PRR FW1 Well Car Load and Support Kit now available at Keystone Details

[Lemosteam]

You're on your own for that box man! 

[towl1996]

You're on your own for that box man! 

Hahaha. You're not psychic, are you?

Even if you're not, you might want to rethink that, the generator and the box would make a nice package deal for 20-25 bucks. 

[chicken45]

I think this picture represents the first load in '52.


I've seen this picture before, but some how missed the black box with the ad on it, I really like that look. That would be a nice addition to the model.

As far as the two different versions offered by Kohs, you gotta wonder how much artistic liberty was used.  Looking at the picture you see what appears to be black trucks and the missing keystone under the box, a mash up of the two renderings from Kohs.    However, there are pictures where two Keystones are seen,lol. Standard railroad my...

I don't think they took any liberty. As I said, there were indeed two paint schemes for the FD2. There's a picture of one in the flat car book from 1972, in Thorndale, PA, that very clearly shows two plain keystones on the car side. One of them actually has an ACI label over it. The "as built" car has a unique plain keystone in a circle, and only on the left side of the car. The decals do not include this late PRR scheme variant.

You don't charge $1600 for a model and then do a half a$$ job. Half assing doesn't seem like the kind of thing that Kohs would do. I'd like to know the story behind the the FCC colored trucks, though. B&W pictures are inconclusive to me.

[Lemosteam]

There's lots of writing ion the Kohs site, maybe they mention the two truck colors?

[towl1996]

This one has a different placard:

@chicken45, do you know when this picture was taken?  It looks like there are two keystones and the trucks appear to FCC, but I agree it's hard to tell from b&w photos. So do you think the 'as built' version had the trucks painted FCC?

[chicken45]

@chicken45, do you know when this picture was taken?  It looks like there are two keystones and the trucks appear to FCC, but I agree it's hard to tell from b&w photos. So do you think the 'as built' version had the trucks painted FCC?

@towl1996
I don't since I had found it somewhere on the web, but take a look at the keystone...it doesn't have a circle around it. It's that late PRR scheme. If we listen to Kohs, the trucks would be black in that picture.
Additionally, T1 tenders didn't have FCC trucks.
I remember seeing some trucks painted FCC, but most black. I don't know if there was a rhyme or reason. It's one detail I'm not going to sweat. Maybe I'll email Kohs about it.

[Lemosteam]

Guys, try this logic, as built, the trucks would have been painted to distinguish them from the T1.  Late scenario likely has black trucks cause the T1 trucks woul have been kept for parts and it was easier to rebiold the bearings off the car so they just swapped trucks as time went on. My story and I'm sticking to it. 

[chicken45]

Guys, try this logic, as built, the trucks would have been painted to distinguish them from the T1.  Late scenario likely has black trucks cause the T1 trucks woul have been kept for parts and it was easier to rebiold the bearings off the car so they just swapped trucks as time went on. My story and I'm sticking to it. 

Most of the T1s were out of service by '52. The FD2 was built (or finished) in April of '52. I don't know why they would want to distinguish trucks from a flat car. You aren't going to see the FD2 roll along and mistake it for a T1. Wikipedia says:
Most T1s, having been displaced by new diesels, were out of service by 1952. All T1 locomotives were sold for scrap between 1951 and late 1955. The last engines were towed westward for scrapping in early 1956.
That doesn't mean that they didn't save trucks, for THIS ONE CAR and it's future, but who knows. It seems unlikely to me, but again, who knows. It is plausible.  Also, we know these trucks came from a T1 tender, but what else used those trucks? The Late PRR steam had 8 wheeled trucks (the J1,  S1, S2, the Q1 (scrapped in '49) , the Q2 (all 26 out of service by '51). So, maybe they didn't always scrap tenders and locos at the same time.
I look another look at the builders photos of the span bolsters and they seem to be the same color as the deck. Maybe. We also know that builders photos don't always reflect revenue service photos.

Here's a little more confusion:


FCC trucks, or just rust? Late PRR or early PC? Because we know it got greenwashed with black trucks:


The trucks almost look like a dull deep green in this picture when it was in CR:


ANd check this one out with the super shiny truck on the end!


Do those trucks look FCC to you?

[chicken45]

New development.
I talked to John Frantz and he had some pics I hadn't seen yet. One was a better photo of the FD2's maiden voyage. It clearly shows black trucks. And the builders photos clearly show FCC trucks. So, it seems they were black in revenue service.
I forgot to mention the I1sa class also used those coast to coast tenders. Those trucks were built to last so he doesn't think they would be swapped out or anything like that.
The Kohs model represents "as built, before revenue service."

Plain Keystone began in 1961, so possibly, the FD2 was repainted around then. That's the second Kohs PRR variation (with the two plain keystones on the side instead of the one special keystone). It went from PRR right to CR and was never green like the FW1 was.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That makes sense. Back when labor was cheap, they used to paint stuff specifically for builders photos, so they could get detail to show up.

And to think, I take the Photoshop "shadow/highlight" function for granted...

[Lemosteam]

New development.
I talked to John Frantz and he had some pics I hadn't seen yet. One was a better photo of the FD2's maiden voyage. It clearly shows black trucks. And the builders photos clearly show FCC trucks. So, it seems they were black in revenue service.
I forgot to mention the I1sa class also used those coast to coast tenders. Those trucks were built to last so he doesn't think they would be swapped out or anything like that.
The Kohs model represents "as built, before revenue service."

Plain Keystone began in 1961, so possibly, the FD2 was repainted around then. That's the second Kohs PRR variation (with the two plain keystones on the side instead of the one special keystone). It went from PRR right to CR and was never green like the FW1 was.

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