Lately I have been getting a kick out of using the two best rail photo sites on the web to locate actual photos of my locos in action. By that, I mean the actual loco number wherever it has been captured in the past (my diesels anyway).
I have about 96 locos of many road names in the 1950s to 1960s era. I has been a real treat to enter the road name and the loco number and see an actual photo come up. This happens for less than 10% of the collection.
It is fun to compare the photo to the actual item behind me. And the shots are great for future weathering ideas. Most of the successful hits have one photo or two at the most, but a few are a goldmine. Some great photographer(s) have taken 40+ shots of DMIR No.210 for example. There are a dozen or so of BNSF 1000 etc.
I am really pleased when some original shots of F units appear and early Geeps.
A few links are good for tracking down the extended history of a loco as it makes its way from one railroad to another.
If you have a lot of locos maybe you have already done this. If not, give it a try and see what you can find of your collection.
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