Never saw a discussion about the hobby companies producing engines with the what if they didn’t merge etc. paint schemes. This is different from the heritage pain’t jobs. Opinions?
I guess you are asking about the “foobie” paint schemes, such as a PRR P5a electric in New York Central two-tone gray and such?
I don’t think I’m in the market for such a thing but apparently there IS a market for such items. I suppose you could include some of the Holiday “special edition” paint jobs, then go into (you name it) NFL, state capitals, NASCAR, ad-nauseum.
Ahem…
Kadee-xmas-2021 by Edmund, on Flickr
I’m OK with such things as long as the manufacturer specifies that it is not an accurate representation of a real prototype. If they can make some money off it and offset the cost of bringing new models to market, so be it.
Regards, Ed
I dont remember if they ever mde them (I think they were always pre-mergers) but I feel the need to have a manufacturer make a SPSF paint scheme line
Also, I think movie trains would also be kinda cool, like the sierra mountain line from Runaway Train! or (for the other kiddos) some AWVR
Honestly I think ‘what if’ paint schemes are a good idea
Didn’t the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe produce a SPSF (or was it SFSP) paint scheme on some of their locos before the ICC turned thumbs down on their merger plans? My fuzzy memory of this is that the paint scheme was red and yellow.
Your wish is my command, John.
Your wish is my command, FailRanner.
I guess I should disclaim: the model shown was custom painted (by a modeller named Eric Miller), NOT produced by a manufacturer.
And wow, those colors are mighty vivid mustard and ketchup. Would you call this a McGeep? Merger King? Wendiesel?
The spsf paint kob was called kodachrome after the slide film box for kodak’s slide film. Same colors. Here is Athearn’s version of that
Shane
on ebay the other there were a bunch of steam engines painted for conrail.
One AEM-7 I didn’t get to run:
Back during the 1980’s Model Diecasting (Roundhouse) actually DID offer several limited edition SPSF freight cars, factory painted. They were still kits like everything else then, but you could get those freight cars with multiple road numbers AND there were some cars that were wishful thinking paint schemes, not factually correct on that particular car. They are rare but do turn up at the train shows.
John
Not sure if this counts but my first train that I got when I was five was a Marx set with a Penn Central steam loco…
I like SP, and all of its paint schemes to varying degrees, with that one glaring exception, Kodachrome!
That’s probably why the ICC banned the merger! [(-D]
Dan
After the merger was rejected someone said that SPSF was short for “Shouldn’t Paint So Fast”
Kato did a number of SPSF locomotives in N scale. The two that quickly come to mind were SD45’s and U30C’s some of which were actually painted in SPSF colors.
I know this isn’t really what we’re on about here but I recently got a sort of fantasy paint scheme that I didn’t want - an Athearn MRL SD70ace that is definately a shade of purple not blue no matter what light I look at it in.
Anyways the real subject matter as Mr Pullman says as long as it is stated as such then why not? My thing? Not really but that everything John Deere caper has been going forever and makes money which isn’t offensive to me.
Some of the older modellers might remember back in the 1970s when Walthers was still a major decal manufacturer, they published something (I have a reprint in one of my 1980’s Walthers decal catalogues) about how they had decided to bow to requests from modellers and issue a Penn Central steam engine decal set, even though it was not prototypical.
https://hotraincollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/hoc-walthers-penncentral-decals.jpg
https://hotraincollector.com/collecting-penn-central-models-1968-1976/
I guess I don’t mind “fantasy” equipment, if it’s clearly labelled as such, so an unsuspecting newer modeller doesn’t buy it thinking it’s prototypically correct. I guess the fantasy ones may be more something for collectors than modellers. I’m more OK with a sort of “close enough” foobie model when a completely accurate model isn’t out there.
For example, the current MR has a question from someone wanting to model a Soo Line Mikado. Outside of brass I don’t know that any Soo Line engines are available, but the Soo had a number of Mikado, Pacific, and Mountain engines that were very close to USRA engines in design. If someone making HO USRA engines wanted to offer one in Soo
For me, it depends on the scheme.
If I can plausably explain it, and like it, I would be inclined towards it.
Like the Erie Lackawanna painted ES44AC I have. NS could have done a EL heritage unit, in addition to the Erie and DL&W units they did paint. So it is a plausable scheme.
(Although mine is explained differently - my fictional line hosts NS run through’s, and as a concession, NS allowed my railroad to tack a one-off locomotive on their GE order, and since they chose to not do a EL heritage unit, my railroad received the green light to do one.)
The Athearn AC4400CW NS Heritage units can be exlpained as “close enough” in my opinion to qualify, as could the Intermountain CNW ES44 #1995, UP simply did what NS did, and split their heritage painted units between EMD and GE units. So although these are all “fantasy painted” units, they are very plausible. (Yes, as model railroaders, we know that a AC4400 is not the same as a ES44AC, just like a GE is not an EMD SD70ACe. But I won’t tell if you don’t.)
The above Athearn and Intermountain units are very much like the AC4400 I am custom doing as a stand in for a WNY&P AC6000 unit. It’s close enough that, unless you know locomotives well, and know that WNY&P 6003 is a rebuilt AC6000 unit, people won’t notice the difference between them. (And it looks so close to the part, while in use it might even fool those who do know the difference between the 4400 & 6000 models if they are not paying close attention to it.) Those who know are expecting it to be a wide cab GE AC6000, and they see a wide cab GE AC locomotive, so they could assume it’s a AC6000, even though it is not, and not even give it any other thought.
(Although now I ruined it by blabbing it here for all to read… Just pretend you didn’t see that part. [X-)])
I have also done a couple of “what if” freight cars, that, while not 100% correct, the railroad&
One thing I would like to metion, a fantasy loco i found on ebay one time was a dash - 10… it was a AC6000CW with a 8-40W cab and nose
Yes! This! This locomotive reminds me of the time me and one of my buddies tried to make a layout plan with the theme SPSF in western oregon. Too bad he had stuff happen and asn’t able to make it happen. [:'(]