Passenger Trains > F units in Repose - Royal Gorge Summer

Royal Gorge Route’s F7 locomotives are spending the summer in the Cañon City shops for some needed TLC. F7A 403 and F7B 1503 ran uninterrupted from late September 2018 to early May 2019 without any failures. As there is time around the demands of the fleet during high season, the Fs are being given a thorough maintenance regimen, along with some preventative maintenance to get them ready for the onset of cooler weather.

F7A 402 at the back of the group is beginning the project that will return it to service (again, as time allows.) Project scope will include installation of a replacement prime mover, tuning of systems, replacement of about half the body, refurbishing the air compressor, and installing cab air conditioning. That latter one is a big one, as it will finally allow the railroad to run an F unit during the heat of the summer. (It’s 98 degrees in Cañon City today, and the temps inside the cab are well over 125 - not a friendly place to spend a 12 hour shift.)

Photos taken on railroad property, with permission. (In the interest of disclosure, I’m the one who gives permission.)

Jody
F7sForever

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Thanks for the info on the F7's, I would love to ride in the cab one day whenever my wife and I can visit and ride.
Looking forward to that one day.
Pat

Please, none of those damn RV air conditioning units on the roof!

Not a chance. They'd have units on them already if I was willing to make that compromise. But I have figured out a solution at last that will preserve the roof line and still work extremely well.

I just noticed how the roadname Royal Gorge is done in the font as the former Rio Grande.  Very clever.

It looks as though the F-7’s are coupled to a dome car that used to be on the Mt. Hood railway. Is this correct?

BB in Spokane

Posted from iPhone

Yes, it is.

bbethmann Wrote:
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> It looks as though the F-7’s are coupled to a
> dome car that used to be on the Mt. Hood railway.
> Is this correct?
>
> BB in Spokane
>
> Posted from iPhone