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Hi OGR...  i see the new Lionel Tunnel Motors are out to dealers...  i was considering the Rio Grande units...

Does anyone have these new units?  Can you please post pictures?

 

I would like to see any you may have, such as the new bicentennial cotton belt???

Thanks!

 

Last edited by Super O Bob
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tcripe posted:

Looking at the 2018 volume 2 catalog, I didn't see any Rio Grande tunnel motors. Might you have mistaken the Wheeling and Lake Erie ones? They were bought from the Rio Grande and kept their paint scheme.

Terry

Small detail: W&LE kept the paint scheme, but they repainted them in a darker, more reddish shade of orange. Hopefully Lionel will get the D&RGW color right this time. They said they would, after receiving criticism. Previous Lionel offerings have been closer to the W&LE color.

Related image

Image result for rio grande sd40

D&RGW 5362

As an aside, Canadian National is the only Class One still operating tunnel motors.

CNDMIRSD403SD45T2406

"Canadian National is the only Class I railroad in North America that is still operating hand-me-down tunnel motors today. CN SD40-3 No. 406, which was constructed as SP SD45T-2 No. 9171 in 1972, leads ore train U717 at Kelsey, Minn."

Last edited by breezinup
Super O Bob posted:

The rio grande changed orange again in 1982 to 1983, cant recall excact date, i wrote it down somewhere.  That last orange is vivid just like the W&LE orange.

I don't know about that, but the bottom photo is a DRGW GP60 with the regular Rio Grande paint color, and these weren't built until 1990.

In any case, the top photo is a Tunnel Motor taken in June, 1993, at Salt Lake. Certainly looks like a fairly recent paint job. Hopefully the Lionel version of the DRGW Tunnel Motor will look like this and not with the W&LE version of paint. No. 5378 DRGW Tunnel Motor also shown below the W&LE shot.

Image result for wheeling & lake erie railroad diesel photos

Image result for rio grande railroad sd40 diesel photos

 

 

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Last edited by breezinup

According to Utah Rails-- On October 29, 1984, the parent company of the D&RGW railroad, Rio Grande Industries, was purchased by the Anschutz Corporation. Several pieces of equipment were refurbished and repainted. The 20 newest locomotives on the railroad, the 17 SD50s (new in September 1984) and the three GP60s (new in May 1990), were delivered in this newest shade. When seen together with the other two shades of orange (the original Aspen Gold and intermediate Kansas City Orange), the later shade is obviously different.

So, based on this, unless the SD40T-2's were repainted (which I'm not aware they ever were) they should ALL have the lighter orange logos-- NOT the Wheeling Orange- 

Thanks jeff...  i dont think RG tunnels were painted.  Just the WLE units resemble that new orange in 1984...

It is more vivid orange, and looks like those WLE units.

My original posting was regarding the post 1963 aspen gold that was to be changed on these new lionels.  

The 3 'orange' colors are:

pre 1963 aspen gold (more like switcher scheme)

Post 1963 aspen gold (more orange color)

And the last 1980s vivid orange color.

Last edited by Super O Bob

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