rodshaw Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Can anyone tell me what models exist of US locos in shortline paint schemes, ideally from say the last 20-30 years? I've always had in mind that my diminutive layout, Yorkford, PA, would be a shortline railroad, operating something, say, in the colours of one of the Genesee & Wyoming companies, like the York Railway or the BPRR, though it doesn't have to be that. I've seen pictures in layout articles of models with an NECR or Vermont paint job, but it seems in general that models with shortline colours are thin on the ground. Alternatively (though maybe a bit of a cop-out), how realistic would it be for a shortline railroad to run patched or non-patched locos from one of the Class I companies, or for Class I railroads themselves to actually work a small line with just three or four industries? I see pictures of, say, CSX locos going into all sorts of nooks and crannies, but I don't really have the bigger picture. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted March 8, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2013 Can anyone tell me what models exist of US locos in shortline paint schemes, ideally from say the last 20-30 years? I've always had in mind that my diminutive layout, Yorkford, PA, would be a shortline railroad, operating something, say, in the colours of one of the Genesee & Wyoming companies, like the York Railway or the BPRR, though it doesn't have to be that. I've seen pictures in layout articles of models with an NECR or Vermont paint job, but it seems in general that models with shortline colours are thin on the ground. This is N (don't know if Atlas did an HO version) but always struck me as a nice looking scheme: http://www.nscaleamericantrains.co.uk/en/decoder-equipped/21787-diesel-emd-gp-38-low-nose-aberdeen-rockfish-400-dcc-equipp.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Rod Where to start..... I'm going to assume that we're talking HO here. Working straight off the top of my head Athearn have done their ready to run CF7 in a multitude of shortlines and Atlas have produced their MP15 switcher in a G&W scheme although I can't remember which specific road it was. Atlas have also done their GP38/40 family and number of their small GE units in a number of shortline operators and Athearn have done their GP38-2 / GP50 in shortline schemes If you are up for a bit of repainting and decaling then I'd suggest you have a look at the Highball Graphics website as they do a large range of HO and N decals for shortlines with an emphasis on the N.E. US It is pretty common for ex-Class 1 power to hang around in patched form once sold on to shortline service. Or alternativley you could consider using leasor motive power - as an example Athearn recently did a run of their SW1000 switcher in Larry's Truck & Electric (LTEX) scheme. Again Highball Graphics do a good range of leasor company decals. In the past Athearn have produced locos factory decorated for some of the larger lease fleets like Helm (HLCX/HLGX) or National Rail Equipment (NERX) I'd suggest you get onto a proto photo website like www.rrpicturearchives.net and have a trawl thro the shortlines directories and I'm sure you'd find some inspiration Hope this helps Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Yep, loads of schemes have been done, but if you want something *specific* that's now sold out you may have to have patience in your searches! (I'd add Atlas and Bowser running a multitude of North Eastern Alco schemes in the last few years too!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Alternatively (though maybe a bit of a cop-out), how realistic would it be for a shortline railroad to run patched or non-patched locos from one of the Class I companies, or for Class I railroads themselves to actually work a small line with just three or four industries? I see pictures of, say, CSX locos going into all sorts of nooks and crannies, but I don't really have the bigger picture. Some shortlines have even repainted locos into the historic liveries of class 1 railroads. Oregon Pacific have a Soutthern Pacific liveried switcher and the Palouse River and Coulee City in Washington State ran a single SP "Black Widow" F unit until quite recently, although I'm not sure if they've had to pay an extra $10 to Uncle Pete... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CPRAIL3000 Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 It may be Canadian but this is one great colour scheme and they named their locos too. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirailfan/6431692623/in/set-72157622777504048 http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirailfan/6431698691/in/set-72157622777504048/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigZ Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Shortlines running patch jobs, you say? Three ex CSX GP38s running on the Iowa Northern in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; engines are leasers from LLPX (Locomotive Leasing Partners). April of 2001 Pickens has a fleet of ex CSX U18Bs. This photo is from 2001; since then the units have been repainted in CSX Maintenance Of Way Orange...in other words little changed from this. And shortlines with beautiful liveries, this one is hard to beat - the Aberdeen & Rockfish. The livery is essentially the work of EMD designers from around 1950. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof Klyzlr Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Dear Rod, They are relatively rare, but the Apalachicola Northern SW1500s by Athearn are actually a "EMD stock" paint scheme (blue with the white stripes, applied to many types of locos, not just SW1500s), which can be seen on quite a number of shortlines. Patched units are very plausible, as are "solid color" paintschemes esp when applied by the shortline themselves (lining and striping takes time and effort). Depending on the "background story" of your railroad, finding 1980-20xx era locos to run it is actually quite a flexible little era to be working in... Happy Modelling,Aim to Improve,Prof Klyzlr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Thanks all so far, lots of food for thought here. The ex-CSX GP38s are particularly apt, because a CSX GP38 in grey, yellow and blue is exactly what I've got, so maybe a bit of patching is in order. I decided to go into this because my current locos are a bit of a mish-mash. The layout is supposed to be a shortline in Pennsylvania - but I have CSX in a post-1990 colour scheme, Western Maryland pre-1985 and NS black from the mid-80s onward. So something needed doing, and it looks as if RTR shortline colours are a bit hard to come by...patching I'm comfortable with, but I'm wary of spoiling a model by trying to paint it. Meanwhile I'll keep my eyes open for something appropriate. I'd better not mention the 40ft boxcars, which would have been largely extinct by 1980, though they do suit the small layout. Unless someone can tell me there are plenty still thriving on shortlines... