Want to learn more about RGS 20? Check out the Colorado Railroad Museum's Big Train Tour episode here - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iNBplMSiy7zIiGw.html

"And RGS 20 became Chuff, the Hauler of Yellowcakes." is just as metal as I thought it would sound. Amazing content as always!

RGS: [has all of its shenanigans] Government: "This railroad is definitely qualified to transport nuclear material."

Another locomotive that aided in the Manhattan Project has also been preserved and operates on the Little River Railroad in Michigan. As it turns out, Little River Railroad 4-6-2 pacific #110 was one of the locomotives that aided in building the dam that supplied electricity to the Oak Ridge, Tennessee plant on the Smokey Mountain Railroad. Just like RGS #20, it is also a movie star, appearing in the History Channel’s “Storm of the Century”, portraying a Florida East Coast locomotive, and “Wild Faith”, a 2018 American Civil War movie. 110 also holds the title as the smallest standard gauge pacific ever built. It’s a one of the most unique locomotives ever built and is a hidden gem in the state of Michigan.

Little connections with history. The Defense Supplies Corporation was a subsidiary of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which was the financial arm of the new deal. It was run by an absolute genius by the name of Jesse Jones. The guy was freaking brilliant when it came to finances and strategic planning and I would say is largely responsible for preventing the US Financial system from collapsing and preparing the US for the second world war industrially. His main business was in real estate in the Houston area (at one point his local nickname was Mr Houston). Among his properties was the Rice Hotel in downtown Houston. The Rice is now apartments but the ballroom there (Where Jackie Kennedy gave her only political speech ever (in spanish no less) spoke the day before they went to Dallas) is where we'll be having our wedding Reception. So @hyce the engine that we've crewed together in Colorado was saved in part by the man who also built the building where we'll be for my wedding....in Houston...

RGS: This yellow stuff is useless Dept. of Defense: I'LL TAKE YOUR ENTIRE STOCK!

RGS 20 had a role in creating ultra explody bois

RGS 20 is that one grandpa you had who told you he stormed the beaches of Normandy but never really talked about it.

Perfect video for Barbenheimer movie release day.

Coming here watching this after seeing the Scott Manley video about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project, sets things in perspective. But hearing that yellow cake uranium ore was dumped where flooding could wash it away was concerning. Likewise hearing about a dude sitting with a dentist drill, taking away the imperfections of the "soccer ball" sections of the explosive they used for the bomb test. It's those little cogs in the machinery that ties the bigger picture together, always interesting to hear about historical events. Thanks Hyce for the lesson, I'm craving more but this at least satiated my hunger for now.

"their last boom was a big one" ya don't say lol

This is a cool piece of history I knew about but not to much… now I know a lot more about how 20 helped… also you happened to release this the same day Oppenheimer comes to theaters

Okay but the real question is how did the RGS contribute to Barbie

For a second I thought you were talking about the movie Atomic Train. Its probably one of my favorite campy movies with some wild 'thats not how trains/nukes work!' moments.

of all the weird shit the RGS had a hand in this might be one of the most significant. was very interesting.

Very cool story. I look forward to all the details that went into 20s restoration, all those little details few people think twice about are some of my favorite flavors.

It is so cool how far 20 has gone to get to this point, starting as just one of the F&CC ten wheelers, to the sole survivor of the class and a treasured locomotive by many! Love the content mark!

What a cool piece of history, knowing that something you hold dear was a part of something so huge! It’s really cool!

Absolutely love these connections through history, just shows how connected the world really is

Fabulous history telling Mark! As you point out, wonderful RGS 20 is famous on so many different levels! BTW an absolutely beautiful restoration job! That paint job is so perfect, makes me joyously scream. Please do another episode about the restoration details, that would be ultra cool. Thanks again Professor for another awesome learning moment. Cheers to you! 🎉

I would never have guessed that 20 was involved in this but hey you learn something new every day. Thanks Hyce for making a video on this interesting part of 20's history.

