Susquehanna paint schemes

[Snowmojoe]

I read somewhere (and it may very well have been on here) that the NYSW paint scheme in the 1960s was basically a bare metal aluminum/stainless steel look. Is that true? I guess the locos that would have worn this paint scheme would have been RS-1s, but feel free to educate me. Attached is a picture of an HO Scale RS-1 featuring this alleged paint scheme that I lifted from Ebay. If anyone has a photo of a real NYS&W locomotive wearing this scheme, I'd like to see it.

[airman00]

This is true. I read somewhere that this "plain aluminum paint scheme" was simply the result of the poor financial condition of the railroad at the time. In this picture I posted a link to, it's NYSW s2 #203. The engine's a bit dirty but shows off the plain paint scheme.

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=1083319" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Me personally I much prefer the original paint scheme such as this: http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=747619" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

P.S. these are NOT my photograph's. Credit goes to those who took them!

[scottychaos]

The silver & maroon scheme was the original scheme, for both the RS1's and the S2's.
with the maroon band down the side, and a maroon roof:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=90057" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some may have also been originally "cream" or "off white" and maroon, instead of silver:
models: http://www.mrmuffinstrains.org/TrainPic ... edpair.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
im not sure if there were two variations or not, on the original schemes, or if the white was also perhaps a later repaint.

Then the "solid silver" scheme is a later "austerity" repaint, that some, but not all, units received:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2334206" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

some later also received silver, but only a maroon stripe on the top:
model: http://www.mrmuffinstrains.org/TrainPic ... silver.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One RS1 received Bicentennial paint & then yellowjacket paint..and only three total RS1's lasted long enough to receive Yellow jacket paint:
http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/Scotty ... squehanna/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Scot

[Snowmojoe]

OK... cool. Thank you both for the photos. One more question though. In this photo:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2334206" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

240 appears to have black paint on the cab roof, and also the top of the long hood. Is that correct?

The reason I'm asking is that I have a couple of HO RS-1s I was thinking about repainting (they are undecorated), and frankly, this would be a fairly easy paint scheme to replicate.

[Snowmojoe]

The one factual error that seems to be present on the locomotive pic I took from ebay is that it is lettered "SUSQUEHANNA", rather than NYS&W as shown in the real photos.

[Snowmojoe]

Would either of the RS-3s (101 & 104) ever have worn the "Austerity" paint scheme?

[RichM]

I don't thnk so... the RS 3's came over used, well after the GP 18's joined the roster (I believe with the Northern Division and related business units). As the separate business units eventually were eliminated, the motor power was either scrapped, sold or painted in the current NYS&W scheme... although there was some increase in black coverage vs. yellow as the 430's were painted then repainted.

[scottychaos]

Would either of the RS-3s (101 & 104) ever have worn the "Austerity" paint scheme?

No, the two RS3's were second-hand D&H units that arrived on the Susquehanna around 1982.
both were painted straight into NYSW yellowjacket paint.


Scot

[Sid Farkus]

Didn't one of the RS-1s have an experimental green trim to the silver paint?

[scottychaos]

Didn't one of the RS-1s have an experimental green trim to the silver paint?

never heard of that..but maybe.
I just discovered something interesting though!
I googled for photos of NYSW RS1's and found this photo of a model, with a green frame:

http://primemoverdecals.com/images/models/nysw236.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Its a model of 236..so I googled for that, and found this photo of 236:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1100138" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

notice the "green" frame?? well, that is simply faded color film!
its not really green..its just really bad color reproduction..
notice how the ground next to the locomotive is also green!

Here is the same photo, but I fixed the color balance:

http://scotlawrence.smugmug.com/Other/S ... cted-L.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

there was no green in the real scene..
I wonder if someone saw that photo, thought "NYSW 236 had a green frame! im going to make a model of that!"
resulting in the model..it makes sense!
but if that is true, they were misled by bad color balance and photo fading..

Scot

[scottychaos]

More on the green frame..
The photo of the model of 236 is from this site:

http://primemoverdecals.com/modphoto.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Which says:

NYS&W RS1 236
Susquehanna RS1 236 was painted by David Widman using our limited-edition (now discontinued) Susquehanna silver diesels with green lettering set. The 236 was one of two RS1s painted with green lettering for a short period of time as an experiment. Photo by Joshua K. Blay.

hmmm..This now has me wondering if we have a myth on our hands!
im not yet 100% sure its a myth, (the green lettering could be true) but im beginning to wonder about it..
NYSW 236 was scrapped with a black frame and black lettering:

http://www.railpace.com/photogallery/old/nyswalcos.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://scotlawrence.smugmug.com/Other/S ... cted-L.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2852251" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

the only way the green could be true, would be if it was *earlier* lettering than its final lettering, (which was black)
thats possible, but im skeptical..We need more photos to solve this mystery!

The decal website says *two* RS1's had the green lettering..anyone know what the 2nd one was said to be?
photos of that one could help solve this mystery..

But for now, im wondering if that one bad photo created a "green myth"!
it's possible..

Scot

[Snowmojoe]

I feel like it would be hard not to notice that other things in that photo - like the ground - are green when they probably should not be. But... I am a graphic designer and amateur photog, so it's pretty much ingrained in my blood to evaluate the color balance of the images I see. (I also have other related illnesses like identifying all the fonts I see in ads/signs/etc, and stuff like that.) But regardless I am skeptical that the green-ground-photo could be the source of this myth.

There isn't anyone from the NYS&W on here who might know more about this?

[Snowmojoe]

Something else interesting to point out about the green-ground-photo as the source of the silver & green myth:
If you look at the model in this photo again, http://primemoverdecals.com/images/models/nysw236.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, he's got a green stripe painted along the bottom of the short and long hoods, and also across the bottom rear of the long hood that can be seen facing the camera.

Going back and looking at the green-ground-photo, you can see some dirt along the bottom edge of the long hood, which like everything else black in the photo appears green. However, the back edge of the long hood is plainly visible, and far less dirty, and I think therefore distinctly demonstrates that there was no green stripe painted on 236 (at least not at this time) as is shown on the model.

[Snowmojoe]

Holy crap (look at me going psycho on this thread) but I emailed the guy from that model website, and he answered me RIGHT away:

"Joseph,

I’ve attached a great color photo of the 236 with the green lettering. I have been told (but not verified) that the follow units got this scheme:
#204
#230
#233
#236
#240
#244
#252

Unfortunately, we don’t have the decals available anymore. It was a limited run that is now sold out.

Best regards,

Paul R. Tupaczewski
Prime Mover Decals"

His included photo is attached; what do you guys think? It sure looks green there. The color balance on this photo isn't great either... but this one is a little more convincing. It also was dated, which may help research. "Green lettering, Butler NJ 9-7-55 Walter E. Zullig Jr." I assume this is the photographer? If anyone wants a forward of this response so you can get the pic with it's caption, let me know and I'll forward it. You can kinda see that there is definitely a color difference between the black railings and what may or may not be green trim on the edges of the catwalks and maybe the bottoms of the hoods. (Check out the big ol' dent in the front of the short hood, too.)

[scottychaos]

oh yeah! that's definitely green!
even with the color balance slightly off, there is no question the frame and lettering is green..
well done! I love it when a mystery gets solved!

Here is my attempt at color correcting:



thanks everyone!
Scot