A new look for the C&TSRRClick on the link for the photos.red is the new color. http://www.the-ashpit.com/thread.cfm?threadid=2419&messages=1

What is the historically coreect paint color for the D&RGW?

It doesn't matter...They don't care. Greg

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Maybe I wrong on this, but, I thought this was a living museum. Changing colors on equipment which ran on this line, or, which represents equipment which ran on the line, doesn't seem, to me, to be consistant with a "living Museum" concept.So - do the new red colors go away from the D&RGW colors? If so, does this mean that they have a new vision for the operation/museum?

Had to laugh at your post about a new vision!Check out my responses on the NG Discussion board.As one guy posted on a different board its looking more like Toontown!I really don't understand why they can't embrace their history and market it as being such! Water tanks, buildings, and engine should all be Rio Grande in my mind. Coaches should be either the GREEN they have, or the Grande Gold, which is what was on the Rio Grande from 1948-end in 1980 under Rio Grande ownership. The goofy part is, that if you want to see Rio Grande lettered engines you can see 464 at Huckleberry Railroad, and 345(number ?) at Knotts Berry Farm with a complete trainset of Rio Grande Lettered Authentic coaches. Go to C&TS land where they used to actually run the engines they have and you wont find them lettered Rio Grande. Silly isn't it!!! Supposedly the Red was used on the Rio Grande for about 10 years from 1905 or thereabouts, but not when any of the current engines were operationg(they were built in 1925). Oh well, there's always the old videos!Greg Scholl

Sounds like a good excuse to get 463 running again, although I'm sure rebuilding her to as-built configuration as a Vauclain compound is pretty much out of the question!I suppose the important question here is will a red train attract enough new riders who don't care about historical accuracy to offset the number of purists who are turned away by it? If the answer is yes (and keep in mind it's generally tourists not purists that ride the trains and pay the bills) then I suppose it's a good thing. It's apparently only the non-historic equipment that is getting this treatment anyway. If we were talking about a bright red K-36 complete with balloon stack, fake oil headlight and a big wood cowcatcher, that would be another matter.

I guess I thought this was supposed to be a railway preservation discussion board, and that would account for some thinking toward authenticity. I realize the cars are not genuine, but they have had them painted green now for 20 some years. Why were they painted green then, and not circus colors if you use that arguement. Be careful what you wish for with engine colors. Who knows. Worse to me is the fact they aren;'t getting many painted, so it will be mostly a mismatched set of cars as it looks now! No accounting for taste, or history. Everyone seems to turn the other cheek if the butts will go in the seats. Not saying thats bad, but I feel you can do both... brighten the cars with a more authentic color, and still put butts in seats.Greg

Will painting the coaches bright red increase ridership? Why should anyone think so? Most of the C&TSR is not visible from the road, which is not a major through route, so few non-riders will see the train. If you did see the train and decide to ride, you would have to come back the next day.You could use a red train in marketing the railroad, but there is no sign that this is being done (yet). The official web site has the top picture on the home page showing a train with one red car. If they are not repainting a whole coach set in red, it can't be practically marketed as "The Red Train". I am not saying they should do this, just that they could.http://www.cumbrestoltec.com/C&TS does market itself on the web as "...a precious historic artifact of the American West that time forgot." That's from the first sentence on the home page. In my opinion, non-historic paint schemes conflict with marketing the railroad as historic. The historic character of the railroad is a major strength, and should continue to feature prominently in marketing.I have not seen anything on the web to indicate that the red color was chosen on anything more than a whim. Or that shows red would be the best choice. Walking around the yard, asking people already on the site whether they prefer red or green is not a particularly useful measurement. Especially when there are 9 of them. Particularly after repainting is started. Some polite people will say "Red" just because they see you've started repainting in that color. Contrarians will say "green" for the same reason.So why pick red? Was it on sale?