Weekly Photo Fun 11/18-11/24

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Hey guys,

Not much done, but I DID customize this Metroliner. #820 was the test car for the Amtrak "Billboard" front. While it would eventually become "standard" on the "Phase II" painted cars, #820 wore this billboard a few years prior to the widespread adoption of the Phase II paint scheme.

It was shaping up to be a difficult project until I found a spare Phase II cab I could repaint. I also discovered that the Tru-Color paint and thinner cleanly removes the Walthers lettering while leaving the paint intact. While this was a pleasant surprise for cleanly removing the Amtrak striping from the cab sides, this could have melted the Billboard face! I ended up using Polly Scale Reefer White instead. Fortunately, my masking held and I put on a clean coat of paint!

Once the end was repainted, I just swapped the ends on a regular PC coach. It only has 4 "pins" and a lighting harness holding it in, so it was relatively easy to swap the faces of the car.

It definitely adds some color to these cars. The more I study them, the more I realize few even had Amtrak patches. Most literally ran blank with no markings at all after the end of the Penn Central era.

Forgive the poor cell phone pictures. I have a few other repaint/alterations of a few other models on the way too.