Good job on the blue box SD40T-2 and I see you've upgraded a couple of your first run SD45's with new plows and MU hoses. While we are on the D&RGW theme: And from a local train show I ran this train - rushing across the system - The Action Road:
Had some D&RGW power out on the MRR today. Been a while since I ran these, serviced them up a bit, here they are in the ready tracks. These are Athearn Blue Box locomotives I built probably 10 years ago or more. I detailed them up will all the stuff I could at the time, they all have complete lighting packages as well. Weathered them up to reflect a lot of years in service running Thru the Rockies.
What a GRANDE sight to see! Thanks, guys! Here we have three SD45s and COAL LINERS going to get loaded....
Wow! That is truly some awesome modeling. Those old blue box Athearn were great. Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Yeah, the Blue Box kits were great! Here are two of mine...there are more on the shelves down stairs...
Extraordinary work on those locomotives! Thought they were real at first sight. Weathering and detailing is first class.
Ug, ditchlights on D&RGW tunnel motors. Herisy! Oh well. I'm definitly a pre-1990's classic era Rio Grande guy so forgive me please! Early on I was collecting models up including the SP wide cabs starting to haul coal on the Moffat (~1994) but I think ditch lights were a mid-1990's phenonimnon that I eschewed and could not stomach. I decided about 10 years ago that 1990 was going to be my absolute cut-off for modeling purposes as I wanted to maintain a classic D&RGW look. In the last couple years I've been gravitating further back toward the ealier 80's and 1970's - with the help of alot of great resources such as the DVD set Rio Grande Odyssey and many good color books including the Rio Grande in Color Series Vol's 1, 2, and 5 in particular and the newer books by Chuck Conway such as Crest of the Continent, and Colorado RR Museum, Rio Gande: A Final Look Back, by Ronald C Hill.
Well, here are some Rio Grande units built well before ditchlights were thought of. I modified the Bachmann 2-8-0s to more closely resemble C-48s. My friend Chris Hawkins painted and detailed the ICH 4-8-0 for me.
Other than brass, has anyone ever bashed together one of the big articulateds the D&RGW for their layout? I believe they got some from the Clinchfield, circa WWII?
Proto 2000 made the Y6b for the Norfolk & Western. The D&RGW bought some of these second hand. The only detailing you have to do with this is decal it for the Rio Grande. These were the 2-8-8-2s 3550 - 3559 L109s. Now the Rio Grande received some 4-6-6-4s L97s from the War Board. These were built on the UP design. The Grande didn't like them because they were too slippery. The Grande's own design of 4-6+6-4s were heavier and had more pulling power. After the war (WWII) the Grande sold the UP style 4-6-6-4s to the Clinchfield. They even made a video of turning the UP 3985 into the Clinchfield 676.
Thanks to everyone for the comments, I appreciate them very much. Been trying to keep up with all the posts but not doing a very good job lately. I always enjoy seeing everyone modeling efforts!!
Yeah, what Paul said. Second hand N&W Y6b steam and of course the UP type Challengers only used during WWII and quickly disposed of by the D&RGW after the war was over - D&RGW didn't like the UP type Challengers. So sadly, the only signature D&RGW articulates available in HO are high priced brass. I've be tickled if I could get a plastic D&RGW articulated with similar detail and price as the Intermountain cab forwards! Being an SP fan, I did finally get one of those - my only HO steam engine ever.
I know this isn't an articulated steamer, but it was one of the Grande's workhorses...this is a Mountain 4-8-2 my friend built from an IHC loco... He scratch built the dog house on the tender taking measurements from a brass loco.
Great to see lots of D&RGW stuff here. My favorite time period seems to be less popular these days; most are either doing post 1990 or pre-1960. I love the 1965-1985 period the best. A friend just painted my Palace Car Company brass #1231 PS Combine which was used on the RGZ between 1975 and 1983 - I'll try to remember to post a photo here sometime soon.
Ok, as promised - yes, not a locomotive (topic) but since we are on a Rio Grande roll right now, here are some photo's of my brass PS combines. I've had the unskirted #1231 version since 1989 when I purchased it from Caboose Hobbies and it's been unpainted until just recently. The unskirted combine was used on the Rio Grande Zephyr and Ski Train - it had it's dorm windows blanked out sometime around 1975 or later but most of the photo's I've seen of it on the RGZ are in 1977 and later. The other skirted combine#1230 I bought at a LHS where I used to live - it represents the version used on the Prospector and early Rio Grande Zephyr. It lasted in this form until at least late 1972, then side skirts were removed over that winter. As luck would have it, or not, neither of the combines I have are the typical unskirted version with the dorm windows seen most often on the RGZ. I could cut off the skirts to get it but eek, hate to do that. A fellow D&RGW fan who lives out west has recently painted the unskirted version for me - he photographed it on a diorama before shipping it back. He did a lovely job and it finally after 25 years unpainted, has paint. Yay. Before paint - nickle-silver plated: After paint: Skirted combine, not yet painted:
