Funny story: I knew the original preservationist who bought the PRR/CR 2233 from Conrail, Richard Sanders. He did what had to be one of the best, most accurate restorations/repaint jobs ever on that loco (he planned, but never got, to add the PRR Trainphone antennas.)

The only problem was that a completely accurate restoration of a PRR GP30 produces what can only be called the cheapest-looking paint job in American railroading: dip black with cabside numbers and a small PRR keystone logo sticker behind the cab and on the nose. "Fans" would reportedly complain to him about it not having "proper" PRR-style lettering; he supposedly countered with photos of it in service with the drab paint and said "You find me a photo of the 2233 with full lettering, and I'll repaint it--but you never will!"



I'm an old geezer relative to the "typical" online railfan, and I'm reduced to saying "wow, I remember those things on the main line...".............. about Reading 2101 and 2102, Chessie 614, PRR "7002"/1223/1361, N&W 1218 and 611, NKP 587.....

But why did he want to paint the thing as a PRR unit, when the PRR only owned it for 5 years (being built in in 1963: http://thecrhs.org/Information/GP30-Tec ... nformation), while CR owned it for a lot more than that?

That's the question I don't always understand the common answer to. Of course there are other things that can modify the desire of what to paint it as, for example, if a PRR focused organization owned it, then obviously PRR would be the choice, but if the PCHS got it, even though CR owned it longer than PC did, they'd rightfully want to paint it with mating worms to use it to illustrate the narrative that they're presenting.

1) The owner/buyer was a Pennsy fan.

2) When he acquired it (ostensibly for both excursion service and freight service on the West Shore RR), Conrail was not only still in existence, but that railroad's interchange with the rest of the world.

3) See #1 again. Repeat until you get the idea.

I'd have to double-check the dates, but as I recall Conrail still existed when the GP30 ended up at the RR Museum of Pa. And some railroads and transit agencies (understandably, from a PR perspective) take a dim view of museums presenting as "historic museum relics" equipment that they are still using in regular revenue service..... though there's technically little they can do about it unless they've trademarked or service-marked the logo/scheme, it might not help when you're hoping to ask favors of said railroad later on down the pike........

Well, that makes sense then, although I am pretty sure she ended up at the museum post-CR (NS donated the paint job).

But I wouldn't equate "I'm painting it that way because I want to" with "we're painting it this way to be part of our museum collection".

If it's a private collection, by all means you can do what you want, that's the point of owning things, after all, but if you're attempting to use something for educational and interpretive purposes, then things change.

Point of information: The 2233 was donated to the RR Museum of Pa. in March 1998 (and I was there for the acceptance ceremony--the first time a private individual had donated a loco to the Museum, they said at the time). NS did indeed donate a repaint at Juniata, but that was in June 2002.

Ahh, so it was almost post-CR. I knew the paint job was, so I figured it was all at the same time.

Everybody wants to preserve a road locomotive but has any thought ever been given to attempt to preserve one of the 24 ex-Reading SW1001s? With only 140 or so built, they're pretty rare and Conrail did have the biggest number of them for any single railroad.

Yep, quite a bit actually. Quite a bit.

Glad to see a Conrail gon preserved.

As for the 80MACs, you all at the CRHS are more than welcome to take any one of the handful sitting down at the yard. I won't miss 'em! ;)

Supposedly the 4594 is retired in Huntington because of roll-over damage, (split-rail derail, 140 tons, you get the idea) and is being used for parts...so I've heard. But as far as cosmetics go, maybe there's something there worth preserving??

Guys,
Thanks for your comments on our new gondola! We here at CRHS are very excited about this. The car will be kept in it's current paint scheme as part of a growing "Maintainence of way" train. We will use this train to show tools and equipment used in MoW service and educate the public on what it means to work on the railroad. To that end, we are working to acquire more MoW equipment of all types. Currently there are two other pieces in the works, but I'm not at liberty yet to say what they are. Keep an eye open though as one will definitely not be what you expect....

Congratulations on the gondola!

The Southern Michigan Railroad Society, got a gondola from a steel mill that is likely former NYC or perhaps P&LE. Lots of weld repairs were made, then the whole beast was sandblasted and painted with quality alkyd enamel. Looked damn sharp and stayed that way for 15 years. Today I would recommend Awlgrip.

Actually, I need to match CR blue and PC green for Awlgrip. Any idea where to specify correct colors to our vendor?



It depends. It's all about interpreting - telling the story. SMRS tends to paint equipment what it would have worn on the Clinton Branch.

I can't help but think this car would be a perfect addition to the conrail work train, viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30223

The Pope Creek Branch line in Maryland has been a CSX SD80MAC hot spot (I'm guessing because these ex-Conrail units had the cab signals to run on the NEC). Now an engineer on the run reports the CSX SD80MACs are being moved to Waycross for inspection prior to long term lease to Ferromex.

Bob

Gross.

You DO understand the Axiom of Railfan Popularity, which states that "The popularity of an item of railroad equipment or infrastructure with railfans is inversely proportional to its popularity with its owners' Operating and/or Mechanical Departments"?

Railfans love(d) the SD80MACS and SD9043MACs; the railroads found reasons to loathe them. The railfans love Amtrak's Heritage Fleet; Amtrak only runs them because they have no choice. The railfans love smoky Alcos; the railroads shudder at possible smoke citations (the Santa Fe got one in Los Angeles for a BRAND NEW Alco PA) and run them because they can't afford anything better (or are masochists at heart).

No railfan love for the "old reliable" GP9, SD40-2 and B40-8, though....... <:-/