Nostalgia & History > Rio Grande GP30 in the shadow of Mt Shasta

An eastbound  ready to leave Dunsmuir Yard and head up the canyon in the early 1990's.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

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Hmm and I thought their main line went though the Rockies 

If memory serves:  SP power in such bad condition that Rio Grande units were needed on the old SP system.  While Rio Grande units were often dirty they were maintained  by D&RGW  in good operating condition  and SP was way behind on repairs.  Let the flame throwers begain.

Hmmm, maybe it had something to do with the owner of the D&RGW buying the SP?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Anschutz

Oh, and nice photo...Bob.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/19 12:15 by TCnR.

They don't look so out of place there. Very strong image nicely done.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

Roadjob Wrote:
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> They don't look so out of place there. Very strong
> image nicely done.

   Most "30's " look good any place !

valmont Wrote:
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> Hmm and I thought their main line went though the
> Rockies 

Mountains are mountains!

Nice catch and probably a bit rare.
JB

Posted from Android

The D&RGW power was very nice to see into Oregon in the 80's and 90's.   There had been a very small amount of BN pool power up until then as well as the UP power but it seemed like in the late 80's both started to disappear.   The D&RGW hadn't normally made it past Sparks NV prior to then..  

tomstp Wrote:
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> If memory serves:  SP power in such bad condition
> that Rio Grande units were needed on the old SP
> system.  While Rio Grande units were often dirty
> they were maintained  by D&RGW  in good
> operating condition  and SP was way behind on
> repairs.  Let the flame throwers begin.


Why flame throwers? That's basically how it was from all the articles I've read from that time period in Pacific Rail News and CTC Board magazines, etc.

Posted from Android

Not sure where all this is coming from or going to, at this time the SP had been drained by the failed ATSF merger, then purchased by the D&RGW. The big power had been trashed out for many reasons partly due to the GRIP rebuild program being cut out of the budget, the combined RR soon purchased rebuilt GP40's and later GP60's, to use the modern cab leading the older big power. One known reason for the dirty power was California State's concern of the wash water being full of contaminants so the racks were shut down, another California requirement for paint wound up with freshly painted locomotives having the paint peel off in sheets. Yep, the Oregon Division is still known for long unventilated tunnels where the trailing units would belch smoke due to low oxygen levels in the tunnels, coating the exterior of the unit with smokey grime.

GP's were rare power on the Oregon Division due to the grades and 4-axle GP's having less traction than 6-axle SD's. This photo shows a GP30 as a trailing unit, not the lead unit so they weren't concerned with the condition of the GP's cab. They probably just kept the set together to be returned back east, or more likely they were borrowed from a Klamath Falls Modoc train and are heading back in that direction. There was an afternoon RV-KF train that was often photographed on the District.

+ Taking a closer look at the photo, the lead unit is an SP GP60, note the size of the radiator grills. Looks like this was simply borrowing older power that Denver wasn't worried about.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/19 22:10 by TCnR.

Great post Clive,information is right on.         Mark