Love that you made this vid right when Oppenheimer came out, helps explain a lot of how they sourced the materials!

That’s an awesome piece of 20’s history from back in the day. Also this is the first video I’ve seen my name pop up in the credits since I became a channel member.

This is probably the most fascinating video you've made yet

This is an excellent piece of interpretation. Ten minutes, and the storytelling, pacing, and narration are all on point. Not only did you tell the story and share a fact, but you also pulled the "something so small playing a part in something so big" heartstring. Bravo, Hyce :D

Fun little side story to this: there is a rumor that just will. not. die. around Santa Fe and Espanola in New Mexico, that the Chili Line stayed in longer than its official abandonment in 1941, specifically to run to Otowi Crossing. Now, for those who don't know, Otowi Crossing is the river crossing just below Los Alamos, NM...aka the birthplace of the Atomic Bomb. in fact, you still drive over the old grade and past the suspension bridge today, going up the hill to the lab and the city. The theory was, they were moving things (perhaps the stuff that came down behind 20 and her sisters even) up to Otowi and transferring it to trucks to take up the hill. I want to be clear here: there's no evidence of this happening. At all. None. It's nothing but a rumor that the old guys in the bars will talk about. Still, I find it interesting that there are people who even now will swear by it. And the rumor mills that surround the railroad are oftentimes just as interesting as the history of the lines themselves, I've found.

Hahahaha.....we just had somebody comment about 20's crooked plate on Facebook and I sent them over here to watch the 5 minute mark. Can't wait to see the video detailing 20's restoration!

Nice job Mark! She's a truly historic engine and I am so glad she was preserved and made operational. Treat her right! She's my girl.

Love history lessons. Amazing how all the small pieces weave together for the big picture.

I just watched A Ticket To Tomahawk. The 20 done good in that! Not the mode of locomotion I expected for most of the movie. I enjoyed the flick.

That's a really cool piece of history. Glad to get to learn about more of the history of 20 and the RGS

Great video! The man-with-a-camera format makes great storytelling and this was a lovely little slice of history. I did go and watch the Museum's video (thanks @akaBoG); wowsers 20 had a _hard_ working life. I trained as a metallurgist, and looking at the pictures from her restoration work made me gasp. I'm glad folks believed she could run again, because ye gads, everything needed to repair all that vintage steel. . . . . . . It would be fun to see a video about the mid-forties look that 20 has now. I wonder if the world famous Jeff Taylor would be a guest?

I think it's more amazing that anything from RGS survived at all.

It's always 10 wheeler or a 4-4-0. That always makes it into a movie. And I've learned a few things about the D&RG locomotive Hoping to eventually visit the Colorado railway museum

Actually, it wasn't really a single load of the yellow cake that made the bombs, but many. The primary purpose of the ranch, more than anything, was the refinement of the yellow cake into weapons grade Uranium, and up until the discovery and implementation of Plutonium, that is more or less what most people working on the project. Making a single bomb took a LOT of Uranium, but much less Plutonium, thus 'Skinny Boy' and 'Fatman'. The one they tested at Los Alamos air force base was also pretty bulky because it too Uranium based.

Went to the crrm a few months ago, great time

5:32 Did I hear cake? :) 7:48 Badum Tss! ^^

Awesome video Hyce, really enjoyed the tidbits

Thanks for your informative videos! Have you talked about the uranium mine above Rocky Flats and the special train runs into the plant crossing 72 and under 93? Always wondered about the mine ~ must be why Rocky Flats was located upwind of Denver...

One major reason the United States was able to win the Second World War and send massive amounts of both military and civilian supplies to the Allies was very creative acquisition by the government of military and civilian goods and services in close cooperation with the private sector. Thousands of companies supplied goods or services to the government and its contractors and subcontractors for the Manhattan project. Before new characteristics were discovered in the 30’s and 40’s, uranium was used in making pigments. It could produce multiple colors depending on what it was mixed or chemically combined with.

