Mods / 1940s

• MMilwaukee Road H10-44s - Early Schemeby Dark DerbyThe staple locomotive of the Beer Line! Introduced in 1944, the H-10-44 was Fairbanks-Morse's first locomotive. Known mostly for agricultural and maritime equipment, F-M equipped it with an opposed-piston engine primarily used on submarines. Twenty-three were built for the Milwaukee Road, which k...3.8k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDenver, Mesa & Gunnison No. 223by Dark DerbyAs the DM&G expanded operations in the 1920s, the need arose for a heavy-duty, mixed-traffic locomotive. Not only did it have to be powerful enough for coal and ore drags through the mountains, it had to have a lower-than-usual center of gravity to safely handle some of the sharp curves on the br...3.3k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDM&G Ka 223 Tenderby Dark DerbyThe tenders for the DM&G's K class, unlike the engines themselves, changed very little throughout their service life. They were painted with both the "Rocky Air Line" passenger lettering and the "King of the Rockies" freight logo to reflect the engines' mixed-traffic versatility.3.2k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• GGorre & Daphetid No. 43by Dark DerbyOne of the first liveries we made for the GD, way back in 2021, out at last! No. 43 is one of only a few surviving original GD locomotives, alongside the famous 4-10-0 No. 34, 4-4-0 No. 8, and 0-4-0 No. 10. John Allen would take it along when visiting other layouts, and like No. 34, it was likely...3.0k downloadsupdated 23 mo ago
• MMILW Hiawatha Pack - Pt.1by 76561199504000161This is Part 1 of the Hiawatha Pack. When the second part is done, I will provide a link to it here. -----===== HISTORY =====----- During the 1930s, the Chicago Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago & North Western and the Milwaukee Road all competed to have the best service on the Chicago - Twin citi...3.0k downloadsupdated 20 mo ago
• DDM&G Pullman (Prewar)by Dark DerbyIn 1916, the DM&G began repainting their passenger cars into a more modern olive green, out of the red that had been used since the railroad's founding. It looked good on its own and went especially well with the passenger locomotive livery rolled out in 1923.3.0k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDM&G Boxcar (Prewar)by Dark DerbyThe DM&G began using steel-sheathed wood boxcars like this one in 1929, to replace their aging wooden fleet. A few those were even rebuilt into these, especially once the Depression hit and the DM&G put new car orders on hold.2.9k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• GGorre & Daphetid 43 Tenderby Dark DerbyThe tender for Berkshire no. 43.2.9k downloadsupdated 23 mo ago
• DDM&G Postwar Boxcarby Dark DerbyOne of the first changes the DM&G made after the war was the two-tone gray "Mountain" scheme. It was first applied to boxcars like this in 1948 and became the road's signature passenger livery. Having boxcars in the livery made them decent express cars in a pinch. As electric traction became the...2.9k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDenver, Mesa & Gunnison No. 26by Dark DerbyIn 1923, the DM&G introduced an elegant new scheme for its passenger locomotives. Harkening back to the first five engines on the line, these new engines wore white-and-purple pinstriping and dark green boiler jackets; only slight differences from the freight engines, but differences a trained ey...2.8k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDM&G Hopper (Prewar)by Dark DerbyAs the ore jimmies of the 1890s began to show their age, the DM&G retired them in favor of larger, all-steel hoppers. This is a typical example, built in 1932 of a design the railroad had been ordering since 1926. Some of these would still be hard at work into the 1960s and '70s.2.8k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDM&G No. 26 Tenderby Dark DerbyNo. 26's tender boasts distinctive Rocky Air Line lettering and, to separate it from the freight livery, a subtle purple accent on the striping and lettering. Repainted DM&G passenger engines could still be identified by the high-set "Denver, Mesa & Gunnison" lettering seen here, which stayed eve...2.8k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDenver, Mesa & Gunnison No. 22by Dark DerbyBeginning around 1909, the DM&G began taking new engines in a simple black livery, in stark contrast to the vivid red and gold of their first five. No. 22, a Baldwin engine from 1910, is typical of the time. It served as a versatile freight engine through the Depression and both world wars, endin...2.8k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDM&G No. 22 Tenderby Dark DerbyThe tender for DM&G No. 22, displaying the railroad's signature wraparound striping.2.7k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDenver, Mesa & Gunnison No. 165by