Wright writes.....

[Headstock]

Why stop at two liveries? Why not have four in as many carriages?

 

41290_Torrington-ExeterC-local_nr-Instow_1962_m by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

The Directors really understands where you're coming from Robert, it's a great design but we feel the concept needs a little more work. What it needs is an extra something, have you considered a linking motif?

[Black Marlin]

As regards colour combinations and liveries, might I make mention of one excellent one from my own neck of the woods? Locomotive = GNR(I) pale blue with red footplate; Coaches = dark green (slightly darker than Bachmann's interpretation of British Rail's Southern Region green). Seldom seen because rarely modelled, it is nevertheless awfully pretty...

 

*edit - Wikipedia has a photograph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNRI_Class_V#/media/File:Steam_Train_approaching_Peter%27s_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_344126.jpg

Edited January 4, 2017 by Black Marlin

[MJI]

 

60130 on Down QoS.jpg

 

Whatever one's partisanship, I don't think anyone can deny that a clean Brunswick green Pacific and umber and cream Pullman colours really go well together. The loco is the usual DJH Wright/Rathbone combination and the train is Wright/Rathbone as well. Pullman colours still pass this spot today, but not all the cars are true Pullmans. That said, they do provide interest. But the current whole railway scene to me doesn't have the same interest as the one depicted on the model (obviously). Were we to model Little Bytham as it is today, apart from having to make the overhead catenary, it would be much easier; no points/crossings, no signals (other than two colour lights), no platforms, no station buildings (other than the booking office and stationmaster's house), no girder bridge, a much simpler occupation bridge and no signal box. The big downside would be the amount of Woodlands Scenics material I'd have to buy! 

 

One thing missing from this picture are the nearer telegraph poles on the west side of the railway. Whenever we have a running session, with drivers on the far side, they're uprooted for their own safety. I should have put them back!

 

 

A little like GWR colours

[MJI]

Golly five engine units on that Santa Fe train! That is a lot of horses. I too liked the green/maroon combination colour wise but surely the best was the electric blue and maroon as seen on the WCML ? The best modern livery which seemed to suit all it was applied to was the Swallow Intercity one. Stunning but a so and so to model. When you go back the SECR green takes a lot of beating as does a GCR Atlantic in all its finery. But then locos were seen as works of art almost with manpower readily available to keep it all shiny.

 

Martin Long

 

Some of them were not exactly very powerful.

 

The first US 3000bhp Diesel was over 300 ton and had 4 engines, the next was about 270 ton and had 2 engines. Baldwin DR-12-8-1500/2

 

Not long after English Electric managed 3300 bhp for under 110 tons.

[Focalplane]

The Santa Fe consist does have a lot of horses and they are needed for the reason that long "drags" exist over both the Rockies and the Appalachians. Diesel engines also lose power at altitude. Loco failures happen and having backups far from MPDs simply doesn't make sense, so better to have one with you. Given the length and tonnage of most long distance freights there is also the need for braking power, half a train may be going uphill while the other half is going downhill, at some point the dynamics of the train can change very rapidly.

[t-b-g]

A little like GWR colours

 

Even more like Great Central Railway colours (but lacking the crimson or brown frames, depending on period, plus much fancy lining). Unlike the GWR, the GCR really did use Brunswick Green with Brown and Cream carriages. And yes, they look fantastic! 

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by t-b-g

[APOLLO]

The 5 unit Santa Fe train in Chicago Dearborn station is formed of EMD F units Front and rear being A units with cabs, centre 3 powered B units without cabs. These single engined F units varied from 1500 to 1759 HP dependant on type (there were a few variants). Later 12 wheel twin engined EMD E units were built mainly for express passenger service, again in A & B style. My cabinet models are Rivarossi E6 units, Most AA, though two are AB (Frisco & Southern). Just a small potted history, as ever it gets more complicated the deeper you research !!.

 

La Salle St station served the New York Central and the Rock Island, so in the early 50's boasted Niagara's and other NYC steam on the many passenger trains, though the Rock was dieselised by then - a nice deep maroon livery that would suit most here. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaSalle_Street_Station

 

Nearby Dearborn was a tatty, small but very modellable station, it's grace was the many colourful passenger trains of various railroads that are listed in the link below. One or two still had steam power in the mid fifties (Grand trunk Western)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dearborn_Station

 

I bought a superb little book back in the 70's - "A Train Watchers guide to Chicago" by John Szwajkart. Full of interesting photos plans etc. I drew up many complex HO scale plans that would have been to costly & unworkable, so I decided on American O scale instead, that was very affordable back then.

