Bunch of whiners some of you are. So you don't like the diesels paint job big deal. Are you fond of the yellow gray and red of D&SNG #7? I have a feeling if they wanted to paint them black and Grande orange most of you would complain that they don't look Rio Grande enough, or the Grande would have had wider strips, with 3 degrees more angle.In other word some of you might be insulted if they tried to pay homage with a Grande diesel style paint scheme because the Grande only had 1 NG diesel, and those MPE units and the DL535s will never look right. Be glad they came up with their own design. The D&S is NOT the D&RGW get over it. I wish they had that on a T-shirt. Don't tell me they need to acknowledge there history better or that they are ignoring it. They acknowledge the Grande in plenty of ways. Yellow coaches is the most obvious, but Jeff they have red cars to. Yes and they are maroon like the Grande had before green cars. They still use DRGW train numbers, mile posts, station names, ect. They haven't changed the loco numbers or classifications. Still applied to the cab sides like the DRGW. Cars are still numbered the same. It would be very easy for them to say we will renumber all our equipment starting with 1. They have also been getting away from the circus lettering and back to a railroad roman font.
"So why is it more difficult to run steam indefinitely than to run diesels indefinitely?" It has been more difficult to maintain steam ever since steam was replaced, this is not new. Parts, lubricants, knowledge, machinery, and fuel all became harder to source when steam was replaced. Then there is the cost. The aforementioned things have all become more expensive the scarcer they become. Vintage diesels are almost as difficult to maintain, but at least you can repower diesel locomotives and manufacturers still build them.
P.S. The new lettering is and SP style speed lettering. How do I know? I have talked to Randy about it.
Jeff Taylor
CRRM curator of equipment and rolling stock.
