by the hard working engine. For about half the trip we were treated this intense demonstration of raw steam power, and then with the summit more or less reached the loco coasted (mostly) quietly down into the station.