 

For anyone interested in Chicago Railroads have a few hours on this Flikr site, Chicagoan Mark Llazuna has well over 6000 photos spanning many years. His photos are superb and illustrate the many varied railroad colour schemes over the decades. Chicago was (and still is) the "Crewe Junction" of mid America

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7547061@N02/

 

Brit15

[coachmann]

For those people who are still enamored by the mismatch of Maroon and green, I would advise them to try a combination of maroon trousers and a bottle green shirt, perhaps with a natty orange striped pattern, then see if your Missus lets you leave the house.

When Corporate Blue got widespread application, someone thought it was ghastly enough for the following comment in a magazine........."Would you paint your bathroom these colours?"

 

Regarding USA diesel liveries, Pete Waterman and I brought Union Pacific livery to the UK but it wasn't well received.

Edited January 5, 2017 by coachmann

[t-b-g]

Way back when, some 40 years ago, when I were a lad, I remember having an art teacher who was rather good and showed us how colours worked with each other. If I recall, red and green are complementary colours but don't work well together if there are equal amounts of each. So red trousers and a green top don't look so good together as they represent roughly equal amounts of colour. But a green loco on a red train looks better as the proportions of red to green are quite different.

 

I may be talking utter bull**** as I often do but that lesson has stuck with me all these years. 

[ScRSG]

They even mixed them up in "Corporate" blue!

[MJI]

I really need a couple more Metro Cammel DMUs but they are now getting expensive.

 

I would use Lima as Triang too short and DC have availablity issues.

[Memphis32]

When Corporate Blue got widespread application, someone thought it was ghastly enough for the following comment in a magazine........."Would you paint your bathroom these colours?"

 

I'm astonished people make these comparisons. Magnolia is often suggested as a good colour for walls when one is selling a house, as most would find it inoffensive, but would you wear a magnolia suit? And I'd imagine a brown herringbone tweed jacket was perfectly acceptable when that comment was made, but would the same pattern and colour look good on an MG?

[chris p bacon]

 Magnolia is often suggested as a good colour for walls when one is selling a house, as most would find it inoffensive, but would you wear a magnolia suit? 

The reason we use Magnolia in New builds is because it is bland and inoffensive, it then will show off any furniture or pictures the owner has which are their own taste.

 

I have been in houses where they have painted rooms Black and others Luminous Lime Green, neither are to be recommended. 

[Headstock]

I'm astonished people make these comparisons. Magnolia is often suggested as a good colour for walls when one is selling a house, as most would find it inoffensive, but would you wear a magnolia suit? And I'd imagine a brown herringbone tweed jacket was perfectly acceptable when that comment was made, but would the same pattern and colour look good on an MG?

 

Good Afternoon Memphis 32,

 

I apologiSe, I do not know your name. I don't quite see where the colour clash comes in from wearing a magnolia suit. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with such a suit, especially if you are going for that stylish colonial tea planter look. Incidentally, brown herringbone tweed is very trendy with the young Hipsters.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Headstock

[MJI]

Good Afternoon Memphis 32,

 

I apologiSe, I do not know your name. I don't quite see where the colour clash comes in from wearing a magnolia suit. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with such a suit, especially if you are going for that stylish colonial tea planter look. Incidentally, brown herringbone tweed is very trendy with the young Hipsters.

 

Or bumbling detective in the Carribean

[Focalplane]

When I was researching American trains about 20 years ago I came across an interesting factoid about St. Louis Union Station, which is another of those massive train hubs (or Crewes) like Chicago.

 

As a major interchange, the station's many platforms would be occupied by many long distance trains, all set to depart one after the other.  This allowed a passenger to make reasonably rapid connections while enjoying the many comforts of a major US railway station.  In checking wikipedia to refresh my memory, I see that there were at one time 44 platforms serving 22 railroads.  In those days the train shed could have been full of steam locomotives though it is very possible that the trains were reversed in to keep the smoke out!  It makes for fascinating reading but sadly the station is now used for other purposes though it has at least been preserved as a National Historic Monument.

