Bicentennial GG-1 is out...

[sizemore]

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Kato-N-GG1-CR-1776-p/kat-1372015.htm

So juicy!

The S.

[asarge]

You mean Bicentennial

[DKS]

Saw one of those in the flesh. Didn't look anything like that--it was all shades of grimy grey.

[bbussey]

Thanks for the head's up.  Kato also announced today the Phase II and IV Amtrak Anniversary schemes on the P42.

[sizemore]

You mean Bicentennial

Corrected It's just outside my era by about 3 years, but its still a pretty peice. Hopefully Kato has been able to cash in on their tooling investment

The S.

[rswinnerton]

Wish they would have gotten the description right. Ugh.

[sizemore]

I just took a second look at the paint, looks like the offset is screwed up. The second '76 is botched up, something to pay attention, when purchasing.

The S.

[SkipGear]

There are a couple other screwups also....this is one I painted months ago.



note the ladders.

[peteski]

Even though it is nice that Kato came out with the Bi-Centennial scheme, IMO that is one ugly paint job!

Tony, how did you get the paint to stick well to those slippery-plastic ladders?

[SkipGear]

Even though it is nice that Kato came out with the Bi-Centennial scheme, IMO that is one ugly paint job!

Tony, how did you get the paint to stick well to those slippery-plastic ladders?

The silver was sprayed with Pactra RC car paint then I shot red over the silver on the part of the ladder that needed it.

[bbussey]

The ladders on the stock model can be corrected easily enough.

Tony, whose decals did you use?  Microscale?  Any out-of-register markings can be corrected that way.  Disappointing, but at least there is a solution.

[rswinnerton]

Ever heard the story on this one?

In 1976, a new Conrail wanted to get on the PR wagon and join in the Bi-Centennial fun. A locomotive was chosen (GP38 7776). They also inherited some from other roads (including EL SD45s). GG1 4800 was not supposed to be that locomotive, but shop forces in the Enola shops decided to give her the patriotic treatment anyway. The unit was rolled out and shortly thereafter, the unit was in Enola yard when the CR executives came through on an inspection. Apparently, more than one exec had a complete hissy fit about the money and labor spent on it and the fact that it was done without authorization, so she went back into the shops with orders to paint her blue in accordance with the new corporate identity manual. The GG1s would soldier on a few more years but no others ever wore Dress Blue. 4800 was retired and donated to the Railroad Museum of PA where she still resides today albeit outside and wearing black to protect the body.

4800 in bicentennial:


And in Blue:


And now you know the rest of the story.

[Philip H]

Ya know, that blue scheme is actually pretty cool.

[David Leonard]

So how much money and labor went into repainting it blue?

[bbussey]

... The unit was rolled out and shortly thereafter, the unit was in Enola yard when the CR executives came through on an inspection. Apparently, more than one exec had a complete hissy fit about the money and labor spent on it and the fact that it was done without authorization, so she went back into the shops with orders to paint her blue in accordance with the new corporate identity manual...

That may be, but it wasn't painted that soon thereafter because there are numerous photos of the unit in service in bicentennial garb throughout 1976 and 1977.  There are pics of it dirty also, which is how I intend to model it since my Conrail era is post-bicentennial.