Mine Run on the D&RGW!

Ya’ll come along on a flashback to 1965 and railfan D&RGW train 171, an extra coal drag running between Colorado Fuel and Iron Company’s Split Rock Mine #4 and the Cherokee Station electrical generation plant north of Denver. Even though its early October and cold weather is still a way off, coal requirements at the plant are up today due to reported interuptions in supply at another local plant. The Cherokee Station manager has requested extra fuel to be handled by the railroad.

For anyone new here that’s interested in background info on our railroad, the D&RGW Platte Canyon Sub, here’s a link to our layout tour. http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1876

Please click each photo below for a larger view.

The eastern sky is beginning to brighten as the engineer of extra 171 waves to night shift miners as they prepare for shift change. Our power today is two of the Grande’s most modern. At less than a year old, GP35 #3047 is on point. GP30 #3002 trails. It was built three years ago and its type is already well liked by the railroad. The 30 is destined to become a motive power mainstay on the mountain railroad. We have time to run to the diner for a quick breakfast as 171s forty-nine carloads of coal begin loading.

It’s almost 9:15 before extra 171 begins it’s trek east toward the Joint Line. We’ll catch a quick glimpse of the train at Mine #1 before we have to get moving again to shoot more photos down the line. The brakeman is overheard on the radio telling the conductor to wave at the “guys with the cameras” when he passes by. We may be back on the road before he does! Hopefully our quick shot from the trestle won’t give future generations of railfans a bad rap…
[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2137/2272836943

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY & GREAT MODELING - CAN’T BEAT THAT COMBO!!![:)][tup][tup]

Thanks Lou. [:)]

I’m always a sucker for Rio Grande and the modeling and scenery are nice.

I don’t think the large herald was painted on GP30’s in 1965 so might want to just call it 1975 or later. The cabooses weren’t painted orange until 1974 I believe too. BTW, did you grab any of the sweet SD40T-2’s?

Very nice job on the scenery, models and weathering!

Ya’ll don’t count to many rivets. My son and I are not strict prototype modelers (I’m sure that is obvious after viewing the photos). We keep things fairly realistic but aren’t to hardcore about it.

Sorry about that! Its the result of having way too many books on the Rio Grande in my library! As they say, its your model RR and so have fun! Like I said, you’ve done a swell job! I saw you have the black F units too so doh! Those were all repainted by about 1953 or 1954! Modelers license abounds! Those beautiful Genesis F3’s in single stripe paint are perfect for 1965 btw! :stuck_out_tongue:

Grandman!??

Where have you been for ummm ummm the last 18 months?

Yep, we’ve got many of the books too. The whole RR is fictional though so we just have fun. Long live the D&RGW!

Hey TZ, I thinks it’s been longer than that! I just thought I’d see how things are going here and thought the mine run theme would be fun. It’s good to hear from you!

grandeman- Love your shots, and the D&RGW is a great RR to model. I only have one tiny, little, minor, eentsy weentsy, comment- if it’s October in Colo, the snows have probably already started, even along the Front Range. I lived in Monument and the Springs, and was snowed on once in August, and a bunch in Sept! Oct days like the ones in your photos were fantastic, and much appreciated.

Actually, I just used that as an excuse to tell you what a fine bunch of pics you posted!

I’m glad you have a GP30 in the consist, the 3006 was the switcher assigned to Colo Springs, I always liked her looks, her number seemed very fitting for a state known for hunting, and I would love to know where she ended up.

Again, fantastic shots, and great scenery!

WOW very impressive glad to see you, love the inner bridge shot…John

Hello Grandeman, Nice layout, cool locos. I’m a B.N. fan and modeler with mostly
B.N. motive power. Recently I added a nice GP-35 D&RGW to my roster. I’ve always liked their paint scheme. In fact, it’s sitting in front of me right now as I’m weathering it a little. It has’nt even run on the layout yet. Brand new. Keep up the great work!

Paulie[bow]

Nice pics and tour. Made my morning!

Thanks for the comments everyone.

philnrunt, I agree about the snow. Little Grande Man and I have discussed that before. I’m no artist, though I did paint the modest backdrops you see. When I tried snow capped peaks, it just didn’t come out satisfactorily. I’ll have to keep thinking on that. Maybe I can come up with an idea. I do think a dusting of snow in the high country would look great.

What lens and focal lengths were you using for these shots?

Regards,

Charlie Comstock

ps. I love my 40D too!

Hi Charlie.

I’d have to go back to the RAW files and look for each specific shot (I’m at work and they are on my external HD at home). I can tell you that the Sigma 10-20, Sigma 24-60 f2.8 and Canon EF17-40L are my layout mainstay lenses. I swap glass like a politician swaps positions, but I think everything in this thread was shot thru the two Sigmas.

Wow. Just wow… Excellent modeling, and excellent photography!

I really like the weathering on the locos. Just subtle enough without going overboard. Wish I could weather like that!

This is the kind of stuff I like to see. How-to projects, work-in-progress, and just-starting-out photos are great, but nothing beats shots of a completed, well-detailed layout to get the model railroading inspirational juices flowing.

I’m an East Coast guy, but having taken a few trips to Colorado (and dabbled in narrow gauge), I have a great respect and admiration for the D&RGW.

Thank for sharing!

What can I say but…WOW! Very nice work![bow]

The scenery is very nice! BTW, do the GP35’s you got from Athearn come with the low nose mounted or did you have to add that?

And here is something to tempt you that was running until the end of 1965:

I’ve got a friend that owns one of those. They are absolutely beautiful. I think right now we have around 25 locos on the layout (most are in consists leading staged trains). If I run across one, it may find it’s way onto the rails of the Platte Canyon Sub!