I'm looking at some 6-car sets of D&RGW quad hoppers by Trainworx, and I'm wondering if these are the right ones to model the train I remember. Between 1982 and 1991, when our children were growing up, we escaped the desert heat and spent some time every summer in Delta County Colorado. A buddy of mine had moved up between Orchard City and Cedaredge, and we stayed with them a few times. We also stayed in Ouray once in the lodge by the falls, and I rented a cabin on the Grand Mesa another time. Then some other friends moved up to Paonia, and we were up there one summer. We got in some train watching on the Rio Grande, and stopped off to ride the C&TS and D&SNG several times, going from or coming home to Phoenix. There were also side trips to Golden, the Georgetown Loop, Breckenridge, etc. We rode the Pikes Peak on the Anniversary too. The train I want to replicate, for NTrak use (not rivet-counting detail), is the coal train we saw coming down from Paonia for the junction at Delta just about every day. I'm hoping my 4 units of Rio Grande SD50's are appropriate for that service, around 1982-1985. The solid gold caboose Atlas issued within the last year looks a lot like the ones I remember. We have a few grainy photos one of my children took with their little 110 Pocket Camera, but they are about as foggy as my memory. My photos are panoramic "mood" shots in the rain and the fog and whatnot. Nothing close to a roster shot in the pile. You still see a fondness for Rio Grande equipment in my roster, from the tiny Atlas Porter Mogul and MDC 2-8-0 teakettles, to F7s and SD7s, to Geep 35s and 40s to the quartet of SD50s I mentioned. There's right at 100 Rio Grande cars on the roster, from truss-rod MDC reefers and coaches to LBF mill gons, but the only hoppers are five different Atlas 3-bay cars I accumulated over the years. I think I am going to need a lot more hopper cars, like 10 of the 6 car sets from Trainworx, to start. "IF" they are the right cars, that is. I remember a mixture of logos and lettering styles, but the cars all looked pretty much the same. We went home and painted up some Lionel cars my son hauled around with a pair of Lionel "GP9s". (We even weathered the whole train!) We picked up coal off the ground at a loading point up the North Fork of the Gunnison (I think that's where we were....Eagle 2 Mine?) and tried to use real coal for loads after washing and screening it. We learned 3 important lessons from that. 1) real coal doesn't look like real coal in a model load...2) It fractures and decomposes and gets into everything.....3) and real coal is real dirty when that happens! I'll appreciate any helpful advice you can give.
The current cars from Twx are either from the 1964 or 1975 deliveries. They most likely were(are) still in service. The SD50s would be appropriate but TMs even more so.
Highly agree these cars seem to have been D&RGW main ones, yes there where others but these cars are still rolling the rails Trainworx hoppers are wonderful cars.
The TW four bays are indeed great hoppers. I like the three bays by Roundhouse, too, but I can't find any at the etailers. (I like the three bays because they are slightly shorter.)
I would also would like to find some of the three bays, I saw somewhere where Athearn (I believe) was going to make some in D&RGW. I am wanting some for the wind break at big ten.
Flash & WW: Athearn is re-doing the MDC tooling in two 5-packs of DRGW & several other schemes. Due out in several weeks.
Thank you all for your indulgence. I suppose the SD50's would be more at home on the run from Craig to Denver, but I'm happy to learn they are not out of the question for the train I remembered. And I want to use the older cars. I'm an old guy, and it is irrational, but the Tunnel Motors and the rotary gons don't do a thing for me. I really prefer the SD50s and the more conventional hopper bottoms. The solid gold caboose is the correct one for the era, right? For NTrak running on the green line, around 4200 feet of train is all that will stay on the rails, due to some 12" radius curves, one of which is in a tunnel. I'm thinking 4 units, 60 cars and a caboose should be around 3,800 feet of train, right?
T-Motors delivered as follows: 15 units, 5341-5355 delivered 1974 18 units, 5356-5373 delivered 1975 12 units, 5374-5385 delivered 1977 12 units, 5386-5397 delivered 1978 16 units, 5398-5413 delivered 1980 This according to Rio Grande Diesels - A Pictoral history, Vol. 2 SD50's delivered as follows: 17 units, 5501-5517, delivered 1984 This from Rio Grande Diesels, Vol 3
Like I said, it is the irrational personal choice of an old guy...I still like the looks of the SD50 better.
What it really breaks down to is the following: Rule #1 This is MY railroad Rule #2 I make the rules Rule #3 Conversations on model or prototype are welcome. Anyone who starts to nitpick MY railroad, PLEASE consult Rule #1
