Western Railroad Discussion > DRGW 5371 "Honorary Steam Locomotive"

Here are some shots from today in Cheyenne. The "patch" isn't a magnet but rather some sort of thin film or tape material with the 8944 scotchlite decals on it. This is only on the conductor side. The engineer's side still shows the original number.

Apparently the unit showed up there unexpectedly to the steam guys (amazing that word gets to us railfans and not the UP themselves) and they didn't know what to do with it. They decided to make it into an honorary steam locomotive. These photos are not Photoshopped. As for its future, well no one in Cheyenne really knows. For now it will remain in Cheyenne at the steam shop. It is fully operable. It made it into the steam shop under its own power and apparently runs great.

Enjoy!
Rio Grande Fan
Denver, CO

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Take this engine, Please!

No respect I tell ya....


Ryan

??? The "Patch" in the other thread is on the engineer side also ???

http://www.trainorders.com/images2/view.php?263528

Not sure if the steam guys removed the engineer's side patch or if the previous thread starter Photoshopped the black decal from the conductor side onto the engineer's side. If you look closely at my pics the patch looks ripped down the middle so maybe they moved it to preserve the original font of the 5371. The conductor side numbers as we know were in a differnt font. The pics I took are as it looked today (March 22, 2008) in the steam shop. I did not do anything to my photos.

Rio Grande Fan
Denver, CO

And I can vouch for that, as I was there to..

Mike Keithly
Kimball, NE

RioGrandeFan Wrote:
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> Not sure if the steam guys removed the engineer's
> side patch or if the previous thread starter
> Photoshopped the black decal from the conductor
> side onto the engineer's side. If you look closely
> at my pics the patch looks ripped down the middle
> so maybe they moved it to preserve the original
> font of the 5371. The conductor side numbers as we
> know were in a differnt font. The pics I took are
> as it looked today (March 22, 2008) in the steam
> shop. I did not do anything to my photos.
>
> Rio Grande Fan
> Denver, CO

I am the original poster of the photo. It is not a Photoshop. I am not that good at photoshopping.

pbernath Wrote:
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> ??? The "Patch" in the other thread is on the
> engineer side also ???
>
> http://www.trainorders.com/images2/view.php?263528

Okay, enough fun...

It's a magnetic patch, as is the UP Steam shield. It started the day yesterday on the engineer's side, but the battery box door on that side is made of fiberglass, hence the magnetic shield wouldn't stick. So, we moved the patch over to the fireman's side and added the shield. This is the same patch kit used to renumber Thomas last year:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,1508869,1508869#msg-1508869

with the numbers rearranged. I have no idea what the original "4489" number was supposed to refer to...

Nathan Beauheim

nathan314 Wrote:
> with the numbers rearranged. I have no idea what
> the original "4489" number was supposed to refer
> to...
>
> Nathan Beauheim

Honorary SP GS-series locomotive perhaps? The highest numbered SP Northern was GS-8 4488 (ex-SSW 813).

RioGrandeFan Wrote:
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. As for its future,
> well no one in Cheyenne really knows. For now it
> will remain in Cheyenne at the steam shop. It is
> fully operable.


Gosh, guys, I have a novel idea. Why can't you repaint it in Rio Grande colors, and put it back out on the road, just like the 6 Heritage units. Then everybody could see it.

Geez, man. Just be happy it hasn't been turned into razor blades.

InkyRail Wrote:
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> Geez, man. Just be happy it hasn't been turned
> into razor blades.


Yet.