https://www.facebook.com/DSNGRR/?hc_ref=ARRGgiNuxikJbArX1Jk5cLizaAv8XRwY5EmZFZmrcvB9vbv4hcHuzZuO5xiBJFNOr-s&fref=nf

"The D&SNGRR is investing over $3 million in the two new MP2000NG repowered diesel locomotives, which are being designed around CAT 2000HP engines with GE 764 traction motors to achieve the power and speed required on the steepest grades of the D&SNGRR line. When completed, each locomotive is expected to pull an eight-car consist along the full route from Durango to Silverton and back. The purchase was facilitated by financing arranged by account managers at Durango-based Alpine Bank. The D&SNGRR anticipates taking delivery of the MP2000NG locomotives by late spring of 2019"

Please don't shoot the messenger...



Mike

very interesting. Curious what these look like ?

I keep seeing the word "repowered" in the announcement of this purchase. Does this mean that the new locomotives will be using rebuilt engines originally in other locomotives or does "repowered" have another meaning in current dieselspeak?

Would it mean, an older, used locomotive with new prime mover?

"New" and "repowered" are contradictory, is it possible they are using frames and trucks from existing 3' units, say some of those on White Pass & Yukon? Two of the 1982 Bombardier units WP&Y bought, then didn't accept for decades when they were shut down, then later accepted, have been wrecked and out of service for a long time, I wonder if those might be the donors. Edit: beat me to it!

You love steam, I love steam, but we don't all love steam. My Mom hated it. Hated the dirt. Never heard the end of it after a visit, "Don't get that on my car seats!" Sometimes I had to strip down in the parking lot and change clothes.

I am sure a lot of tourists will be perfectly happy to see a steam locomotive for a few minutes at either terminal, but ride up the hill behind diesel. No cinders in the eye, and remember the 3 inches of cinder accumulation on the platform of the first few coaches?

The drought was the last straw. And don't forget the big smoke study for Durango, 15 years ago?

The D&SNGRR is investing over $3 million in the two new MP2000NG repowered diesel locomotives, which are being designed around CAT 2000HP engines with GE 764 traction motors to achieve the power and speed required on the steepest grades of the D&SNGRR line. When completed, each locomotive is expected to pull an eight-car consist along the full route from Durango to Silverton and back. The purchase was facilitated by financing arranged by account managers at Durango-based Alpine Bank. The D&SNGRR anticipates taking delivery of the MP2000NG locomotives by late spring of 2019.

The D&SNGRR has not determined the final cab design of its two new MP2000NG repowered diesel locomotives, but it expects their appearance to be similar to locomotives used by the Bryson, City, N.C.-based Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR), another successful heritage railroad owned by D&SNGRR parent company, American Heritage Railways. Their color will be forest green, as seen in the wilderness of the San Juan National Forest. One locomotive will be numbered 550, referencing the highway linking Durango and Silverton, and the other locomotive will bear the number 416, in recognition of the extraordinary effort firefighters devoted to protecting life and property during the recent 416 Fire.

https://www.prlog.org/12721479-dsngrr-p ... llion.html

I read that this recent shut down cost them $6m and affected 200 employees? If they don’t adapt, there won’t be a D&SNG at all. It is a business, first and foremost. If this enables them to provide service in dry weather than so be it.

If the roster of what is at Great Smokey Mountains is any indication, what may emerge will be a narrow gauge road switcher of some sort.

That's what White Pass bought from Montreal but couldn't use for years because the traffic was down.

Quote:
"The D&SNGRR has not determined the final cab design of its two new MP2000NG repowered diesel locomotives, but it expects their appearance to be similar to locomotives used by the Bryson, City, N.C.-based Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR), another successful heritage railroad owned by D&SNGRR parent company, American Heritage Railways."

I see nothing similiar on their roster for the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad.

MP&ES does not show anything either.

Are diesels the only option for running in fire season? What is the D&S brand and how do diesels fit into it? I get the impression that D&S sees a purpose for diesels that is much larger than just fire safety.

They are also rebuilding a k37 to be oil fired and may covert other engines to oil in the future.

It is a business, of course. But this is not the first time they had dry weather, yet they obviously did not take steps to simply convert their steam fleet to oil in all those years.

Now they spend over 3 millions for the ability to go 100 percent diesel, I presume which may have the effect that some steam loco/shop people will be laid off in the long run and customers will be charged the same ticket price as with steam.

They may have kept steam as well and converted their necessary fleet to oil years ago for, as I believe (correct me), surely far less than 3 millions. This is not rocket science, there are no new boilers needed, you just would have had to go over existing blueprints for burners installed in similar fireboxes. The HSB 2-10-2s class 99 come into my mind; about a similar power and all having been successfuly converted to oil firing in the former GDR. The later reconversion only took place due to an oil shortage.

Whilst an oil conversion would have completely erased the possible fire hazard from steam locomotives, the general fire hazard due to the natural climate still remains; meaning that their business may still suffer financial losses from fires even when they go diesel all the time - with the difference being their business will be far less attractive from now on.

Mike

I don't recall in my lifetime such bad fires and longterm closures due to drought. Tell me if I am wrong. The climate or risk of fire is fundamentally changing, requiring a change in long held assumptions about how the business can function.

At least, on this line, steam and diesel should be able to mix at will. The main reason there are no mid day steam runs on the Mt. Washington Cog is that the diesels are much faster than the steam they replaced, and it is not possible to mix steam and diesel on the same schedule. That is why steam is limited to the first and last trips of the day.

Edit: a post further down offers news that this is no longer a limitation at The Cog.

About 12 hours ago, DSNGRR posted on facebook:

"Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Jason, just to clarify, some of the details regarding No. 493 are already in the public domain, but we DO plan on issuing a formal announcement regarding its restoration and conversion very soon. That announcement will include a definitive date for its return to service. It goes without saying (but I'll mention it here anyway for others) that this conversion is a very time-consuming and expensive endeavor: ~$4 million. Stay tuned for further details. Sound good? ^krp"


Four million dollars for an oil conversion of a narrow-gauge engine? You can buy a new steamer for that!


Mike