 

More recently the still in use station in Washington DC was used as a backdrop for the US Air Force Band's "flash mob" Christmas concert.  What a wonderful place!  Why do historic British stations always look like unfashionable shopping malls?

[Tony Teague]

I see no-one has brought up malachite....

[coachmann]

I see no-one has brought up malachite....

They should see a doctor......It's usually diced carrots....

Edited January 5, 2017 by coachmann

[Headstock]

Unless it's a case of possession, then it would be mushy peas.

[Barry Ten]

This has been my main modelling project over the Christmas period, a Wills kit of the Black Horse pub.

 

I was given it as a present well over a decade ago, but whenever I opened the box and looked at the amount of measuring and cutting that needed to be done, I always found another project that was a bit more attractive. In the end I felt sufficiently motivated to give it a go and here's where I've got to, with only some final detailing and filling left to be done.

 

 

 

It's a surprisingly imposing building, given the size of the box.

 

The Wills sheets are a great range for the modeller, but they can be a bit challenging to work with. At some point I reckon they changed the consistency of the plastic, as the sheets I've bought over the last decade or so are much less brittle than the earlier ones, and correspondingly more easy to cut and shape. In fact, for big cuts, I find a pair of sturdy scissors are great. However, the ones in this kit were much more brittle and needed to be handled carefully. For the windows and doors, I used a small circular saw in a mini-drill, followed by final finishing with a file. All the other cuts were done with very careful passes with a Stanley knife. The usual "score and snap" approach doesn't work so well with these older sheets.

 

If we can talk about "layout locos" and "layout coaches", then this is definitely a "layout pub", with some of the corner joints not bearing close examination. But, once filled and painted, I reckon it'll fit in well with my other buildings, and hopefully look like quite an enticing establishment for a pint or two.

 

Alastair

[Focalplane]

Did someone say Malachite?

 

[Headstock]

Definitely mushy peas.

[TrevorP1]

Did someone say Malachite?

 

IMG_2212.JPG

 

 

I've always wondered why Malachite Green was called that as - to me - it doesn't look like the actual substance. On seeing a locomotive painted that colour a friend in the motor trade described it as Lizard S**t Green... I think it looks fine on a Spam Can, especially if towing a rake of Pullmans, but awful on Maunsell engines. 

[St Enodoc]

Did someone say Malachite?

 

IMG_2212.JPG

Nah, broccoli.

[Tony Wright]

Some very interesting discussions about colour; many thanks for posting those. 

 

Colour is, of course, highly subjective as to whether one likes any particular tint/shade of primary, secondary or tertiary colours. 

 

With regard to the overall colours on a model railway, what I've (we've) always tried to achieve is a limited palette. By that I mean, nothing too strident or dazzling, especially if one is attempting to create a representation of a 1950s' scene. 

 

 

Overall scenes like this (now with the telegraph poles reinstated). I still need to add a little aerial perspective to the backscene (tint it a bit), but (I hope) nothing stands out as being too bright. 

 

Changing the subject slightly, I made a recent comment about superimposing a neutral sky on my most recent pictures, rather than using a real sky. The picture above has this, and it's cloned from the sky colour I used on the backscene. 

 

However, should one go further with model railway photography? I know this topic has been discussed before, but there are many more new posters on this thread than when that took place. 

 

 

This is a picture I took this morning using the room's ambient lights and pulses of fill-in flash during a six second exposure with the iris at F32. There's no doubt what it's of, but the fiddle yard to the left of the view, the seat to the right and the rafters do obtrude. 

 

 

So, some cropping, a bit of Photoshopping and making clipping paths to isolate areas, then flood-filling them and cloning bits, and this is the result. I haven't created anything here which wasn't (somewhere else) on the original picture. Is this acceptable? I certainly haven't added fake smoke (which I heartily dislike), nor added real fields, hedges, roads, buildings, etc, which I have seen done in some publications. 

 

 

This is the second picture I took this morning, with the camera at a rather drunken angle, leaning against the cutting side. I employed much the same shot parameters. I'm pleased I painted the baseboard edges to the non-scenic section a sort of grass green, because it certainly helps. 

 

 

This was the result after a fair bit of image manipulation. 

 

Any comments/thoughts/objections/criticisms gratefully received. 

 

Model railway photography has almost become a hobby within a hobby. I have to say, it's much easier to get realistic results with digital imagery than with film.