Copper Belt Railroad Locomotives

General Notes:

1. All five locomotives were built by Lima; all were "standard" Lima Class C, three-cylinder, three-truck Shay locomotives.
2. All five locomotives passed to Denver & Rio Grande in the 1908 reorganization that created that railroad; D&RG was reorganized again in 1921 as Denver & Rio Grande Western.
3. Copper Belt numbers 3, 4 and 5 were three of only six 85-ton, 3-truck Shay locomotives built by Lima.

Notes:

1. Copper Belt no. 1 was built as Salt Lake & Mercur Railroad no. 7, delivered in April 1900; transferred to Copper Belt railroad in the first week of January 1901; to D&RG no. 1, then D&RGW no. 1; retired by D&RGW at Salt Lake City in September 1924; sold to Morse Brothers Machinery Company in Denver, Colorado in September 1924; to Utah Construction Company at Guernsey, Wyoming in July 1925; scrapped. (ShayLocomotives.com photo)
2. Copper Belt no. 2 arrived at Bingham on January 12, 1904; became D&RG no. 2, then D&RGW no. 2; marked in D&RG records as "Destroyed" on July 18, 1917, sold to Hofius Sales and Equipment Co.; reinstated to D&RG accounts in October 1917; retired by D&RGW in October 1925; sold to Morse Brothers Machinery Company in Denver, Colorado on July 28, 1926; to McGoldrick Lumber Company no. 2 on July 15, 1927, in service at Sanders, Idaho, then in service at Emida, Idaho by late January 1928; wrecked and sent to Lima for repairs by November 1929; noted as not repairable; scrapped in May 1947. (ShayLocomotives.com photo)
3. Copper Belt no. 3, as Lima construction no. 761, has been reported as being built in March 1903, for the Ecuadorian Association's 42-inch gauge Guayaquil & Quito Railway, as G&Q no. 17. Lima construction no. 762 had similar, possibly identical specifications, and may have also been built as another G&Q locomotive. The order was cancelled and the two locomotives remained at Lima awaiting new buyers. Lima construction no. 761 was converted from 42-inch gauge (as G&Q no. 17), to standard gauge and sold to Copper Belt a year later as their no. 3, in April 1904.
4. Copper Belt no. 3 arrived in Salt Lake City on April 27, 1904, and made it first trip on Copper Belt tracks on April 30, 1904.
5. Copper Belt no. 3 became D&RG no. 3, then D&RGW no. 3; retired by D&RGW at Salt Lake City in December 1934; scrapped at Salt Lake City in December 1934. (ShayLocomotives.com photo)
4. Copper Belt no. 4 was built as "R.G.W. 4", became D&RG no. 4, then D&RGW no. 4; retired by D&RGW at Salt Lake City in October 1925; scrapped at Salt Lake City in March 1926. (ShayLocomotives.com photo)
5. Copper Belt no. 5 became D&RG no. 5 (lettered for D&RG in March 1922), then D&RGW no. 5; scrapped at Salt Lake City in May 1936. (ShayLocomotives.com photo)