Nostalgia & History > D&RGW ex-Conrail GP40's "Smurfs"

Greetings

This set of photos will contain the ex-Conrail GP40's
that the Denver & Rio Grande Western picked up in
lease to buy arrangement in October of 1983.
The Rio Grande had several of these units renumbered
while in Conrail paint so that they would not cause
any problems with the GP40-2's in the 3100 series.

The main reason for the Rio Grande purchasing
these units was that they UP had merged with
the Missouri Pacific. That gave the Grande
trackage rights from Pueblo, Co to Kansas City
on the Mopac rails. This extra 600 plus miles
really put the Rio Grande in a power crunch.
More many miles and not enough power, so when Conrail
returned some of their GP40's to the leasor they
picked out 23 to add to the fleet.

First up is the 3155, Pueblo, Co.
This unit became D&RGW 3143.

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Here is a rear shot of the 3155, Pueblo, CO.

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Roster shot of 3159, Colorado Springs, Co.
This unit became D&RGW 3143.

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Conductors side, 3159.

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Roof detail shot of the 3159.

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3163 waiting in the yard at Pueblo.
This unit became D&RGW 3149.

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Rio Grande picked up 4 ex-Penn Central GP40's and here
is the 3164 waiting in the yard at Pueblo, Co.
This unit became D&RGW 3150.

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Next up is another Conrail unit, 3166 in Colorado Springs.
This unit became D&RGW 3151.

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Another shot of the 3166.

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Here is 3169 another ex-Penn Central GP40.
This unit became D&RGW 3153 which is the last
GP40, D&RGW 3154 was the first GP60.

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Another shot of the 3169.

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Roster shot of the 3174, this unit was
built as 3126, it became D&RGW 3138.

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On down the line to 3177, it was built as 3125, it
became D&RGW 3137.

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This photo shows off the front half of 3177.

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Last photo of this set shows the roof details of 3178.
This unit was built as 3119 and became D&RGW 3135.

Hope you enjoyed these odd locomotives.
Again these photos are here with a ton of help
from Reb Stout, thanks dude!

Nathan Z.
Colorado Springs, CO.

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Wow.. these are incredibly AWESOME photos that bring back some great memories for me.

Would you have any of the 3179 to share with us?? I remember seeing that one and the 3169 in Oakland, CA many many moons ago...

Thanks Very Much for sharing these with us!

Cheers,
Harry

Hello Harry
Thanks for the feedback!
I will look into the numbers you want to see.
Hope I have them, if I do they will go up later.

Glad you liked them!
Nathan Z.

Grande-Fan Wrote:
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> Hello Harry
> Thanks for the feedback!
> I will look into the numbers you want to see.
> Hope I have them, if I do they will go up later.
>
> Glad you liked them!
> Nathan Z.


Hi Nathan,

Much Thanks!! I hope you have one or two of the good ol' 3179!!

Cheers,
Harry

Hi Harry
I just checked and I don't have the 3179.
But I have 30 or so sets of negatives
that I will get redeveloped soon.
Hope that I can fill in the roster then.

Nathan Z.

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for checking into it, I much appreciate it. Do let me know if you do ever run across a pic of the DRGW
"smurf" 3179!

This sure beats commiserating over the latest "patched" whatever on the UP, as the smurfs remind me of the time when DRGW was doing the patching!

Cheers,
Harry