
D&SNG No. 1203 Idling in Hermosa, CO
D&SNG No. 1203 is a DE75CT (80-tonner) type narrow gauge diesel locomotive built by H. K. Porter, Inc. in January 1946.
In 1946, the Pacific Portland Cement Company was selling their Plaster City Gypsum mine and narrow gauge railway in Southern California to the United States Gypsum Company. In anticipation of this purchase, the new owners began a search in 1945 for a new diesel locomotive to replace the aging narrow gauge steam locomotives that came with the purchase. On January 3, 1946, U.S. Gypsum received a proposal from Porter for a new diesel-electric locomotive. U.S. Gypsum place an order for the new locomotive at a cost of $69,855.
In 1979, U.S. Gypsum was in the market for newer and larger locomotives. Because of this, they considered the locomotive expendable and put it up for sale. In November of that year, it was sold to Huckleberry Railroad in Genesee Township, MI, near Flint. It would continue to operate there until being retired from service in August 1990 due to serious mechanical issues. It sat in storage for several years until being sold in February 2005 to the Colorado Historical Society for the Georgetown Loop Railroad. It was then moved to the Sumpter Valley Railway in Sumpter, OR for restoration to operating condition.
Restoration work started in 2005 and was later completed in 2007, after which, it was moved back to the Georgetown Loop Railroad and began running tourist excursion trains between Georgetown and Silver Plume, CO. In March 2017, it was traded to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) in Durango, CO in exchange for GE 92-tonner center-cab type diesel No. 9. As of today, it continues to operate both work trains and occasional tourist excursion trains at the D&SNG alongside their other narrow gauge locomotives. In 2022, it received all new wiring so it can MU with the D&SNG's former White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&Y) DL-535E type narrow gauge diesels, Nos. 101, 103, 106, and 107, which they acquired in April 2020.
Most recently, in February 2025, it was announced that the East Broad Top Railroad (EBT) in Rockhill, PA acquired the locomotive from the D&SNG in exchange for another pair of narrow gauge hopper cars. When the locomotive arrives at its new home, according to the EBT, it will be renumbered to EBT 19 and be repainted into EBT black with orange trim, to match the steam locomotive fleet. The locomotive currently is equipped with an Alco 251 prime mover with an EMD control stand.