Change and the inevitable angst

I guess I'm not at all surprised that some don't like this scheme. I've seen complaints about it elsewhere on the internet as well. It's pretty much as conservative--by that I mean inoffensive..."safe"--as it could possibly be this side of an all-black dip job. But it's different. Some folks are wired to automatically react with revulsion at anything that's different, regardless of its individual merit.

It matches the steam locomotives quite well. There's less of a visible disparity in the front end between a diesel-powered WP&YR train and a steam-powered one with this unit. While we as railfans occupy a single-digit percentage of the rider base, the vast majority of riders either don't know or don't care about the differences between trains. As an aside, I'm curious...how many folks here have even ridden the WP&YR? I was lucky enough to do so back in 2015. I imagine it's probably as close as I'll ever get to having ridden the RGS around Ophir Loop, but I digress...

I struggled a little with the new D&SNG diesel scheme, I'll admit. But that's coming from my D&RGW fandom. When you consider the D&SNG as its own railroad and not part of a larger D&RGW system--which it is, like it or not--the scheme makes much more sense. Here, the D&SNG is actually working hard to draw a distinction between steam and diesel. Given the flack in the wake of the 416 Fire, this makes perfect sense. The new D&SNG scheme does what it said it would, which is to match the two predominant car body colors in its passenger trains. The one thing I can't quite forgive is the omission of an ampersand between the words Durango and Silverton.

Railroads like the WP&YR and the D&SNG are not primarily museums; they're operating for-profit businesses. The extent to which they deliberately preserve the history of their respective lines is a bonus...but none of that happens without revenue dollars. Revenue dollars from riders keep the wheels rolling, not trackside photographers or internet fan groups. The Cumbres and Toltec--with its publicly-funded mission to preserve the history of the narrow gauge D&RG(W) San Juan Extension--is the exception rather than the rule. To remain relevant, heritage railroads have to adapt, and sometimes that means change that rankles our preservation instincts.

I think we're wired to reject change in the things we love. Even when Strasburg adopted the beautiful and more authentic scheme its passenger cars now wear there were some that lamented the loss of the candy apple red and canary yellow of the 70s and 80s. The fact is the cars just look better and feel more authentic now. As for the White Pass, most of us have come to love the yellow and green not because they're especially pretty but simply because that's what we're used to. The short-lived blue scheme was generally not liked--not because it was individually ugly--but because it wasn't yellow and green. So it is with these units. There's nothing at all ugly about this very classy and tasteful scheme...it's just new and different.

Just be glad the WP&YR aren't painting the steam locomotives yellow and green instead...

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Dave Vollmer
Rio Grande Southern in HOn3
Colorado Midland in N scale

Colorado Springs, CO



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2020 06:27PM by Dave Vollmer.