MR&T blue diesel locomotives
MR&T blue diesel locomotives: The Milwaukee, Racine & Troy, Model Railroader’s HO scale staff layout, has been around for more than 45 years. Similar to many full-size railroads, the freelanced MR&T changed paint schemes on its diesel locomotives over the years. The railroad’s first paint scheme, Amtrak Blue, was used from 1979 to 1988.
The excerpt below from Milwaukee, Racine & Troy: The inside story of Model Railroader’s club layout discusses the Amtrak Blue paint scheme:
“Jim Hediger designed the MR&T’s first paint scheme. He used Floquil Amtrak Blue for the body and Reefer White for the side sills, steps edges, and grab irons. The decals were originally produced by Herald King (Miller Advertising). Later sets were manufactured by Rail Graphics.”
Hediger wrote about the first half-dozen Electro-Motive Division GP40s he painted for the MR&T in the June 1979 MR: “The paint job that was used is a combination of prototype practices. It is deliberately kept simple, like most recent new locomotives. A real engine like this could be painted without any masking, since the graphics would be done with adhesive-backed plastic film materials that are applied to the primer and painted over. Once the paint dries, the attached masking sheet over the graphics is peeled away to leave the marking embedded in the paint.”
Wow, Cary Locomotive Works. That brings back some memories. They made some great castings of E Units too. Now these classics need to be upgraded to DCC Sound.