......in Western Washington, far from home! :teeth: She looks great, (except for the patches), and sounds great! She has an interesting bell sound though, not like others. Rio Grande's different?
Whooo boy that's a pretty unit, except for that yellow Borg assimilation badge. I don't know much about the DRGW, but I do know they had some good paint schemes
Oops! She's working the old Milwaukee/UP Automobile Yard in Kent AND she hits the road on locals! :teeth:
DRGW Kirt, The 1445 has been hanging around Spokane on the Plummer turn for about 3 months. I had not seen it in a while. Now I know where it is.
UP 1445 UP 1445 (DRGW 3129) Was delivered in 1984. along with 3130. They're a different phase then all the rest of their Geeps. It is the best looking one out there!
now thats a stray animal right there. noticeing the lack of true number boards *glances over at drgw_hero* ya I still remember that from awhile back
wasn't this one of the blue smurfs? One of the CR GP40-2 bought by D&RGW? Since there is no (and never was as it looks in the picture ) head light on the low hood.
You might check the OP pics again.... The MARS lite on the ex-3129 was removed, and blanked. You can clearly see where it used to be on the nose. The former Conrail units were numbered above the 3130. 3131-3153. True, the Smurfs had no MARS lites, but pictures on pages 95-96 Rio Grande Diesels V3 clearly show MARS lites on 3129. A 1982 wreck at Parshall, CO west of Tabernash destroyed GP30 3025 and GP40 3058. EMD built a whopping total of two GP40-2's in all of 1983; D&RGW 3129, 3130.
and they were only GP40's Frank. Doesn't stop me using an Atlas Conrail pair of -2 mind... just what was available. dave
Also, 1445 (3130) has Q fans, exhaust silencer and Angled blower duct. 3 spotting features of the last phase of the 40 series.
None of the Rio Grande GP40s or 40-2s had the M type truck. This made inventory of parts much easier. That's also why they were an all EMD raod toward the end. the 3029 and the 3030 had straight frames, all the others had a bit of a thicker frame toward each end, and narrowed over the air resivior.
3029 and 3030 also had a GP60 style blower housing. Athearn Genesis is going to produce these in HO scale. I was going to build one from an Atlas model and Cannon parts, But I got my pre order in instead! One of the Rio Grande Diesels book by Strapac has the info on them. I think it is Vol. #2 I am going to go out on a limb and say that they were a sort of phase 3 variant since they were built so late.