DRGW Steam Generator

These are N scale 3D printable files for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Steam Generator Car — a one-of-a-kind piece of equipment rebuilt by the DRGW from a retired ALCo PB cabless booster unit, retaining the distinctive streamlined carbody of the original locomotive while repurposing it for an entirely new role in the railroad's passenger train consists. Designed to use Kato Blomberg B trucks.

The ALCo PB was the cabless booster companion to the famous ALCo PA passenger locomotive — one of the most elegant diesel designs of the postwar era. When the DRGW retired its PB units from locomotive service, rather than scrapping the handsome streamlined carbody, the railroad's mechanical department converted the shell into a steam generator car — a dedicated car housing steam-generating equipment to provide heat and steam for passenger car heating systems on trains where the head-end locomotive lacked sufficient steam generating capacity. This kind of creative reuse of retired locomotive carbodies was a practical and economical solution that produced some of the most unusual and prototype-specific equipment in American railroad history.

A notable detail of this rebuild is the substitution of Blomberg B trucks in place of the original ALCo A1A trucks that the PB rode on as a locomotive. The A1A arrangement — with a unpowered center axle flanked by two powered axles — was designed to distribute the weight of a heavy locomotive prime mover. With the traction equipment removed and the car converted to a non-powered support role, the DRGW replaced them with the simpler and more maintainable Blomberg B trucks, a practical modification that also gives this car its distinctive and prototype-accurate appearance in model form.

The result is a car that looks unmistakably like an ALCo PA/PB — the same sweeping nose profile and fluted stainless steel flanks — but serves an entirely different purpose, making it one of the most conversation-worthy and historically fascinating pieces of equipment that can trail behind a DRGW passenger locomotive consist.

After purchase, your digital files will be available for immediate direct download from your order confirmation. These files are for Personal Use Only — if you are interested in a commercial license, please contact us.

Please allow a few weeks for 3D printing and shipping. Decals are shipped separately — please allow some additional time for decal printing and shipping after ordering.