Western Railroad Discussion > Durango & Silverton diesel in action

Hey, it still smokes, just not coal smoke...

Ronnie McCallay
Cañon City, CO

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So they could no longer find anyone who knew how to maintain the steam engines?  Or is the diesel just an extra reserve?

Well, they still have steam, but with the recent forest fires and the ongoing litigation, they decided to bring in diesels to run during the dry season and as well as assist during busy times such as the fall foliage season.  So steam is still the king, but diesel is there and not very impressive in my view.  By the way the vintage diesels are from the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway....

Ronnie McCallay
Cañon City, CO

Agree on the air horn being too harsh for the setting.  But they don't really care, I don't think.  The steam crew cares, but management is concerned only with the P&L statement, which is not being affected (currently) by the harsh sounding air horn.

Ronnie McCallay
Cañon City, CO

Looks like an O-Scale loco pulling an S-Scale train!

That Alco sounds pretty healthy! B

I love the horn, and the way it will echo in the woods and valleys will be great!  It's also a faster ride--my guess is the track will take a bit maintenance due to that.  A faster trip is OK with me in some respects.  I love the diesel--it's historic, too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/21 21:53 by coach.

All it needs is a little DRGW inspired paint. If the narrow gauge freight ops had lasted into the diesel era, its easy to imagine something like this unit may had been running this line...

In that setting, I wouldn't drive 1,000 miles from my home in the Pacific Northwest unless I rode behing steam.

Stan Praisewater

There's a lot of disdain for the White Pass diesels making their way to the D&S. It baffles me.

I love the steam engines, same as everyone else, but these are about the best diesels we could have asked for. Straight OG prime movers here, growling and chugging away. What more could we ask for when the steam power has to stay stabled during fire seasons?

I'm glad the D&S is keeping the steam and supplementing with some beautiful old diesels when they need.

You know, 99.999% of the people who ride this train couldn't care less in what is pulling the train.

PHall Wrote:
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> You know, 99.999% of the people who ride this
> train couldn't care less in what is pulling the
> train.

You might want to reconsider any plans you may have for furthering your career advancement in mathematics and statical analysis..

-LD

The D&S has been offering two Durango-Silverton roundtrips all summer.  First train of the day is diesel.  Second is steam.  Passengers have a choice of which train that they book.  From what I've heard, the majority of people riding the diesel-pulled train chose that option. They didn't "settle" for it because the steam run was sold out. It was their first choice. There apparantly are a large amount of D&S customers who don't care if it's not steam.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/21 17:17 by DRGW483.

sagehen Wrote:
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> In that setting, I wouldn't drive 1,000 miles from
> my home in the Pacific Northwest unless I rode
> behing steam.
>
> Stan Praisewater

You could drive 1,109 miles to Chama and see all the steam you could handle plus spectacular scenery.