Dark DerbyWorld War II ramped up traffic for just about every major American railroad, and the DM&G was no exception. And like many railroads, it was soon found that their engine fleet was struggling to keep up. Double-headers were the norm, and the new K-classes in particular were stretched thin as every...2.6k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDM&G No. 165 Tenderby Dark DerbyThe tenders for the DM&G's Big Boys were almost identical to the UP's "centipede" tenders. At first, they were painted with just the DM&G logo; the numbering was added in 1947 for easier identification.2.5k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• SSNCF 242.A.1by Dark DerbyPossibly the peak of a distinguished career, SNCF 242.A.1 was the brainchild of Andre Chapelon, an acclaimed French engineer and locomotive designer. Applying an extensive knowledge of fluid- and thermodynamics, and a great deal of scientific rigor rarely seen in his field, Chapelon designed loco...2.4k downloadsupdated 5 y ago
• DDM&G Hopper (Postwar)by Dark DerbyStarting in 1947, the DM&G began to paint their hoppers in this oxide red livery, which had been used on their boxcars since the railroad's beginnings.2.4k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDenver, Mesa & Gunnison No. 632by Dark DerbyWhile hampered slightly by a little thing called the Great Depression, the DM&G's electrification efforts were generally successful, especially when coal shortages threatened their steam fleet. Arguably, those first electric engines were what carried the railroad through the Depression, as strugg...2.4k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• GGreat Northern No. 51by Dark DerbyA simple Great Northern livery for the center-cab switcher, seeing how it looks close enough to a General Electric 44-ton and my Pacific Northwest-themed layout-in-progress needed one. This was my first diesel livery, and the old one was surprisingly tricky one to get right; mostly just Photoshop...2.4k downloadsupdated 5 y ago
• DDenver, Mesa & Gunnison No. 442by Dark DerbyOne of the biggest gambles the DM&G ever took was the adoption of electric traction. Long tunnels and steep grades on the main line had been trouble since the beginning, patched up with extra sand on the locomotives and special oxygen masks for the crews. But the success of electrification on Nor...2.4k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• DDenver, Mesa & Gunnison No. 649by Dark DerbyIn 1949, the DM&G's passenger electric fleet got a new look, ditching the old olive green for the railroad's new Mountain Gray scheme. Sleek and shiny, the new paint scheme was...essentially the old one, but refreshed for the forward-looking 1950s. The repainted V8s were crew favorites for decade...2.4k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• ((WIP) Keystone Harborby Dark DerbySometimes you just gotta get away, head to the coast! See the sights (factories), take in the sound of the waves (and factories), the smell of saltwater! (and factory runoff) Welcome to Keystone Harbor, one of those countless harbors that dotted the eastern seaboard in the first half of the twent...2.2k downloadsupdated 18 mo ago
• SSNCF Tender 34.A.1by Dark DerbyThe tender for SNCF 242.A.1, despite the (prototypical) mismatched numbers.2.0k downloadsupdated 5 y ago
• SSanta Fe Berkshireby Dark DerbyGoing through my livery backlog again, here's an ATSF Berkshire I made way back in May 2020! The real ATSF 4197 was an ex-Boston & Maine class T-1a, built in 1928 as that railroad's No. 4003. It was one of seven surplus Berkshires the B&M sold to the Santa Fe in 1945, following a decrease in traf...2.0k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• SSanta Fe Malletby Dark DerbyAnother piece from the backlog. My first, and so far only, livery for the stock Big Boy, based on one of the Norfolk & Western's impressive Y-3 2-8-8-2s! ...wait, what? Norfolk & Western? But it says Santa Fe in the title. What gives? Well, the real ATSF 1795 had three identities over its life. I...1.8k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• MMilwaukee Road S-2 - Early Schemeby Dark DerbyModel by Long, livery by moi A trio of ALCO S-2s in Milwaukee Road colors, numbered from each of the three batches the Milwaukee ordered between 1940 and 1949.1.6k downloadsupdated 5 y ago
• SSanta Fe Berkshire Tenderby Dark DerbyThe tender for the Santa Fe Berkshire.1.6k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• SSanta Fe Mallet Tenderby Dark DerbyThe tender for the Santa Fe Mallet.1.5k downloadsupdated 6 y ago
• HH10-44 BL3 packby microcosmologistNew and improved!1.3k downloadsupdated 10 mo ago

30 1940s mods, most downloaded first. Each one has its own page here with what it needs to run and where its author publishes it; the files themselves stay with the author and are never re-hosted on this site.