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CRRX V20 SPOTTED - REPLACEMENT FOR 5305
Posted Wednesday, October 31 2012 at 1159 h MDT
After Canon City & Royal Gorge 5305 (ex-DRGW 5305) was scrapped last month, reports came that the replacement unit was a former Virginia Railway Express locomotive. A picture has emerged of former VRE GP40PH-2 V20 has surfaced with the long hood stencilled "CRRX". It's [here on RRPictureArchives.net], and was taken by Ed Klein in La Cross, WI, two days ago (Monday, 29 Oct 2012). For those wondering, the engine started out as Atlanta & West Point GP40 #728, built in 1969. I don't know if it's coming straight to Colorado or stopping somewhere for some work first, but I suspect the latter. La Crosse would be a very strange routing from the East Coast to Colorado. - NDHolmes
MANITOU & PIKES PEAK COG STEAM THIS WEEKEND
Posted Thursday, October 25 2012 at 1302 h MDT
The Manitou and Pike's Peak Cog Railway will have their steam engine - M&PP #4, a 1897 Baldwin rack engine - under steam again this weekend. If you missed the last time it was out in late summer, here's your chance to see it. The announcement on their Facebook page says that it will be out on Saturday, 27 Oct 2012, from 1100h-1500h and then again on Sunday from 0900h to 1400h.
It's not exactly D&RGW related, but it's still pretty darn interesting, so I thought I'd make mention of it. - NDHolmes
HELP STABILIZE THE ANTONITO DEPOT
Posted Tuesday, October 23 2012 at 1344 h MDT
There's a request for volunteers on the NGDF for folks to help do emergency roof repairs to the historic D&RGW Antonito Depot. From their post:
"When? Beginning October 27th at 9:00 AM. Lunch will be provided on the 27th, and the workshop will continue into the late morning of the 28th. Where? Antonito Depot, Main St. & 3rd Ave, Antonito, CO 8112"
The full details can be found [here].
Sorry I'm a little slow on posting this - I'm hiding out in Pittsburgh this week. - NDHolmes
C&TS DESIGNATED NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK
Posted Thursday, October 18 2012 at 1355 h MDT
Yesterday, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the part of the former D&RGW San Juan Extension now preserved as the Cumbres & Toltec has been officially designed a National Historic Landmark - one of 26 added in this round and one of around 2500 total. The official press release can be found [here]. - NDHolmes
HARTWELL GP30s 3016 & 3021 TO RAILSERVE
Posted Wednesday, October 10 2012 at 1117 h MDT
Former D&RGW GP30s 3016 and 3021, which have been on the Hartwell Railroad in Georgia for the last sixteen years, have been sold to Railserve (aka Rail Switching Services, reporting marks RSSX). Railserve provides plant switching services to a variety of customers using a combination of older locomotives (switchers and rebuilt first-generation geeps, primarily) and new gensets. Their current roster has no GP30s on it, so I suspect that these two GP30s will likely become genset cores.
Thanks to "Larry" on the Loconotes list for pointing out that 3016 and 3021 had been sold. - NDHolmes
ROYAL GORGE ROUTE SCRAPS LAST D&RGW SD9
Posted Tuesday, October 2 2012 at 1206 h MDT
An interesting post showed up on Trainorders yesterday from Dan Quiat, inquiring about the potential scrapping of the last Rio Grande SD9 - DRGW 5305, now working for the Canon City & Royal Gorge, otherwise known as the Royal Gorge Route tourist train. I'd just seen the engine two weeks ago, sitting up by the engine house as always, and assumed that it had a nice safe home for a long time to come.
By the time I drove down this morning to take a look, there was little left of 5305 beyond an unrecognizable pile of scrap. It took me a few minutes to even recognize anything in the pile as being part of a first generation EMD road switcher. Still, for those wanting to see what's left on Tuesday morning, 2 Oct 2012, [here's the photos].
Rod G. confirmed with one of the company officers that the engine was apparently sold for scrap as part of funding the acquisition of another locomotive. The rumor is that new engine will be ex-Amtrak, so it's probably an old F40 or the like.
I can't even begin to describe how annoyed and saddened I am that this last of its kind engine was cut up on its old home rails by a tourist railroad that swathes itself in the history of the Rio Grande, right down to the paint scheme and flying heralds. While I understand that the RGR is a commercial entity that has to make rational business decisions, this one seems poorly thought out. As far as I know - and if it's not true, I'd love to be corrected - no effort was made to reach out to various preservation organizations to see if they'd purchase the engine at scrap value. It's possible, even probable that a deal could not have been reached in time, but at least the chance would have been there. As of late last week, we've lost yet another class of Rio Grande engines to history. - NDHolmes
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