I just thought up an idea that would be a present for my grandfather and a tribute to my grandmother who has passed. My grandfather is a big GN fan because when he was a logger and worked for the state throughout the 60’s & 70s I’m sure he saw multiple GN locos. I was talking with him and wondered which scheme of GN passenger colors he liked both of us agreed that the BSB was a nice scheme. I was thinking that along the road to the holidays, that I would pick up a gs-4 and some kato cars or a set that I would repaint in BSB.
So the conundrum is where would I place the blue and white on a gs-4. I was thinking of placing the white stripe at the base of the top of the boiler and maintaining the white line along the tender as it was placed in SP colors, then the blue would go down to the bottom of the side skirt on both the loco and tender, should the front of the boiler (where the silver is) stay silver or be painted black?
If it were me, I’d simply cover the upper red portion of the GS with white, and the orange and lower red panels with blue, leaving the black and silver portions as they are.
I’d try to put the large white stripe on the tender so it was in line with the stripe on the passenger cars. Then paint everything below the stripe blue on the tender and the skirting on the engine. I suspect that would go across the tender about where the red stripe with “Southern Pacific Lines” is. I’d leave the black parts of the SP scheme black (or dark gray) on the GN engine.
p.s. Just out of curiosity, why are you doing a c.1967 GN steam-powered passenger train, rather than using the actual diesels GN used??
well I was going to use a GS-4 because it was going to be a tribute to my grandmother, but your post got me thinking Why don’t I skip the GS-4 until later and use a pair of F units. My grandfather said he liked the look of the F’s when we were on our trip. thank you.
What a nice idea for a tribute! The GS-4 will surely look cool in the BSB scheme.
The BSB scheme is also my favorite GN scheme. Never liked that orange and green scheme. Too bad GN introduced the BSB scheme so late, and too bad it never had streamlined steam. Just imagine if they had rebuilt their S-1 or S-2 Class Northerns with streamline shrouding and painted them into the BSB scheme! Man, that would look great!!!
By the way: what is the best GN F45 in BSB scheme available on the HO market???
the GS was going to be a tribute to my grandmother, but my grandpa likes F units and somebody already mentioned that earlier. forget reality, I have an SD90Mac43 painted up for BN.
I was going to do another one with the upper red = dark grey, the upper part of the yellow = white made small enough to match the white on the cars and the bottom of the yellow and bottom read in the big sky blue, but I just don’t have that much time… sorry.
But I have to say, it looks a whole lot better than I thought it was going to. I might make one for myself. How about one in the Raymond Loewy two tone NCL?
And NO, the GN big sky blue F units were goofy to say the least.
And now that I look at it a bit more - perhaps the goat logo back on the tender with the lettering. It isn’t “streamlined” enough to be up there on front.
Very well done! Looks even much better than I expected![:)]
That would probably be the most beautiful steam engine ever to me! Because the GS-4 is my favorite steamer and the NCL two tone green scheme is the most beauiful paint scheme ever to me!
that’s crisp, this is my favorite part of this hobby. what can one do with a paint brush and a great idea. I have a fictional road planned for my bigger layout, but imagine it if you will, A train that resembles a shark in it’s colors varying shades of blue darkest at the top, lighter and then white with some small blue splotches. the passenger trains name is “the Mako.”
Just to keep all options open, remember that between St.Paul and Chicago the Empire Builder travelled over the CB&Q using Burlington Route engines. So you could use say a pair of silver CB&Q E-units.
Plus, the CB&Q did have streamlined steam engines.
That is a Hudson 4-6-4. Here is one that is not streamlined. The Aeolus was originally loco 3002. This was before some final work. Notice the spokes on the pilot truck wheels - that screams old to me. The shrouding was added so that they could substitute on the early Zephyrs. It was removed December 1941.
