Hi say did the DRGW ever use the Alco PA"s in Freight Service,I saw some at a Local Train Store HO set of 4. 2 B Units 2 A Units in the Yellow & Silver Paint.WOuld like too know ahve they used these for Coal Cars.Thank You
No, they were not used in freight service. I have never seen a photograph of a PA on anything other than passenger service on the Rio Grande, nor heard any mention of such.
Did one of them show up once in its career on a freight train as a ferry move? Possibly, but again, no one seems to have a photograph of this or made note of it.
Your second question seems to ask if the gold, silver and black scheme was ever used for hoppers or drop-bottom gondolas. The answer to that is no. The gold, silver, and black scheme was used on passenger equipment, some cabooses, some boxcars and RBLs, and a single narrow-gauge 2-8-0.
S. Hadid
That 2-8-0 that you mentioned is sitting in a museum in Gunnison, CO.
The Coal Cars I have are the Black Backmann Silver Series,There Black with White Wrinting on them.There the 3 cylinder bouttom dumps,they are spread whide apart.Are you famliar with these DRGW Coal Cars.
The D&RG’s Alco PAs were used on their Royal Gorge and California Zephyr trains. The Rio Grande continued to run their own passenger service after the creation of Amtrak, and by the time they finally threw in the towel on passenger service the PAs had been retired from service; so no, the PAs were not used to pull any freight trains on the Rio Grande.
The Denver & Rio Grande Western never owned or leased any hoppers exactly like the Bachman Silver Series. The model is correct, but the paint job is not. They should be plain jane restenciled hoppers (no stacked Rio Grande logo) just D&RGW restenciled over the former owners reporting marks which I think was N&W IIRC.
Don’t for get the Yampa Valley Mail - which also used the PA’s. Of course there is no evidence I have seen that the PA’s were ever used in any kind of freight service.
But, the F3’s which pulled mostly passenger trains (CZ, Yampa Valley Mail and Prospector), did pull freight during the first couple years of their service. The F9’s pulled freight too (Yes those RGZ F9’s!)