This must be the most beautiful Rio Grande Zephyr I have ever seen. Athearn Genesis and some details from detailwest.com
This discovery is really big to me. I slowly begin to understand how importent it is with details on our locos. I don’t know why I like these pictures so much, maybe someone can explain why [:D]
For more nice pictures, look at:
http://www.detailswest.com/FUnit_info.htm
The Athearns are detailed, but with my past Athearn experiences, I can’t take the chance. One thing I did notice, the glare panel on the nose wasn’t green on a Grande F9. At least in the pics I’ve got it wasn’t. I understand your attraction to the Atearns though. They do look good.
Note the pictures of the models - These are detailed to represent the last 3 'F’s that were used on the RGZ - Note even the custom fabricated pilot(result of a grade crossing incident). I suspect the ‘anti glare’ panel may be correct in the last few years of operation.
Jim Bernier
Nice looking models.
That glare panel didn’t look right to me either based on my memory. . .it’s been a long time though. I dug out a picture I took of 5771 in 1982 (only time I rode RGZ), not too long before the train’s demise. The panel looks like some sort of flat gray color:
What a beautiful train that was. I was too young to know the pre-Amtrak years, but blessed to ride RGZ, the Southern Crescent, and the Adirondack when she had the PAs and dome car.
A model and the real one, very cool looking loco’s. I see why you like them, I wouldn’t worry about the glare panel being the wrong colour. I would leave it as it but it would be easy to respray that area the right colour.
Thanks for the great picture. If you have more pictures of her, please post them for us. Thanks again.
When I look at the color on the model and the real thing, the model seems more yellow, the real thing more orange. Or is it just the picture that fools me?
The colors in the photo at the Athearn website look different from any of the above…
the original pics had green reflection panel, the prototype had grey and the athearn photo had a yellowish color, maybe they are all prototypically correct?
Here’s another:
And another:
One more:
Lovely pictures… Thanks…
Guys:
The green antiglare panel on the DRGW diesels would weather to a dusty grayish in the hot dusty outdoors within a few months of use.
But the freshly painted locos did have the green I believe. It didn’t stay looking that way for long, however.
Don’t forget that real paint fades with age. Real paint is mixed in the paint shop and might not be exactly the same from batch to batch. Model paint looks different in different light. The color from pictures can be changed from the actual due to exposure, developing process, age before being developed, and in the printing process, etc.
P.S. You realize the loco in these pictures is not correct for a California Zephyr?
Yes, I know the difference between the Zephyrs now. First California, then Rio Grande and now Amtrak [:D]