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWB Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 It depends on exactly how punctilious you want to be about your layout's "legend". But keep in mind that there are short lines that are hybrid tourist-freight operations, like the Strasburg, which fairly recently repainted its ex-PRR 44 tonner in fully restored PRR paint. There are other tourist operations like the Western Maryland Scenic Ry that repaint diesels in fallen flag schemes, and there are short lines like the Susquehanna and the Southern Ry of New Jersey that have done essentially the same thing. For that matter, the Norfolk Southern has done that, too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'd better not mention the 40ft boxcars, which would have been largely extinct by 1980, though they do suit the small layout. Unless someone can tell me there are plenty still thriving on shortlines... Not really, as the point of a shortline is generally to feed to a mainstream line, so rolling stock needs to be compatible with that. (At least beyond a modest MOW fleet maybe) There's several modern industries you can pick that can use specific types of shorter car though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted March 11, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 11, 2013 Our local, the Goderich and Exeter is part of Railamerica. The locos seem to get shifted around amounfg the subsidiaries. I've seen G&E trains with 6 units on them in about 4 paint schemes -- I don't think they do any needless repainting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 You are more likely to see patched CSX units in YN2 livery (which is fairly rare now on the CSX mainlines). It sounds like you have this. If you google "Bright Future" or "Dark Future" you'll soon find a page explaining CSX's arcane livery patterns.... I hope I've got this right!!!! Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 ...patching I'm comfortable with, but I'm wary of spoiling a model by trying to paint it....The trick is to practice on something cheap, first... ...then, choose a fairly simple scheme if possible. Although Athearn do the CF7, I'll bet they never do it as the Minnesota Commercial's solitary example, especially since they sold it a few years back, so I did my own... A bit more info about it on this old thread For specific Shortline liveries, repainting is often the only way to go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'd better not mention the 40ft boxcars, which would have been largely extinct by 1980, though they do suit the small layout. Unless someone can tell me there are plenty still thriving on shortlines... Where you might find them is on a spur (either attached to the line or orphaned with the switch lifted. They could be acting as storage sheds or just gently rotting (cue heavy weathering/rusting). Like these although they have been repainted: http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.67237,-79.452306&spn=0.000791,0.001294&t=h&z=20 http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.672493,-79.452286&spn=0.000002,0.001294&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=43.672493,-79.452286&panoid=uBfKw7Ze-WjDNpS_WLAQ0A&cbp=12,224.03,,0,-8.85 And over the other side there is another one, brown with a roofwalk, but there is a transport parked in just the wrong spot for Streetview. You can see a corner of it over the truck cab here http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.671973,-79.451797&spn=0.000002,0.001294&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=43.672063,-79.451882&panoid=elFbXS2ng1ph-vfT6YH3zw&cbp=12,225.42,,0,25.05 Overhead: http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.6716,-79.451988&spn=0.000794,0.001294&t=h&z=20 These are on what used to be the CN Newmarket Sub, now owned by GO Transit/Metrolinx, but you could find something similar on an urban shortline. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 You are more likely to see patched CSX units in YN2 livery (which is fairly rare now on the CSX mainlines). It sounds like you have this. If you google "Bright Future" or "Dark Future" you'll soon find a page explaining CSX's arcane livery patterns.... I hope I've got this right!!!! Best, Pete. Yes, mine is the YN2 livery, 1990 onwards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 The trick is to practice on something cheap, first... ...then, choose a fairly simple scheme if possible. Although Athearn do the CF7, I'll bet they never do it as the Minnesota Commercial's solitary example, especially since they sold it a few years back, so I did my own... A bit more info about it on this old thread For specific Shortline liveries, repainting is often the only way to go. Very nice too. If I did my own paint job, I think it would have to be the G&W-owned Buffalo & Pittsburgh, simply because my layout is supposedly based round this area. There is also a decal sheet available. But lots of practice would be called for, and I've no problem with cheap! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 Where you might find them is on a spur (either attached to the line or orphaned with the switch lifted. They could be acting as storage sheds or just gently rotting (cue heavy weathering/rusting). Like these although they have been repainted: http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.67237,-79.452306&spn=0.000791,0.001294&t=h&z=20 http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.672493,-79.452286&spn=0.000002,0.001294&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=43.672493,-79.452286&panoid=uBfKw7Ze-WjDNpS_WLAQ0A&cbp=12,224.03,,0,-8.85 And over the other side there is another one, brown with a roofwalk, but there is a transport parked in just the wrong spot for Streetview. You can see a corner of it over the truck cab here http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.671973,-79.451797&spn=0.000002,0.001294&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=43.672063,-79.451882&panoid=elFbXS2ng1ph-vfT6YH3zw&cbp=12,225.42,,0,25.05 Overhead: http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=43.6716,-79.451988&spn=0.000794,0.001294&t=h&z=20 These are on what used to be the CN Newmarket Sub, now owned by GO Transit/Metrolinx, but you could find something similar on an urban shortline. Adrian Ooh, a sad fate. I think I'll just have to suspend reality on this one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Rod Atlas mp15 G&W, Athearn cf7 W&P. Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'd go for using a fleet in class one colours, patched with decals for one of the leasing companies. That way, when you get tired of the shortline you've spent years evolving you can just soak off the decals and hey presto - a class one fleet for re-use elsewhere. So says the voice of experience.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 2012_072081170022 1.JPG Rod Atlas mp15 G&W, Athearn cf7 W&P. Ray Yup. I'm keeping my eyes peeled. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 and for Prof Kyzlr, my photo of Apalachicola Northern SW1500 #711 at (of all places) Mojave Airport. A rare, genuine EMD factory finish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Well it's not an SW1500, but still very nice. (And a great livery, and a great example of 'not in the right place'!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWB Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 A couple of 40-foot boxcars out of service on the Arcade & Attica in the mid-1990s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Well it's not an SW1500, but still very nice. (And a great livery, and a great example of 'not in the right place'!) ah, I knew I shouldn't rely on assumption - its an SW9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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