I’m in a D&RGW mood today:
What would D&RGW look like today if they were still around?
It seem to me that they only had only EMD engines, if they were still around do you think that they would still go that route or would have purchased some GE units?
Would they have kept with the Black & Orange or would they have gone back to the old colors kind of like how Santa Fe went back to the War Bonnett before the murger?
I don’t know but that would mean the UP would NOT have normal access to the joint line!
They would be foolish if they didn’t have the GE units. With their mountain terrain the GEs are much better suited, and probably more econmical to operate. (P.S. they had tons of Alcos).
Why leave a good and cheap thing. Nothing says Rio Grande like 3 feet tall speed letters. All the other things would be way to expensive to paint and maintain.
I think they would have gone on buying EMDs like SD70Ms, SD70 MACs likely would have been too expensive for them, but hey, they bought German diesel-hydraulics so who’s to say?. So, here’s to black with lots of delux striping attired SD70MACs! How about SD90MACs in D&RGW Black? BTW I refer to the never-to-be-upgraded SD90/43s as SD75MACs, which is in essence what they are. Compare the specs for BNSF and CNs SD75Is to the SD90/43. Except for the intent to upgrade them and AC traction motors they are the same units.
I’m almost to the edge of convincing myself to take all of my HO engines and repaint them D&RGW and build a layout to make it look like they still run today.
How do you square that assertion with their total of (considering road units only), six PAs and five RS3s, as opposed to approximately 400 EMDs? How do you assert that GEs are much better suited to mountain terrain?
S. Hadid
Don’t forget the Ss. But I guess you are right, those were forced on them by war time. They probably would not have purchased them by choce.
I read Trains Magazine, and that is what they say… Ummm several references but one that should be easiest to find would be the October 2002 “Power Issue”.
Um, S2s are yard units and mountain terrain is irrelevant for them. PAs were purchased 1947 and RS3s in 1951. How were they forced on them by war time?
Where specifically has it ever said in Trains Magazine that GEs are much better suited to mountain terrain? Do you have a page number you can reference so I can look that up? Apparently I’ve missed it.
S. Hadid
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by Texas Zepher
Huh???
I suppose if Rio Grande were around today they might have catenary (don’t quote me on spelling) through the mountain passes, so they could take advantage of regen. braking to power the trains moving uphill. Perhaps in the 50’s if Rio Grande had bought out Western Pacific before Espee and Santa Fe fought over it in the 60s a Denver-Bay area Rio Grande would have been strong enough to take advanatge of the CRIP’s collapse in 1980 and extend its reach to KC, Omaha, St. Louis & Chicago. If this scenario had occured then I’m very confident there would be a D&RGW in the 21st century.[2c]
The DRGW built the WP to get around the SP-UP. Both were Harriman roads at the time. The DRG was still “locally owned and operated”. Doing this gave the DRG alternate routings than SP on the West end to the Bay, and opened up the Bay area to the MP, Q and CRIP on the East end.
After (and shortly prior) to the UP taking over the MP and WP and the Q becomming a part of the BN, the DRGW tried to intervene between the SP and UP fight over the CRIP in an effort to save themselves. In the end, the had the upper hand financially and bought out the SP to restore their access. What a mess.