D&RGW snowplow color question: Orange or black?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Hey everyone. Just a quick question i can’t seem to find the answer to… were D&RGW snowplows painted orange at the shop? Or were some black? I can’t seem to tell from pictures… theres some where its completely black, and others where you can see orange.

any help would be awesome

2

If you are talking about the narrow gauge D&RGW, I thought they were gray. Seems to me I have seen several color photos and they showed gray rotoraries.

3

nah i mean modern D&RGW. You know… Geeps and tunnel-motors, etc.

4

Um…OK. Are you talking about snowplows like rotary snowplows or wedge snowplows that engines push along to clear really deep snow, or the little snowplow pilots some diesels have on the front??

5

haha wow i didn’t think this would be that confusing.

The snow plows on the pilot of the engines, underneith the coupler, with the MU hoses sticking through. Were they always painted orange, or were some painted black?

6

I am going to make a couple of generalized statements, based on some discussions with friends from the DRGW, and photos from the accompanying web site, so put the flame throwers on stand by:

http://espee.railfan.net/drgw.html

It appears that locomotives fresh from the factory got the pilots and plows painted Aspen Gold. As the locomotives were shopped for rebuild, or wreck-repaired, the pilots and plows more often than not, got a coat of DRGW Black. Rarely did rebuilt locomotives show an Aspen Gold pilot and plow. According to friends who should know, the Aspen Gold or “Grande Gold” was an expensive paint, compared to good old black, and the Grande, being a fiscally conservative road, would naturally lean toward the cheaper paint.

There are exceptions to this, however, and a few photographs on the above site clearly show black plows with Aspen Gold pilots behind them. Look closely at all photos and you can tell if the “black” is truly paint or dirt.

Hope this helps.

Addendum: Pal who worked at Burnham said that plow and pilot colors were generaly dependent upon plow replacement or repair. Locomotives were supposed to be painted with Aspen Gold pilots. Plow replacement generallywarranted black as a quick fix paint job…the pilot would get it, too, but the specific paint scheme was for Aspen Gold on pilots and plows.

7

If you are referring to Jordan spreaders and Russell wedge plows, D&RGW standard color was black until the early 1950s then switched to orange when equipment was repainted, which might have been 20 years later.

RWM

8

I just luv the DGR&W paint scheme “Grande Orange” and Black in the snowy white Rockies is just the best even the compostion and juxatopsition of line in the letter of the reporting marks >> DRG&W <<

I do know that the yellow painted units had the footboard, and face plate that make up the pilot, behind the small snow plow was striped in yellow as the nose was.