Has anyone repainted their LGB WP&Y diesel into the D&S colors?
I know itâs what it is⌠and Iâm most likely the closest one on this site to them⌠But that horn, is not a sound I want to hear on a narrow gage train⌠They need to tap the compressor, and put a Nathan 5 Chime of a K-37 on there⌠Itâs bad enough to have a diesel on the front end, but at least change the horn to a whistle!
Whatâs the story there, and why are there brown carriages? Has some focus group decided that there is a demographic that wants to see the fleet modernised?
The one 3000 series boxcar on the front end, is used as stuff storage, they used to have firefighting water tank and pump and hoses also. They still do whistle stops and back packers, store their gear and tents and such and some river rafters their kayaks in there also. They also make âSupplyâ stops to the private land places up the canyon too.
The D&RGW had private and business cars on the lines in the âBrownish red [Tuscan]â varnish, and the D&S has their "Special and Deluxe " coaches also in that color.
The D&RGW had three main coach colors, A darker Pulman Green, The Tuscan Red, and the Rio Grande Gold.
So in one way, theyâve gone more prototypical, but⌠in another way theyâve gone off piste? Apologies, I probably should have said modernised, John. Dave apparently has accepted this shock.
My fellow LargeScaleCentralians, I need some advice.
A. Is my D&S train incomplete and do I need to buy carriages that donât match the gold ones?
B. Am I going to need to just grow up, put in my big boy pants, and embrace the diesel era?
C. And for those with spouses what risks am I taking sharing the knowledge that the D&S isnât quite what it used to be? The D&S was the first rail trip I took âherselfâ on. She became properly infected with the âtrain bugâ, (soot in the scalp and all) and the D&S provided her with a benchmark to compare all other rail trips.
1. âIt was nice dear, but it didnât have a steam engine like the D&Sâ.
2. âIt was nice dear, but it wasnât narrow gauge like the D&Sâ.
3. âIt was nice dear, but shiny metal for the carriages is for riding American Airlines. They should have a âpretty colourâ like the D&Sâ. (Apologies Rooster, I may have stumbled on to an Amtrak is Safe counter argument just now!)
D. Should I ever consider taking her back to the most romantic train ride in the world. (@Jim_Rowson we can agree to disagree in this point) and risk curing her train infection?
E. On our next trip to America, I want to take âherselfâ on the WP&Y. What risks am I facing with the knowledge that they use diesels âjust like they do on the D&Sâ, and havenât told âherselfâ?
i canât comment on most of the points - but there is one question:
NO!! under no circumstances!
that era has nothing of interest for modelers!
the roling stock:
rectangular boxes with some half hidden wheels under them - pfffffâŚ
only way to make them interesting woud be to adore them with some graffiti or paint some poultry on the sides!
the buildings:
rectangular boxes, that differ only by the advertizements painted to them.
the acessoirees:
egg-shaped vehicles, either in white or in metalic. people in unisex-clothing
GGGNNNNRRRRRrrrrrrâŚ
(after my teeth let go of the table iâm calm and well again.)
Tell us how you really feel Korm!! 
Iâm so sorry to push this onto you Bill⌠But the D&S is ⌠Please Set down first⌠They are converting to burning oil⌠Sorry to do that to you⌠Used motor oil at that⌠I believe that they are keeping one engine to run on oil, for photo excursions in the winter.
Now if you want narrow gage coal fired engines⌠the best bet is the Cumbres and Toltec RR⌠In Chama⌠They have two engines that burn oil ( so they can keep running if the forest service shuts down the coal burners, but all the rest are still hand shoveled lump coal.
We are keeping our engine on the C&T for several more years, as the insurance companies wonât allow us to run it on the D&S unless there is snow on the ground, and we canât convert it to oil because of our historical charter.
SO:
A. Some days the whole train is all Grande Gold.
B. The D&S runs both Diesels and Oil Fired Steam locos on most days in the Summer.
C. & D. If you have never rode the C&T, You Really Really Need to. So different than any other train ride. The C&T is a 64 mile ride, up over a 10,000 ft mountain pass, and a free lunch is served 1/2 way thru the trip.
E. Never rode the WP&Y, but Iâm told itâs OK, But caters hard to the Cruse Ship trade and schedules.
Dave T.
I believe he just did and was very clear about it, too 
I have repainted an LGB 2055 Alco in my own railroad colors and name. I did consider the new color scheme that is used in Durango, but I personal donât care for the colors they used, why didnât they use Rio Grande colors, black and orange. Oh well, so much for that, here are some pics of my repaint and with Rail Pro added, all lights are LEDâs and are controlled under the Rail Pro system.
Pics are for the Fort Worth & South-Western RR
John,
Am I assuming correctly you are from Cow Town?
My Great Uncle lived on a red brick road called Camp Bowie in Ft. Worth and worked for the C&S. He reportedly said that Dallas was where the East petered out and Ft. Worth was where the West began and this was quoted often for some reason in our family.
I thought I heard somewhere, (and Iâm prolly wrong) that the USFS (Forest service) said no more steam locos during fire season on the D&S RR.
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how i do feel? - generally old fashioned, traditionalist and well.
and after that rant? - outranted.
i just regret, that i didnât put in a negative mention against the modern fashion, to fire locos with coal instead of with woodâŚ
John⌠well thats not quite correct, sorta maybe⌠Itâs actually the insurance companyâŚ
Forrest Service thinks they have control of the right of way ( Legally they donât ) but they still think so⌠but they say âNo Insurance, no running, Insurance co. Says we will only insure you to run Oil Fired or Diesels if there is no snow on the groundâ. Catch 22âŚ
That is why we canât run D&RG 315 on the D&S, unless there is snow on the ground, and we can run it on the C&T anytime⌠Same Forrest Service, same Insurance CO.
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[quote=âKorm, post:15, topic:83874, full:trueâ]
Quoting every generation before usâŚ
âKids⌠these daysâŚ!â
Dave, the D & S is a lot more âhigh profileâ than the C & T, hence more pressure. Just my opinion.
Wow Dave that hit hard.
Was the historical society not concerned? Had there been a large fire?
Was it profit driven? I assume that being a for profit rail line, the D&S would find oil cheaper to run and maintain, so didnât complain much. I heard, they used track inspection cars to check the line after each run to ensure there were no fires previously. They wonât have that running cost either.
Well, I better let Herself know sooner than later and maybe schedule a trip on the WP&Y.
Bill YES⌠The D&S was blamed for a large fire, and settled up thru the insurance for many many Millions of $$$$$$$$$$$$âŚThere were at that time 5 major insurance companies insuring small to medium RRs. After the fire claim, and today there is only one company the insures RRs. and our insurance costs have more then doubledâŚOUCH!!
Running used motor oil is about 3-4 times as expensive per trip in fuel cost as against coal. King Coal in Hesperus CO. ( About 15 miles from Durango) cost delivered about $90 per ton, This is premium coal, that is mostly exported⌠Oil burners do save some costs in no ash disposal, and a cleaner flues. But currently it costs about $100,000 per loco to convert from coal to oil. And Firemen have to be retrained on oil burning⌠I have never fired an oil burner⌠Lots and Lots of coal, and a couple of runs on the Eureka tossing split wood into the fire box.