Hyce! Narrow gauge steam is totally a form of high speed transportation. You're able to tumble down a mountain WITH your family AND your luggage all at once instead of having to tumble by yourself, possibly get caught up on a rock or tree, and then having the tedious process of having to wait for the rest of your company get to you. Neither I nor that congressman made any arguments that it was a "safer" or "cheaper" high speed transit option, just that it was the fastest. Does this also mean that RGS number 20 was and is no longer made out of Bessemer Steel? It's also kind of an irony that all of that radioactive ore was moved out of Colorado to be detonated repeatedly in New Mexico and Nevada just to be blown down wind again over the Four Corner states. Didn't do a massive effect in the end (according to collated record and studies), but there's some bitter irony that dangerous material was moved from point A to point B to then be blown up and returned to point A in a more hazardous form than it left in against the populaces' will.

Interesting fact that I really think to connect to the RGS! Glad 20 was saved to show at least the connection and contribution the railroads made to WWII as a whole

I've always wondered if there are others in the shop sitting there listening to you speak to a camera, and what their thoughts are.

So really if they wanted to go into detail in the Oppenheimer movie they should have included RGS 20 in there somewhere, eh?

Is this really just some fun trivia or a ploy to cash in on Oppenhimer.

Knowing history, and knowing about the Secrecy that should have been implemented in the Manhattan Project, of course trains loaded with the materials used to build the Nuclear Bombs would be guarded.

You still have the best outro on youtube

These are some of the videos I just love to see, great storytelling, humor and facts that we didn't know. Insta like my man!

paradox basin....now thats a cool name for some writing. :O

Heya Hyce they updated Derail Valley again, they added a new steam locomotive, you should definitely go give her a try

very nice piece of history.

To this day, they say RGS 20's side rods still glow in the dark... Just kidding. If that engine was even slightly radioactive, it wouldn't be on display. See the two "Jackass & Western" diesels at Boulder City, NV as an example (Formerly radioactive, later decontaminated and placed on display). But it's fun to joke about.

6:03, please explain how 20's suspension on the #3 drive axle works, also, I'd really like to see Knott's add the "DEFENSE SUPPLIES CORPORATION WASHINGTON D.C., OWNER & LESSOR" stenciling on 41 just to see how many people it throws off lol

RGS = High Speed Transit! So, has anyone taken a Geiger counter to any of the equipment?

wow hyce i never new that # 20 did all that

have you seen the British Rail nuclear flask test videos, I think you Hyce may be interested in them.

You can see 491 in the background on the left side of the screen.

I'm going to see Oppenheimer in a few hours. Cool video and great timing. I love everything atomic.

I can just see the Thomas the Tank Engine episode now. Thomas looked at the new comer at the wheelhouse. "Sir Topham Hat didn't tell us your name." He asked. The other engines looked and muttered in agreement. The new comer grumbled. "I have no name. But if you insist you can call me number 20." Percy laughed. "Number 20? What a strange name." Number 20 just grumbled again. "Don't care what you think about my name. I am here to haul yellow cake to the dockyard and once my task is done I will go back to my home." Thomas smiled. "You are hauling cakes? You came all the way to the isle of Sodor to help the bakers?" Number 20's engineer and fireman had then gotten aboard and quickly readied the steam engine. Soon number 20 was on the turn table and was now facing the other engines. He looked at Thomas, his eyes distant and hollow. "I am not here to help the bakers. I am here to become a destroyer of worlds." Soon he puffed away to connect to his special rail cars. Thomas was practically shaking to his wheels. "He is here to become a destroyer of worlds? As in scraping us all?" He asked frightened. Gordon scowled as he watched number 20 puff away with his special train from the railyard. "I don't know about that Thomas, but I think there are some questions we should not ask."

Hyce makes amazing content he was also in the Trains Magizene picture cover

So the CRRM has a large can of peaches, one engine that has ptsd of snow and booze, and one engine that aided in the making the largest of explody boys. I can’t imagine why people think the RGS was a shit show.

