There is a short line that is based about 2 miles from my house. I would like to get an engine with the same paint scheme for my son. This is practically the only train he ever sees, so I thought it would be cool to get him a model of one and model a small section for the layout I am building (non prototypical, just for fun) that resembles that stretch of road by our house. There is a QVC warehouse, a chemical plant and a couple wooden tressels that are easily seen along the road by our house that the tracks run next too. The photo below is from another location, but similar engine. The line is Commonwealth Railway based in Suffolk,VA. It is part of Rail Link (not Montana Rail Link) which is part of GWI.
I think they have 2 SW1500’s and 2 GP16’s. I do not think my skills are up to doing a custom paint job, but a Rail Link engine with the paint scheme below would suffice for now. The local engines actually have a C R on the logo instead of the R L. My skills might enable me to change those letters. My son is only 3, so I don’t think he would notice the letters not matching.
I thought a SW1500 would work out well to switch out cars for the Ciba Chemical Plant and the QVC warehouse onto the mainline, which I currently have a pair of Seaboard Coast Line/Family Lines engines for. 20 years ago, SCL would be appropriate for this same line.
Have you seen anyone that makes any models with the Rail Link paint scheme? I have searched some, but keep coming up with Montana Rail Link, which is a completely different paint scheme.
Otherwise, can anyone direct me to the correct colors for the orange and yellow to paint it myself?
Keep in mind the names “Genesee & Wyoming” are also printed in the circular part of the herald. It should be possible to carefully remove them and replace them with the appropriate names printed on a blank decal sheet.
If you can photograph the prototype, you can probably get custom decals made! It looks like the parent co may be the same - don’t often see 2 different rr’s with such a close matching paint job!!
From my research, Genesee and Wyoming Inc. is the parent company. Rail Link, Inc is a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., and they operate various industrial switching services around the country. Rail Link operates 26 different short lines in 11 different states. One of their main supported industries are shipping ports.
The line here by my house is probably only about 6 miles long. It services the QVC Warehouse (that home shopping channel) and Ciba chemical plant in suffolk, and then I think a cold storage facility a couple miles down in Chesapeake and finally goes to the BASF chemical plant and APM shipping terminals over in Portsmouth.
The local trains say “Commonwealth Railway” in the logo circle. For me, getting the paint scheme close, making the letters “CR” in the logo and matching the engine #'s is close enough. This is my first layout. RIght now, it is just for my son and I to have some fun. I want it to look realistic, but I am not really concerned with being prototypically (is that a word) accurate. My SCL engines and rolling stock are similar to what ran by my house back in KY, so that is why I bought them. Afterwards, I learned that SCL and Family Lines system also ran here in VA. That was just lucky on my part.
It is actually common for shortlines owned by the same holding company to have the same paint scheme. Kyle Railways’ shortlines all had the same scheme, theoretically. They kept changing the scheme, so some railroads would have locomotives with different schemes. All of Park Sierra’s roads had the same scheme, the same with Railtex and Genesee and Wyoming. Rail America has its own paint scheme, however many, if not most, of its railroads’ locomotives are in schemes from previous owners. Of course it is probably not uncommon to have leased locomotives in other paint schemes and for locomotives to not be repainted for a while.
I’ve been talking to Ken via PMs but I figured I’d drop a line in here for anyone else interested.
I produce GWI and RailLink decals for many railroads, Commonwealth RWY included, and can replicate any new logos off any images.
I’ve been reading the forums for a while, this is just the first time I felt as though I could contribute something worth-while, and I apologise if this some how crosses into Advertising, its the only way I know to help out in this case.
Also I apologise for the 9-posts that were here momentarily, my computer spazzed out.
