MT Blows it again... This time on WM camp cars...

[CVSNE]

Agreed.  The first batch they did in red are very nice.  The odd thing is that the reference photo they used for the red cars is just a page or two away from the photo of the gray car in the WM Color Guide.... :

Lee

Those Morning Sun color guides are the single biggest cause of paint scheme/body style mistakes.  Aside from the obvious problems of color printing shifts etc . . . they tend to show older cars in repainted schemes.  Manufacturer wants to make a 40-foot car -- find a picture in the color guide of a 40-foot boxcar that "looks close" - match the photo (one mistake I recall is Intermountain matching the Rock Island red to a color picture of a faded F unit - so the model ended up black and pink . . .).

Another common reference that has caused more trouble than its worth are the Freight car books by Richard Henderson.

Marty

[Kisatchie]

Over on the Atlas forum, someone pointed out that the WM historical society shows that one car was actually painted silver. Check it out. Right now, it looks like Micro-Trains got it right.

[wm3798]

Research complete.
Yes, there is a photo of car 3025 painted silver, from the roof right down to the trucks in the back pages of the 2005 WMRHS Calendar.

HOWEVER... it is shown on a dead end siding with a set of wooden steps leading up to the side door.  The description says this car was converted to a rest car for crews at the York yard in 1954.  In other words, it was no longer in road service, and was painted silver, which was standard practice for accessory buildings in yards on the WM.

MT models #3021 with a black roof (appropriate for the gray car) and I've not come across any evidence that 3021 was ever in Silver.  In fact, I believe it was the last such car to survive, and I've seen photos of it rusting away at Benwood, WV very much in Gray.

Ironically, if you flip one page, you'll see a lovely color photo of 3021, in solid, and unmistakable gray, with a caption that says so.

So anyway, I'll concede that MT found a loophole, but fer chrissakes, they picked a paint scheme that not only never left the railroad, but one that was applied to one car that was semi permanently parked!

Again, it was harder for them to do this wrong!  Talk about the eye of the needle!
Lee

[Mark5]

Usually, the folks at Micro-Trains work from photos or painting diagrams people send them.

Well, this is certainly not the case for their 91000 series N&W "HL wanna be" hoppers.  :

They have politely ignored my detailed emails over the years.

Mark

[lock4244]

Yeah Joe will just say something like "they are built here in the US so small mistakes should be accepted"

GM, Ford and Chrysler been saying that for years, too...

I sent an email to Athearn regarding the incorrect numbers for the CN SD70I's they've announced. They responded that they'd look into it, so hey, maybe some do listen.

Personally, I think trying to correct MTL is like farting in the wind... possibly they make these errors to generate free publicity on these boards? No such thing as bad publicity, right... Paris Hilton cums to mind?

[ljudice]

Dad-durnit, Lee!!!

It's a BUILDING???  Now MTL is going to rename it as part of it's "Fading Yard Heritage" series and charge $54.95 for it!

[Ryan87]

My guess is they had a surplus of silver painted cars from the Rio Grande run... and went hunting for another silver car...

[tom mann]

<cosby>Well, what did we learn from the gang today?</cosby>

MT got it right afterall!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

<cosby>Well, what did we learn from the gang today?</cosby>

MT got it right afterall!

If they were a structure manufacturer...

[DKS]

Unfortunately, this thread has veered off course and some modelers who do not belong to Railwire have been taken to task for their work, and such criticism is out of line. As a consequence, the thread has been pruned and locked. Sorry, guys! M-T may be a valid target; other modelers are not.