"Which means that yes, our podunk little 4-6-0, three-foot narrow gauge, 40-ton itty bitty steam locomotive, was partially responsible for building the atomic bomb."

Great video! Keep up the good work

Legend has it they chucked some uranium in the firebox for long lasting fuel.

i liked 491 more before this video, outside frame locos are really unique to me. but this story alone, even if RGS 20 didn't actually haul the very uranium built, tested or detonated from the Los Alamos research facility, learning that it might be so is NUTS. i found a youtube channel about a guy who works at a preservation museum because he played a broken railroading game (with an overexcited gaming youtuber that can't tell the difference between tractive effort and adhesion) that has the very steam engine that might have delivered the URANIUM THAT BUILT THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMBS yeah, i don't think 491 has a cooler story, and i am certain she has some crazy cool stories

About time you posted something new Mark lol. Hey when will the next 3/4 idiots show be? Thanks man!

Very interesting . Thank you. I hope those engins are taken care of forever.

A really interesting story. If you ever want some fun stories from overseas I’d love to come on and tell some during a livestream.

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad #20 helped during the World War 2. The Rio Grande Southern served the Defense Supplies Corporation by supplying radioactive elements to the Manhattan Project. The Rio Grande Southern Railroad being the failed brother of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. They supplied the nuclear elements for war before it went out of business. The RGS #20 was partially responsible for the nukes. The Rio Grande Southern ended in the 1950s.

20 really got that uranium fever huh?

Well... We can say that 20 has a very *explosive* past

Very interesting, did not know this

346 looking great

thats pretty fun

Hyce, do you happen to know of anyone at Georgetown Loop? Kieth Rucker (Vintage Machinery) mentioned in today's Odds & Ends video that he wants to visit Denver & do a shop tour there in the fall. (Maybe you can finagle your shop too. Hint, hint.)

Wow amazing story…..

"Vah-nay-de-um"... All these years I've looking at tools and have been pronouncing it "Van-De-Um"... I'll go find a cliff to leap from or a sword to fall on...

Never heard of this story despite being a nerd about nuclear stuff and, of course, trains too.

"by the lord out thy holy! thou shall not kenosha!"

it took many carloads to make a single device FYI

Where’s my RGS 20 solo in Oppenheimer? 😂

Love these vids!

Hello hyce, I have a question. So, being a fan of RGS, I have naturally heard the song The Galloping Goose, by C.W Mcall more than once, and lately I have been listening to it, and wondering if this is a true story (or based off of one). Knowing your expertise on Colorado railroading, I knew you'd be the one to ask. So, is it a true story, Or just famous fiction. Also cool history lesson about 20!

It certainly had a 'radiant' past didn't it? 😅

Yes, deploy the tiny Colorado narrow gauge Ten-Wheeler to Atomic Train duties

What is it they say? Little engines can do big things

yooo, Oppenheimer hype reaching Hyce?

Does the museum use 20 a lot, or do they alternate

So Hyce, can you confirm nor deny that RGS 20 might be slightly radioactive?

Would this mean, that 20 could possibly have a small bit of radioactivity?

Of course the Rio Grande Southern have something with the nuclear bombing of Japan.

I really hope that someday 20 gets like a battle flag with two rising sun's or Nagasaki and Hiroshima

Still waiting for a drunk history of the RGS

New update for derail valley please get a video on it now

RGS 20 is a world war II veteran!

D&RGW #50 video when?

So number 20 has a major part in us history?

well, heres an interesting footnote..........my Uncle Harry was the secretary to the Captain of BB63, the AWESOME USS MISSOURI, during and shortly after WW2. And as most people know, thats where the Japanese surrender took place at the end of the war. So, a huge thanks from me to RGS 20 for helping end that war!😃👍😃👍😃👍❗

The RGS was saved by Yellowcake .

So it hauled Uranium… for bombs! No, it’s not uranium, it’s myranium.