As those of you following As the Stomach Turns know, we last left it that I was waiting on some Tuscan Red paint and I was going to make Lil Guy part of my PRR fleet. What I didn’t tell you and was my ace in the hole was that I was also waiting for my PRR Proto 2000 S1 so that I could match color schemes.
Guess what? The Proto S1 which I hadn’t seen is all black with gold decals. I had images of vast fleets of Tuscan Red (I really like that color scheme on passenger cars) PRR running from my own 6 track passenger terminal. If the E7 comes and is all black, I swear I’m going all freight and take over a switching yard somewhere.
It’s not black (unless it’s Penn Central, not PRR). It’s “Brunswick Green” which is best described as black, with a drop of green in it. Most often, it DOES look like black, but when the light hits it just right you can see the hint of green. It IS a correct color for PRR.
Danged if I don’t have to squint both eyes and imagine that there’s green in there.
So now I’m going to paint the body Brunswick Green and the rails black and try to imagine there’s a difference. I knew there was imagination involved in this hobby but sheesh.
I think I’m going to paint it black and imagine it’s Tuscan Red.
A good example is the GP up on Horsehoe Curve, if it’s still there and they haven’t moved it for restoration yet. On the non-rusted patches of paint, if you are on the shady side it looks black, go around to where the sun shines on it, you CAN see the green. Some model paints get it right, some(like Floquil) are WAY too green.
Well, it happens. One time I bought a reefer without seeing the actual product before online. When it came, it was a different paint scheme than I thought I was getting. Sure it was accurate, but not the one I wanted. That yelloe ART reefer sat on my shelf for a while, and evenutally I stripped and repainted/decaled it to dual herold PFE livery.
You may want to repaint her. Being a Pennsy hood unit, it shouldn’t be too hard.
well as usual never say never. Early PRR passeneger engines were DGLE and switched to Tuscan about the time the PA’s and E7’s were delivered. Better check which one you ordered becasue it could be either paint scheme and would be correct BUT the never say never is that there was one swicther painted Tuscan for use at Sunnyside Yard in new york. The bad news is that it was a Baldwin not an EMD.
The PRR is/will be the “Brunswick Green” that Randy mentioned. It does look black initially but has, what I call, a “whisper” of green added to it. I would assume the E7 would be the same paint scheme.
I wasn’t clear. Did you actually receive the S1 today, or are you still waiting for it to arrive? If it did arrive, did you try it out yet?
I’m following the saga of “Chip in the Train Yard” and it gets curiouser and curiouser all the time. You are right, your wife has probably got wind of how much you are spending on trains and getting ready to slam on the brakes. I’ll keep watching.
painting an engine really isnt that hard. Some of you may remember a couple months ago when i painted my first engine. It came out great! Still havent got around to making the decals. But i detailed it. Theres pics of it if you click the link in my signature.
Guys,Let’s paint the PRR freight units their true color…Grimy Black ![;)] The freight units may have started life as “Brunswick Green” but it sure didn’t last long…Only the passenger units was Tuscan Red.
I usually break mine in on the bench, taking the shell off and supporting it so that the wheels don’t touch anything, then connecting it to a power supply and running it at different speeds in both directions for a while. Actually, I usually totally dis-assemble my engines first, clean, lubricate with my lube (Dexron II), polishing the wheels treads, then carefully re-assemble, gauging as I go, and then run it in. Once it runs well slowly in both directions, then it is ready for the track - not before. No use dirtying up the wheel treads while trying to get it to run in the first place. But then, that’s what I’ve figured out over quite a few years of running trains.
Simple way to break it in: Let it run around and around in a circle for an hour or two.
Railroads often had several paint schemes: SP had its Daylight colors, Black Widow black silver & red, and the gray & red Bloody Nose. Western Pacific’s diesels started out black with white stripes, but then received silver-and-orange “Zephyr” schemes, later replaced with green bodies and orange lettering, or orange bodies and black lettering. Just because two locomotives ran on the same line doesn’t mean they’ll carry the same paintjob…
I do the same thing, at least if it’s a loco like one I already put a decoder in. If it’s something new I ALWAYS check the stall current and check the DCC plug (if so equipped) for stupid wiring mistakes that will fry the decoder - witness the P2K’s with dead shorts across the one function output, or the MDC Critters with the constant lighting diodes installed backwards as to dead short the FOF and FOR functions.
Mechanical break-in occurs just fine running under DCC power.
The Proto 2000 S1, in my uneducated opinion is highly detailed and you can tell that there is quality there. I have running around the track now–well running is not quit the right word. Mosey is better. At 50% throttle on my Tech II 1400, it takes 80 seconds to get around a 6’ oval. Anyway, here it is.
