WPY diesels arrive in Durango

[nkalanaga]

Or, at least one of the has, Friday morning.  I couldn't watch for more than a few minutes, but the webcam overlooking the yard showed it.

[pjm20]

Nice, I'm glad the get to live on at a new home. And I'm sure manufactures will appreciate that the DL-535 can finally have a prototypical scheme for Colorado  .

[CRL]

Can you imagine driving that sized rig 2,700 miles or so to get from Alaska to Durango?

I bet they’ll need to beef up some of the trackage on the Durango & Silverton.

[Hawghead]

The beginning of the end.

Scott

[Chris333]

So what is the story? Why was the loco moved?

[Dave V]

So what is the story? Why was the loco moved?

There are two locos that were sold by the WP&YR to the D&SNG.  The WP&YR just took delivery of two very large, brand-new diesels (just in time for the cruise traffic into Skagway to dry up unfortunately) so they had room in the roster to sell some road diesels to the D&SNG who needs alternate motive power on days of high fire danger.  These two diesels plus the complete conversion of the steam roster to oil (as was done with K-37 #493) should put the D&SNG in a better position to avoid another 416 fire situation while helping quell the rising resentment of current Durango citizens against the railroad.  Unfortunately Durango has been growing rapidly this last decade due to an influx of people from a certain West Coast state who apparently don't know or care to know about the critical role that railroad played in establishing Durango as a town nor the fact that the economies of Durango and especially Silverton rest heavily upon the success of the D&SNG.

[Chris333]

Oh man diesels suck!

[nkalanaga]

C hris333:  I don't know.  There are a lot of Alco fans, and Alco road diesels pulling passenger trains are rare, so they could probably run scheduled "diesel days", with a diesel-powered train, and make money at it. 

I don't know which loco this is, or when it was built, but the DL535E itself dates back to the late 60s, so is historic in its own right.  If it keeps the railroad running, it's worth it.  If the D&RGW had had enough traffic to justify keeping the narrow gauge, I doubt that they'd be running steam today, except maybe for tourists.  Cumbres would probably be diesels, with modern freight cars and containers.

CRL:  I imagine it came by ship to somewhere in southern California, then I-40 to New Mexico, then north to Durango.  Nobody in their right mind would try to truck it the entire distance, too many mountain passes, and two border crossings.

The original DL535Es weighed 210,000 pounds, for an axle load of 35,000 lbs.  The maximum axle load for a K-37 is on the main driver, and, according to the D&RGW, was 39,700 lbs.  That may have changed a little with rebuildings, but the diesels will be able to go anywhere the K-37 can.

[davefoxx]

I’m cool with it, since those Alcos are unique, especially if it keeps the D&SNG alive.  Hearing that they will still run steam locomotives on low fire risk days is icing on the cake.

DFF

[eric220]

Oh man diesels suck!

Aren’t Alcos honorary steam engines?

[CRL]

I’m sure their insurance company paid out the wazoo when they were found negligent for that big wildfire, so they had to make these changes or no insurance company would take the risk. No insurance... no operating railroad.

[nkalanaga]

CRL:  Exactly.  And, yes, they plan on running steam most days, even if it is oil burning steam.  In the future, if needed, an oil burner can run on a variety of "natural" liquid fuels, so even if petroleum fuels are eventually eliminated, they can still run steam on renewable fuels.  Biodiesel works fine in diesel locomotives, so they should be running both for many years to come.

Eric220:  I've heard that for years.  Certainly the SP&S Centurys qualified.  I once chased one through Pasco, at 4am, in the late 70s, getting off work.  It crossed Lewis Street, headed north to the yard, as I got into my car parked on Lewis, three blocks away.  In the dark, the column of sparks looked like a steam loco.  I couldn't believe that it was, but managed to get through town (no view of the tracks) to the yard before it did.  Turned out to be a C636 leading a couple EMDs.

I was lucky.  The BN ran Alcos and F-units into the early 80s, so I saw stuff in the 70s that most railfans had to travel to see,

[Lenny53]

Aren’t Alcos honorary steam engines?

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[wazzou]

CRL:  Exactly.  And, yes, they plan on running steam most days, even if it is oil burning steam.  In the future, if needed, an oil burner can run on a variety of "natural" liquid fuels, so even if petroleum fuels are eventually eliminated, they can still run steam on renewable fuels.  Biodiesel works fine in diesel locomotives, so they should be running both for many years to come.

The Steam I've worked around here in the PNW (Smaller logging locomotives) have been burning used crankcase oil reclaimed from oil change facilities, for years and years.

[Dave V]

I’m sure their insurance company paid out the wazoo when they were found negligent for that big wildfire, so they had to make these changes or no insurance company would take the risk. No insurance... no operating railroad.

To my knowledge that's still in appeals, but I could be wrong.