GEC's Layout Progress

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I keep meaning to post an update, but I either held off for pictures, or I forgot to hit post

Ex-Reading Conrail 3640

Well, The first of the of the two Undec GP35s I bought from BDW9535 is now painted up as Reading 3640. Unfortunately I have not taken any pictures. I only left off a few Reading decals that did not appear to be present during the Conrail years while it was patched. Otherwise, its complete.

One hurdle, was that of the 4 numberboards on the engine, only one of them matched the Microscale decal sheet! Fortunately, I have a nearly infinite supply of NJ Transit decals, and it turns out this was exactly the font and size I needed! This isn't really all that surprising though, considering NJ Transit's font and styling was probably taken from Conrail during this time period.

Then engineer's side numberboard matches the Reading decal sheet, while the rest match NJ Transit.



Curiously, the numberboard decals that come with the microscale Conrail sheets never ever seem to actually match the numbers on any of the prototypes I model, except for a small handful of GPs and some switchers. This doesn't appear to be necessarily a result of Conrail being a "patchwork" of railroads. I am curious how they arrived at the decision to print those decals at those sizes and fonts.

NJ DOT GP7 5681 and others

I'm hoping that at some point in the near future, I can begin to paint this model. I think I have the body shell to the point where I am satisfied, and I believe a found a paint color that is close enough to what I am looking for (tru-color US Navy Blue). I would like it if I could find a blue that was slightly darker, or better yet, matched the Atlas U34CH NJ DOT blue, but I might have to settle for this color, otherwise this GP7 (and my E8s) won't ever get done.

In the meantime, Highball Graphics appears to sell Conrail numbers in Red Font, perfect for the NJ DOT GP7s. I'll send them a message first, but hopefully I can order them up and get them soon. I probably won't have these painted right away anyhow.

Hopefully, if this all works out right, I can get my E8s painted and ready to go. I've been holding off on them for a long time, and now its time to see if I can mask the curve on that nose!

At the very least, it would be nice to get the GP7 running because its unique, and it would look good pulling the Rapid CNJ/NJ DOT cars.

Birthday stuff

My girlfriend picked me up a new Conrail boxcar, and a very shiny, Phase II Amtrak Metroliner! Normally, the Phase II paint scheme wouldn't be prototypical for the Metroliners sold by Walthers (They received this scheme as they were rebuilt, and the model does not lend itself to easy conversion). However, Snack-bar coach #868 was repainted into the Phase II scheme after its Phase I Amtrak stripes became tattered.

As a result, its the only unrebuilt Metroliner in the "last" scheme. Indeed, only Coach #820, recieve a partial paint job in the form of a "phase II" Amtrak "face", with Penn Central stripes maintained on the side. Unfortunately, no decals exist for this, but I may attempt to paint this myself, provided i can find the appropriate decals.

So far, so good!



EL/NJ DOT Push Pull Set

While at the Garden State RPM, I found a few nice items (including a few extra flat cars and trailers). The one "deal" I found though, was a three car set of NJ DOT commuter cars. Technically speaking, these cars are unrealistic. They are Comet II models painted as the original Comet Push-pull cars bought for the Erie Lackawanna by the NJ DOT. Unfortunately, the Comet Is are particularly distinctive, with low doors and an unusual cab car end. These are pretty much only stand ins in shape and style only.

Still, I didn't pay a whole lot for them, they run well, and they match my U-boat, so I won't complain. Its an attractive enough set and reliable for the money!

The cars didn't show up well in any photos, but here is the train flanked by an SP Daylight and Milwaukee Road Hiawatha at our Club layout. When every passenger train on the layout is a fancy name train, the few commuter cars really stand out!