Recreating the Route Rock Engine

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello all,

I need help with resurrecting the Route Rock Engine for my N Scale layout.

I have been collecting the various freights, hoppers, gondolas and even a couple of Bachman Engines. But I need more. I want to do a custom Route Rock engine using an Atlas Undecorated engine. Tthe engine would have to be DCC ready or DCC Equipped.

What I need to know if what was the engine type GP-?? that is available for this project and:

Paint color and where to get decals to match the engine type.

Thanks,

Sherman[:D]

2

Rock Island had many locomotives in that scheme. From photos I have seen, they had GP-38-2s GP-7s and B-23-7s. I am sure there were more as units were repainted.

You might want to check the Fall-n-Flags website for more photos and Ideas.

James.

3

Sherman,

If you’re talking about a “Route Rock” diesel, I’ll assume you’re interested in the Rock Island’s baby blue and white paintscheme (affectionately known as bankruptcy blue). The RI had many engines painted in this scheme, so your choices are pretty good. Check out this website for Rock Island diesel photos:

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ri/ri.html

As for DCC-ready N scale diesels, Atlas is your best bet. They make models of the GP7, GP9, GP35, GP38, GP40 and U25B, and have made most of these in RI paint at one time or another.

Microscale is basically your only reliable source for N scale decals:

http://www.microscale.com

They make two sets of decals for the diesels you’re talking about, along with 20 others in RI.

4

I also model the Route Rock in the blue scheme although mostly in modern times. Here is a link to a site I frequently go to for needed info. Hope this helps.

http://www.rockisl.com/index.htm

Jeremy

5

Wow! Thanks for all of the help. The links were a great help. So, now I am off to my LHS for the above items. What color would match the blue color?

6

I think Big Sky Blue with a few drops of Conrail Blue added to deepen the tone a little would be a good match.

James

7

Is the paint Testors?

I had planned on spraying the shell instead of using a brush. But I guess brushing is pretty much the only way to get the color mix. I don’t own a air brush kit.

8

I’d actually use Big Sky Blue with a little white in it. Bankruptcy blue wasn’t a dark color.

And spring for an airbrush. They can be had for as little as $30 for a basic airbrush, and make a WORLD of difference in painting models. It’s especially useful when working in the smaller scales, where brushed-on paint will blob out most of the details.

9

The paint brand I was referring to is Floquil.

The Testors Mix for Big Sky Blue is 5 parts Sky Blue to 2 parts dark blue. (I live in wyoming and often have to mix my Railroad colors from military colors.)

I brought up Big Sky Blue because the railroad I have been most enamored with lately has been the GN in the Big Sky Blue era.

James