Yes the color is going to stand out, but why bother photographing something that has no historic fabric in the first place.
I agree the dark green is drab and unappealing but its the color the railroad used. Now nobody cares about the past. Just the almight dollar. Half of the reason this place was saved was for economic reasons for the area, and the other half was for its historic nature. This WAS THE LAST class one steam railroad in AMERICA! We should honor that legacy, cause there is no a second alternative. This is why I suggest at least making the cars Rio Grande Gold, like Durango uses. So what if they have the same colors. At least the 484,487,and 489 might have pulled yellow coaches in regular service. They surely DID NOT EVER pull maroon, nor red ones in the late 1920's nor in the 30's when these engines were introduced. Only the older class teakettles pulled the red cars apparently.
Here is a challenge to the folks at the C&TS and Commission. Why not make the train cars all Yellow with black trim, and letter one train set Denver and Rio Grande Western, and one or two of the engines Rio Grande. Then, you can MARKET the Hell out of the fact you are trying to make this a throw-back railroad, with historically accurate appearing trains. This place is unique and is one of only a couple in the country that has the original engines that ran on this very line. That is rare. Don't fall into the trap of throwing away history in favor of a few more tourist dollars. Sure the merchants will love this cause it means more money into their pockets with all the new tourists they expect to draw. I think it is more than the color of the coaches that will draw bigger ridership. I am not necessarily against changing from the green color, but I think the only viable alternative is the Grand Color. This is a win-win situation, cause it stands out, is probably easier to clean, and you can make it look authentic. In the future perhaps some old-style San Juan Cars can be built, and 4-6 can be painted dark green for special runs. I realize the cars they have are not really authentic, but the Chama cars are at least someone close with Clerestory roofs. I think they would like fine in Yellow, or Grande Gold paint. Just my .05 worth! I guess I would make this a double positive, by changing the color into AUTHENTIC colors of the former D&RGW, and this makes the train more attractive.
So in 10 years, are they going to want to change the drab black engines. I can see it now, we will have flags painted on the tenders, and smiley faces on the smokeboxes, plus red cabs to match the coaches. All in the name of more customers. Sounds great doesn't it. There has to be a happy medium here for the good of history as well as merchandising!
Greg Scholl
