Durango and Silverton to buy new locos...

bremner Aug 1, 2018

  1. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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  2. HOexplorer

    HOexplorer TrainBoard Supporter

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    Sorry, hear about the diesels. Decades with steam only yield to the PC crowd.
     
  3. wcfn100

    wcfn100 TrainBoard Member

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    I find it useful to read the link before replying.

    Jason
     
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  4. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    The steam engines have to be a huge liability during the dry months. I looked, but I can't find what chassis the MP2000NGs will be built from. Has anybody seen anything on that?
     
  5. HOexplorer

    HOexplorer TrainBoard Supporter

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    i did read the link. Nothing has changed my point of view. If you can, use the Grand Canyon rr as an example. Once they get diesels, soon steam will be gone if for no other reason than profit. Jim
     
  6. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    These are businesses, not charities. If they don’t make a profit, we don’t have trains to ride. Grand Canyon still runs their steam engines. Steam engines are insanely expensive to run, they are aging, and when they hit their 1472 day inspection, it can knock most of them out permanently because of the rebuild cost. Supplementing the fleet with diesels is a cost effective way of extending the life of a steam fleet.
     
  7. RailMix

    RailMix TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, it is a business, not a charity. However, they are in the business of providing folks with a certain type of experience. Yes, the trip is much shorter and the scenery much less spectacular, but if I can experience the sights and sounds of one of the two surviving K-27's an hour from home, why should I travel to Colorado to ride behind a diesel? How much ridership will they lose from this?
    That said, I certainly would not look askance at any oil burning steam power. Although it lacks that wonderful smell of coal smoke, it's a comparatively simple conversion, one done to the Union Pacific steam fleet among others, and is an authentic solution that railroads have been using to avert fire danger for more than 100 years.
     
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