RailSmith - 74010 - Passenger Car, Pullman, Diner - Rio Grande - Royal George

Specific Item Information: The DRG&W had 3 Buffet-Lounge cars in this series, all build by Pullman and were delivered to the DRG&W in 1950. Two of these cars went to the PRR and survived to Amtrak. The third was the car Castle Gate that went to the D&H.

The scheme known as ‘Grande Gold’ was introduced in 1949 when the Prospector and Royal Gorge trains were (mostly) streamlined. This release is for the car named Royal Gorge in this original as delivered four stripe scheme.

On the DRG&W, both the Diner and the Buffet-Lounges were unusual floor plans. As such we have selected the Buffet Lounge as the windows are closest to our new fluted diner. As on the prototype, our classic version of this beautiful car has full skirts.

Road Name History: The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (reporting mark DRGW), often shortened to Rio Grande, D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado in 1870. It served mainly as a transcontinental bridge line between Denver, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1988, the Rio Grande's parent corporation, Rio Grande Industries, purchased Southern Pacific Transportation Company, and as the result of a merger, the larger Southern Pacific Railroad name was chosen for identity. The Rio Grande operated as a separate division of the Southern Pacific, until that company was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad. Today, most former D&RGW main lines are owned and operated by the Union Pacific while several branch lines are now operated as heritage railways by various companies.

Brand/Importer Information: RailSmith is a brand launched by Lowell Smith in 2019. Lowell acquired the toolings from Walthers.

With each release, RailSmith will bring passenger cars from across the spectrum of North America’s railroads, with the goal of building entire trains over a period-of-time. It is our plan to release cars that might be for a specific train, but you can use these cars as you see fit, as did the railroads.

Production plans are grand, but we believe they are also achievable. We do not have the capabilities to release an entire train at once, but being able to focus on one release (two-or-three cars at a time), we can build a train over time.