D&SNG No. 7 "Big Al" Operating At the Colorado Railroad Museum, July 2022
D&SNG No. 7 is an 87-tonner center-cab type narrow gauge diesel locomotive built by General Electric (GE) in August 1975, originally for the Algoma Steel Railroad Company. It would later be sold in 2002 to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) in Durango, CO, following the 2002 Missionary Ridge wildfire, and given the nickname "Big Al". It was used on the D&SNG for both switching operations, as well as operating short excursion trains from Durango, CO to Rockwood, CO and from Rockwood, CO to Silverton, CO. It was unable to operate excursions all of the way from Durango, CO to Silverton, CO due to not having enough horsepower to do so.
Following the D&SNG's acquisition of four former White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&Y) DL-535E type narrow gauge diesels (Nos. 101, 103, 106, and 107) in April 2020, it would later be sold again in December 2021 to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, CO and eventually moved there on April 20, 2022. As of today, it is currently one of four operable narrow gauge diesels at the Colorado Railroad Museum and is used to operate short excursion trains on the museum grounds.
Trivia[]
- Prior to being sold to the Colorado Railroad Museum in December 2021, Big Al was originally painted in a cascade, silver, and orange paint scheme, but later repainted into a black paint scheme in 2020.
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