Piston failure occurs around 35:16.

A rare visitor from California pulls a special excursion on the Durango and Silverton railroad in Durango, Colorado. The oil fired, 1911, steam locomotive, is only one of three preserved narrow gauge steam locomotives used by the Southern Pacific railroad, and the only one that is operational.

The steam locomotive was brought to Durango to help train other engineers in oil firing. The Durango and Silverton railroad was shaken last year following a very large fire, which caused extensive damage around the area. Although the coal fired steam locomotives were not the cause of the fire, the railroad wanted to consider converting the locomotives to oil which do not produce sparks.

This excursion was the second run for the freshly rebuilt steam locomotive pulling a revenue train on the Durango and Silverton. Unfortunately it would only make it around 14 miles into it's trip before the locomotive suffered a catastrophic piston failure which shattered the piston. Mechanics working on the locomotive claimed the damage was from a broken lubricator, however official cause has not been determined.

Several hours after the breakdown, a 1957, General Electric, diesel locomotive coupled onto the train and brought the #18 into a siding where it would sit overnight until repairs were made. The rest of the train was pulled into Durango where the passengers disembarked for the day. Filmed April 9th, 2019.