A friend was intending to model the Rio Grande Southern but decided to built a modern short line instead so I've acquired some of his RGS locos, both brass and MMI. As usual with brass locos most required "fettling" to get then to run satisfactorily and some may remain DC and will not be used on the layout.
One that will is RGS No.40, a MMI C-19, already weathered and fitted with a Soundtraxx Tsunami decoder, The "Sunrise" lettering on the tender needs re-doing, and its starting to flake off on the left hand side, so the tender sides will probably need repainting.
RGS No.20 is a Sunset brass 4-6-0, not yet fitted for DCC but it will be, and used on the layout as a change from the 2-8-0s and 2-8-2s. Its custom painted with the galleon picture on the tender. This originates from the prototype loco being used in the 1950 film "A Ticket to Tomahawk" as the "Emma Sweeney" and painted in a fictitious livery. When returned to the RGS it was repainted black but they left the galleon pictures on the tender. It has recently been restored to working order for use at the Colorado Railroad Museum in a 14 year $1.5M restoration programme.
Another recent acquisition is a PSC (Precision Scale Co.) brass RGS 'Galloping Goose' No.2, a nicely detailed model but getting it to run satisfactorily has been a challenge. The rear bogie is driven by a vertically mounted gearhead motor with its single central fixing screw passing through the bogie pivot. The offset drive from the gearbox has a ball and socket connection to a plastic (or similar material) set of bevel gears driving the front axle. The only thing that keeps the gears in mesh is the position of the motor drive shaft and a minute turn from the central fixing either takes the gears out of mesh or locks them up completely. The two axles on the truck are connected by a chain of plastic spur gears. Various other items needed fixing and after many happy (????) hours of fiddling with the damm thing it now works reasonably well - for the moment at least. Its fitted with a Soundtraxx TSU-750 decoder and stay alive unit.
For the record here is the prototype Goose No.2 at the Colorado Railroad Museum
For anyone not familiar with these vehicles, they were introduced by the RGS in the 1930s when running regular passenger trains became uneconomic but the railroad needed to keep the U.S.Mail contract. They kept the railroad operating until its closure in 1952 with steam power used only for the occasional freight trains as required. Officially the RGS called them Motors.
Following No.2 the RGS built four larger 3 truck units, Nos. 3,4,5 and 7, using more of the donor car section - as in this PSC model of No.5.
Nos. 3,4 and 5 were later rebuilt using the front sections of bus bodies to provide more passenger accommodation (AMS model).
Now that my outside layout has been converted to 45mm gauge it seemed a good idea (at the time) to pre-order a 1:20.3 scale live steam D&RGW 2-8-0 and several freight cars to go round it. The loco won't get its 'legs stretched' much on my track but some other members of the local group of the 16mm society have much longer layouts which it should go round.