John
The fake diamond stacks were not just run once in a while by the D&RGW. The answer to your question isn't really a quick one. For anyone wanting to cut to the chase, go straight to the last paragraph.
One stack, the first, was done for #473 to "backdate" it for a beer advertisement in 1950. The engine was also dolled up in what is often today called a "Bumblebee" paint scheme.
#473 derailed clearing the Silverton Branch for filming scenes for "Denver & Rio Grande" in 1952 and went into the Alamosa shop for repairs.
The stack was removed from #473 and used on #476 for that "Old West" look on the branch and was also featured in some other movie in the 50's, but 476 almost always had it in through the 50's.
In 1957, engine #478 was fitted with a new fake diamond stack, also for use on the "Silverton" train, which then was only run three times a week, but was gaining popularity.
In 1960, the ICC denied the D&RGW's final petition for abandonment of the Silverton Branch, and the railroad decided that if they couldn't quit running it, they would make a serious effort to make it as profitable as possible. Several changes were made to upgrade the train and facilities.
One of them was that they decided to promote the train as a "Return to Yesterday". Part of the image the railroad pressed for "The Silverton" was the "Grande Gold" (Aspen Gold) (Prospector Gold) paint on the coaches that had been officially adopted by the D&RGW for Passenger use in 1948.
The other distinctive feature was that the fake diamond stacks that had already been in use on 476 for 9 years, and on 478 for the last 3 years would be continued.
In 1962, engine #473, which had been in use mostly as the Durango switcher, was repainted and fitted with a new fake diamond stack. In 1964, the second train was added. After that, the three 470's were regularly rotated in "Silverton" service until 1981, as long as the D&RGW operated the line. So, diamond stacks were used as a trademark of the railroad for well over 20 years.
Only rarely were K-28's seen without them in all that time.
Several other movies, such as "Butch Cassidy" and others were filmed on the line and the diamond stacks always remained.
In the 70's, there were a couple of movies on the C&TS that featured a K-36 with a fake stack. #483 had one at one time I remember.
As much as the fake stacks on the Silverton Train have been and contiinue to be considered by "purists" as unauthentic or even unrealistic, they were in fact very much a part of the history of the railroad, and those engines in particular. It simply can't be denied.
As to any "real" or practical use? They were extremely effective cinder catchers, as they were so much larger than caps that just had fit over the top of the cast stack. Two or three times a season, the fake stacks were raised, as they filled with cinders, and threatened to rust out the iron stacks inside.
But the biggest thing about them was that they were a major part of the image the railroad promoted. It wasn't rail buffs or historians that saved the Silverton Branch. It was tourists, who flocked from all over the country and world to ride, and experience "Rio-Grandeland".
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2008 07:24PM by Mike Trent.
