Weekly Photo Fun 1/10 -1/16/13

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Patches and ditch lights made the CR GP15-1 suitable for my post year 2000 layout. The bulbs are replaced with 1.8mm LEDs. They are a perfect replacement.

ps. I is hard to find prototype photos of CSX GP15-1 with that old CR paint scheme. A bunch of CR GP15-1 with Quality paint scheme made it with CSX patches many years after 2000. The new Athearn CR GP15-1 have that paint scheme. I plan to patch one for CSX use (probable #1554 catches on photos in 2011!)

I don't think I've seen any CSX patched GP15-1s not in the quality scheme, though I'm sure there must have been for at least a brief period.

On the other hand, you might be asking for trouble sticking with CSX. While I do remember seeing a few CSX patch jobs, CSX was much faster to repaint its ex-Conrail units than Norfolk Southern. That said, 1554 did last surprisingly long in Conrail Blue, and was probably literally one of the last CSX owned engines to be Conrail blue. One caption I read suggested at the time of the photo, there was only one other CSX unit in Conrail blue, period.

To be honest though, I havent seen any GP15-1s in a while, but I used to see them all the time years ago. I think NS retired/sold most of theirs, and It seems to always be NS locomotives down in Hainesport these days, despite being a Conrail Shared Assets operation. The last GP15-1s I saw were either Conrail/NS patched, or in the "Dark Future" CSX scheme. I might have spotted a repaint NS GP15-1, but I don't remember.