Undecorated 2-8-4 What to do with it?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have recently been given a Life Like P2K 2-8-4 as a birthday/christmas gift and it happens to be undecorated.

What am I to do with this engine? It is a nice unit and I am leaning towards using “Modeler’s License” to use my Champ’s Western Maryland decal set but am not sure if other modelers have used different names of thier engines.

2

Why not? does your Railroad have and interchange with Western Maryland? It could be foreign power, or a run through.[^]

3

Go ahead. Its your railroad. If it were me and I liked WM and Berkshires, I’d do it.

You can decal it for WM and make up a story to go with it. Like, Western Maryland bought a used NKP berk and used it in the area you model. Like it was a tidbit of history very few people knew, or somthing.

4

All my locomotives (steam) are ex-Southern Pacific cast-offs. I’ve painted them in my own road’s livery, ie, grimey engine black with railroad roman orange lettering and numbering.

Randy

5

If you are really in a quandry about what to do with it, you could always send the loco to me! It would go well with all my other Undecorated Railroad equipment. I would even be willing to split the cost of shipping… What a nice guy I am!

6

Ok, it has been decided by the make believe Board of Directors to place this engine into service on the Western Maryland. They feel that the current performance of the Mikados is improved upon by this engine, and it’s ability to reduce travel times is a asset to the WMRR COmpany.

Photos will be placed when the project is finished. Thank you for your assistance. It is much appreciated.

Lee

7

One idea … if you want to preserve the collector’s value of such a locomotive, is to acquire a different looking tender and paint that WM or whatever. You’d be surprised how different an engine can look with a different kind of tender.
Dave Nelson

8

dknelson,

The engine shops have incorperated your suggestion and will use a different tender in place of the one issued with this engine. I am interested in preserving the model.

Thank you for a wonderful idea.

9

I always get undecorated locos for my railroad, then I can put my decals on them. Who wants a Union Pacific if it never appeared in real life.