I manage to get yet another SP road-switcher from atlas HO Its a a used one but good overall,the paint scheme is the one for the road-switchers SP i believe tiger stripes orange with aluminium front and back endsWhile reserching this loco which is the RSD-4/5 SP n.5294 i noticed that it was retired in 1960 and traded in for rebuilding
Can anybody please tell me when was this switcher first put in service by SP ?
The tiger stripes/aluminium paint scheme exclusive for the road switcher of SP is it prototopically representative until 1958 also for this loco ?
The SP put RSD-5 unit 5294 (class DF-115) in service in April 1953. They were delivered with the long hood being forward. (The “wings” indicate the front end with a Black-Widow-painted locomotive.) In 1953 the Black Widow paint scheme was adopted for roadswitchers such as this locomotive. However, this locomotive was delivered with the same paint scheme as the switchers (black with tiger stripes on the frame) except for silver ends. I see photographs of sister locomotives with the Black Widow scheme taken in 1957, 1958 and 1959. Don’t know when/if 5294 received the Black Widow scheme, but it was highly likely and before 1958. Again, try to find a dated photo.
The Black Widow paint scheme was after the tiger stripes / aluminium ends scheme ?
Do you think the atlas model is suitable for the time period 1953-1958 [in the tiger stripes/aluminium end scheme] and therefore can be used prototopically with the atlas HH660 discussed in another post ?
The ‘Tiger Stripe’ switcher scheme was applied to early road switchers line the RSD4/5, and SD7’s. With the delivery of the SD9’s in 1954, SP changed to a ‘Black Widow’ paint scheme like seen on early F units. Repaints of the early units got the ‘Black Widow’ scheme until the grey/red ‘Boody Nose’ scheme replaced all of the previous paint schemes.
Your model sounds like it is in the ‘delivery’ Tiger Stripes scheme - when it got repainted(if ever) was post 1953 - I would not be too worried about it. There are more than enough ‘rivet counters’ who can waste there time nailing down the exact date…heck, it could have been repainted in the ‘Bloody Nose’ scheme by 1960.
I too see no cause for concern operating your two Alco’s as they are. 1958 was a recession year in which SP took suffered a severe drop in carloadings and in conjunction with SP’s economy program extended many existing paint schemes well into the 60’s and beyond.
Stefano, yes, the Black Widow scheme was subsequent to the Tiger Stripes as it relates to roadswitchers. Both the HH-660 and early RSD-5s had tiger stripes contemporaneously for several years in the mid-1950s, so their simultaneous placement on a model layout shouldn’t raise any serious question if one is modeling that era.
Thanks very much again for your reply Is not about the rivets counting but just to have an idea in terms of historical feature about the various paint schemes of the SP before the blood nose that we all know
i was confused by the similarity of the switchers paint schemes of the 1950 and the fact that they apply differently to
YARD switchers tiger stripes on black overall
ROAD switchers tiger stripes on black with aluminium ends
. When you say that both had the same tiger stripes paint scheme you take in to account that the RSD-4/5 had tiger stripes on black but also had aluminium ends which was not the case for the HH660 am i correct ?
Yes, the early SP RSD-5 roadswitchers (like the Baldwins and EMD SD7s) came with silver ends and tiger stripes along the sides while the pure switchers like the HH-660 had no silver ends but tiger stripes on the ends and the sides.