So the family decided I needed a Rio Grande passsenger train for my layout and gave me the Athearn 22666 (F7 A&B set) along with Rivarossi 6921A & B streamlined car set. Of course, the color on the cars and the color on the engines (Aspen yellow I believe) do not match at all.
Now I'm no expert on any of the cars and looking at colors on the internet is not an exact science. From the web sites I've seen it looks like the Athearn engines look similar to pictures of the Royal Gorge train. And it looks like the cars are lighter in color more like those of the ski train.
Apoligies for the long setup but does anyone know if there are Rio Grande streamline cars that are similar to the color of the Athearn 22666 F7s??
Welcom to the forums!
I just Googled Athearn Rio Grande passenger cars, and got a lot of results. Maybe look for a set of Athearn cars.
Mike.
My You Tube
While there are standards for paint, keep in mind the harsh Western mountain environment and weathering of equipment meant that even if equipment was painted inmatching colors, in a year or two on the road these could result in substantially different appearances. I'll note here that the Rio Grande had several variations in the "orange" colors it used, so it's important to match pics of your specific prototype to be accurate.
If you're looking for the paint to all match, keep in mind this is more your personal preference than what happened in real life. Name trains like the Zephyr had a lot of attention paid to their apperances, while those like the Royal Gorge, not so much.
Walthers has released several cars (52-seat coach, baggage car, maybe more?) in Rio Grande paint in recent years that are worth considering, but you'll have to piece together a full train no matter whose you use once you get beyond the Rivarossi cars unless you choose to spend on brass.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to pick up one of the Athearn cars and see if it is close. If the colors are close, at least it will give me a quest for 2018.
Thanks
When looking at diferent possibilities, also keep in mind that internet browsers and other software often subtly shift color-rendering.
While it doesn't cover passenger cars specifically, this is a good guide to get familiar with the basics: http://utahrails.net/drgw/rg-diesel-paint-schemes.php
Jim Eager's Morning Sun Books "Rio Grande Color Guide to Passenger and Freight Equipment" is a useful pictorial starting points for comparisons.
fallen flags has photos of D&RG equipment .
All good info, thanks.
Just a side note, is it my imagination that whenever new products are released I rarely see D&RGW hood units or passenger cars? It feels like this scheme is not popular with the manufacturers.
900atIt feels like this scheme is not popular with the manufacturers.
Depends.
A lot of new product is tied to contemporary railroading, which reflects more recent shifts in modeling interests. Railroads are success stories in the world of 2017/2018, where they were failures to most who weren't modelers in the 60s and 70s. This accounts for at least part of it.
The Rio Grande is actually part of that timeline of success, having succeeded in overcoming decades of financial manipulation by outsiders and the difficult economy of the first half of the 20th century. It made its own line a success and eventually swallowed up the SP.
Problem was it was then swallowed up by the UP. As a "fallen flag" it is sometimes perceived as old news. But model railroading was largely founded on nostalgia for the past, so it's a line that is often still coveted by modelers. If you look at various models, those offered with a Rio Grande option are often the first to sell out.
Then there's narrowgauge. It doesn't really compete against standard gauge, but is really more of a thing to itself, for obvious reasons like track gauge and a whole lot of more subtle distinctions. If you look there, you'll even find some narrowgaugers complain about the dominance of Rio Grande offerings as if it were the only narrowgauge in town (far from the case with the prototype, as there were so many others, they just faded before attracting a larger group interested in modeling them.)
That accounts for much of the perceived lack of Rio Grande models in the marketplace. They're often out there, but hard to find.
BTW, want to support more Rio Grande stuff? Join the Rio Grande Modeling and Historical Society: http://www.rgmhs.org/
In 1988 Rio Grande Industries, which controlled the D&RGW, purchesed the Southern Pacific and combinrd the railroads using the name Southern Pacific.
In 1996 the D&RGW/SP system was sold to the UP.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
As far as popularity goes, D&RGW does seem to be one of the better selling schemes, especially engines.
And just because D&RGW is a fallen flag, that isn't a negative as far as popularity goes. Some fallen flags sell extremely well, while others don't.
One of the problems for D&RGW is there are very few correct plastic passenger cars manufactured in HO which match real passenger cars owned by the D&RGW. Hopefully some day that will change. FYI, the Walthers 52 seat Pullman Standard coach is very close to a batch of coaches purchased by the D&RGW in 1950 and lasted until the late 1960's. One of them was converted just after being purchased into Rio Grande business car 100, the Wilson McCarthy.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983