WPY diesels arrive in Durango

[learmoia]

https://www.historictrain.com/introducing-the-newest-diesel-locomotive-additions-to-the-durango-silverton-narrow-gauge-railroad-arriving-fall-2020/

Can someone confirm/deny that this thing is real?

I truly hope this is a photo shop joke.. but I have a feeling it isn't....

You can clearly see the shell of something similar on Google Maps Satalite:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Motive+Power+%26+Equipment+Solutions,+Inc./@34.7816778,-82.4111822,46m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88583a95ec32e007:0x35d3218603280a43!8m2!3d34.7815232!4d-82.4112304

[Jbub]

What in tarnation is THAT abomination? And I'm not just talking about the paint scheme, the "loco" looks like something I would have drawn in elementary school!

This is from the link mentioned above

Note that No. 1202 is currently pictured on standard gauge shop trucks and is without the fuel tank installed.

I think it won't look so garish once it's sitting on smaller trucks and there a fuel tank on it.

[eric220]

Never mind.

[Dave V]

Guys, guys...  This came up in every other discussion I've seen about this and people keep forgetting 1) that this  photo has the engine resting on shop trucks and not the actual trucks it'll ride on and 2) it looks funny without the fuel tank on there.  Now, I'm not saying it'll look amazing when it's actually fully assembled and delivered...but it will almost certainly look a lot better.

[learmoia]

Guys, guys...  This came up in every other discussion I've seen about this and people keep forgetting 1) that this  photo has the engine resting on shop trucks and not the actual trucks it'll ride on and 2) it looks funny without the fuel tank on there.  Now, I'm not saying it'll look amazing when it's actually fully assembled and delivered...but it will almost certainly look a lot better.

Shop Trucks.. But not a Shop Cab...
 
It's not the trucks.. it's not the lack of fuel tank, It's the cab/Long hood combination that ruins it for me..

With all of the Frame-Up SW rebuilds they did, you'd think they could take an SW cab and do something like this..


Ohh, well.... I'm not the one writing a check..  In the land of narrow gauge.. take what you can get.

~Ian

[wazzou]

What do they call that?  A GP10-1/2F or something

[learmoia]

What do they call that?  A GP10-1/2F or something

NF110
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMD_NF110

Newfoundland Railway

Or they could have bought back some of the Brazil DD45s

or buy something new

[Chris333]

How are trucks and a fuel tank going to fix that paint job and crappy graphics?

[Dave V]

How are trucks and a fuel tank going to fix that paint job and crappy graphics?

It will fix the supposed ride-height issue and the cognitive dissonance of two distinctly different trucks.

You know, I'm not a huge fan here either but I wonder if it's simply because I have so much invested in the D&RGW heritage of the line.

The D&SNG is not the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic.  The C&TS is state-funded by CO and NM for the purposes of preserving the history of the D&RG(W) San Juan Extension.  The D&SNG is a private passenger railroad and most of its passengers wouldn't know a diesel from a steam locomotive.  This scheme is meant to appeal to them insofar as it matches the two colors used on the coaches.

This locomotive is not meant to appeal to railfans...we represent a minority of their riders.

[CRL]

Here’s the paint colors on the luxury cars.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Not a good match for the sample loco IMHO.

[nkalanaga]

Mark5:  When I commented on it being run as a freight line, I was assuming there was enough freight to keep it running, but not enough to rebuild it to modern standard gauge standards.  That isn't uncommon in other countries, so is at least possible here, especially when combined with steam tourist revenue.

Dave V:  Agreed.  They're a for-profit railroad, and need to look where the money comes from and goes to.  They've had small diesels on the line for some time, and it doesn't seem to have hurt their ridership.

[Dave V]

Here’s the paint colors on the luxury cars.

(Attachment Link)

Not a good match for the sample loco IMHO.

Um...very, very different lighting?  One was taken back east on a cloudy day and the other in a full-on high country sun.

[Mark5]

Mark5:  When I commented on it being run as a freight line, I was assuming there was enough freight to keep it running, but not enough to rebuild it to modern standard gauge standards.  That isn't uncommon in other countries, so is at least possible here, especially when combined with steam tourist revenue.

Ah, it was a joke. If there was enough freight that didn't already jump to trucking, then it might still be running. But of course we know how that story went ... 

[nkalanaga]

Yes, no way in our universe. 

Maybe if the politicians had decided to invest in "strategic railways" in the 50s, along with the Interstate Highway system.  Not as much money needed, but make improvements that the railroads couldn't afford, or didn't consider profitable, to ensure that the country would have TWO viable transport systems for the next war, or other emergency, instead of basically diverting everything to the new highways. 

Colorado could have ended up like Switzerland, with narrow gauge feeder/tourist lines serving areas that the standard gauge doesn't reach.  Then there's the Canton of Graubunden - one standard gauge line to the cantonal capital, and the entire canton is served by its own narrow gauge system.  Much of Colorado could be served nicely by the now-gone narrow gauge lines, with diesel freight and mixed steam/diesel passenger trains.  The locals wouldn't care what pulled their passenger cars, and the tourists would pay good money for the steam trains.

I'll admit that the US couldn't afford a rail system like Switzerland, due to our large area and low population density, outside of the major metropolitan areas.  But we could have avoided the near collapse of the system we have in the 60s and 70s.

[Tristan Ashcroft]

I think they look fine.  So there.  Narrow gage locomotives all look goofy, because while the gauge and the clearances are smaller, the people who occupy them are not.  So they always get that black lab puppy goofy proportions thing going on.  If those locomotives were older than any of us, they’d be revered as classic machines.