Greetings to All, I'm wanting to do a couple of models in the newest(?) B.N.S.F. scheme, wedge (H3?). First, I was surprised to find out that there seems to be no green, but it has been replaced with black. At least all of the pictures I've come across would suggest this. Any units with green? I know railroads can be quick to make changes when dealing with paint schemes. Second, when viewing this scheme on the -9 44 cw's they have a multi stripe on the hoods as oppossed to the single stripe I've seen on the Gp-50's and SD-40-2's. In addition the G.E.'s have silver underframes, tanks & trucks. All of the E.M.D.'s have black. Are they using two slightly different schemes for G.E.'s and E.M.D.'s? If you're out there and can shed some light on this, I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks & God Bless You, Joe :shade::shade:
On the H3 Scheme, Floquil Black and BNSF Heritage Orange are very close matches. There are no H3 units with a green (but some in blue!). The comfort cab units have dual 3 stripe bands compared to the 40-2s and others that use 2 single stripes bands. On the 3 stripe units only one band crosses the front of the engine. I know the SD40-2s and the SD39-2s have black trucks, the ES44s are all silver, but I don't know why. SD39 C44-9W ES44C4
Hi Karl, Thanks for your time and effort in helping me out. I really appreciate it. I have an Athearn -9 44 cw (H-1) that I was hoping to just change the lettering for a H-3 scheme , but with the differences in the stripes, I won't be able to do that. Railroads do some strange things on occasion. Who can figure them out? God Bless You, Joe:thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
At some point after the original H1 units and shortly after the H2's were delivered, it was decided that wide/ saftey cab units would recieve the dual 3 band stripes (or a upper 3 band and lower 2band on some units, the SD70MAC's and SD70ACe for example) with silver trucks and fuel tank. Standard cab units and B-units would recieve the single stripe with green trucks and fuel tank. That being said, that's why we have GP60M's that don't match their GP60B's anymore. Just when we got that figured out and knew where things were going with the H1 and H2, along comes H3. H3 introduced us to black and no more green, along with the new logo, that would be the general change for everything there after. With H3, standard cab and B-units would still recieve the single stripe scheme but with black instead of green and with the new logo. Wide cab units would still get the dual 3band stripes or upper 3band and lower 2 band on EMD's (I don't know why that is with the EMD's?) with black instead of green with the new logo and silver trucks and fuel tank. As for the question about your model, and strickly talking H3 here now. If you're doing a wide cab unit i.e. C44-9w, AC4400 or ES44, they would almost for sure be orange and black as they were either delivered that way or it was an old ATSF or BN unit that got a full repaint. As for your standard cab units, if you're modeling any of these it would be best to find a pic of the specific unit you want to do. Above is just the general rule of thumb, but most of the standard cab units being in yard or local service they may not hold strictly to that standard and something may have gotten a new logo lazly applied. Not saying that has happened, but it could've. Also, as mentioned by Karl there are some blue GP38-2's out there with the wedge logo. Also, one last thing in case you weren't aware of this option. There is one H3 unit that's a tad different from the rest, ES44DC #7695, it has yellow wedge logos: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=148135
Hi mrlxhelper, Thank you for all of the information you've provided. It's very helpful and I appreciate your time and effort. God Bless You, Joe
