Steam & Excursion > Plaster City NG Railroad question

What is the present operating status of the Plaster City industrial railroad at Plaster City. CA. IIRC it might have become idle recently but the company is still in business.
Could the Durango & Silverton rent one or two of their Montreal locomotives that could drag the trains from Hermosa to Rockville, with steam being used up the rest of the line in the canyon? When the dry condition are over, could truck the diesel back to Plaster City if they need to move a new batch of limestone.

I guess I'm wrong about USG narrow gauge being possibly shut down. The unit #112 very active 2 months ago.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4531792,4531801#msg-4531801



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/18 03:43 by PlyWoody.

Strange question with even stranger gap in logic.

Durango and Silverton has a working diesel in their roster, and so does Cumbres & Toltec. If D&S folks need help, C&TS folks can certainly deliver, as they've worked together professionally before. Why truck them from California?

I've seen dry wall loads on the El Centro Hauler to West Colton, as recently as last month. That probably means US Gypsum is still running trains between Plaster City and the gypsum mine, so I doubt they can give up their diesels. I caught the Plaster City job taking empties to the mine (report not posted yet) about 4 months ago.

Looking at this from a different perspective, why dont D&S let US Gypsum use some of there steam engines for the fun of it? :)

wigwag Wrote:
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> Looking at this from a different perspective, why
> dont D&S let US Gypsum use some of there steam
> engines for the fun of it? :)

That happened back in the mid-1950s with engines from the SP narrow gauge.

If I am correct, the D&S bought an ex-US Gypsum of Plaster City large Porter road switcher last year, now #1203 on the D&S roster.

utwazoo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wigwag Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Looking at this from a different perspective,
> why
> > dont D&S let US Gypsum use some of there steam
> > engines for the fun of it? :)
>
> That happened back in the mid-1950s with engines
> from the SP narrow gauge.

Didn't several D&RGW and RGS steam locomotives go to Alaska during world war 2?

Posted from Android

lynnpowell Wrote:
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> If I am correct, the D&S bought an ex-US Gypsum of
> Plaster City large Porter road switcher last year,
> now #1203 on the D&S roster.

I thought it went to Georgetown Loop in Colorado.

They traded it to the D&S for a GE center cab. The 1203 was too big for the loop and the six axle trucks didn't like the sharp curves. The center cabs are slow and have plenty of TE which is what the loop needs. The 1203 can run a lot faster, but reliability has been a problem for everyone that has had it.

Michael Allen