I have 2 older Atlas SD35 and GP40 in Ho scale. The SD35 is SP and the GP40 is Cotten Belt. They both have the bloody nose paint scheme.
My question is they both do not have the logos on the nose as in photos I have seen.
The SP is missing on the SD35 and the SSW is missing on the GP40.
Is this an error on Atlas’s part? Should I just add the decals myself or is this correct? Some have the logos on the nose and some dont depending on the year built? Confused.
Going off what I have seen, I assume this must be an error. But they can easily be added with some Nose Decals with the appropriet letters from Microscale.
Not every SP bloody-nose-scheme engine had the SP on the nose–I saw a lot of them (there are still plenty of them scooting around Roseville Yard) and the SP on the nose was more an exception than a rule–some have it, some don’t.
Atlas didn’t make an error. When delivered, the SP SD35s and GP40s carried only the road number on their ends. The large initials weren’t added to SP hood units until 1973 (possibly as early as 1972); the Cotton Belt units didn’t start receiving large initials until about 1983.