I happen to have been casting a critical eye over the paint and lettering schemes on my RTR B&O diesels today: Williams F7, MTH FA-2, Lionel FT, MTH E6, and MTH E8. All have outright errors, and also post-1957-renumbering features that make them too new for my layout.
B&O carbody diesel paint schemes changed over time. The gray pilot with three blue stripes was changed to black about 1950. The imitation gold stripe separating blue and gray goes all the way to the rear on some builders photos, stops at the cab door on many photos, and is absent in many, particularly later on. A colorized postcard of an FT shows gray along the bottom rivet line above the underbody, but I've seen no photos like that. A B&W E8 builders photo shows a light color there, likely a gold stripe but possibly gray--who knows? Most photos show a blue carbody all the way to the black underbody.
Stripes and lettering were Dulux imitation gold, a yellow color more like Lionel's F3 stripes than the K-line gold.
Anticlimbers were painted gray, but the striker/buffer plate above the coupler was black, and generally had some rust on it unless freshly painted.
Roofs were black, not the dark gray of Lionel's F3.
So the outright errors on mine:
MTH E8: anticlimber/striker painted blue rather than gray and black.
MTH E6: no imit. gold stripe between blue and gray despite original paint/lettering scheme otherwise.
MTH FA-2: whole underbody is gray; striker/buffer over coupler is gray.
Lionel FT: Portion of carbody side covering fuel tank painted gray; Original single digit numbers but black pilot instead of gray with blue stripes as delivered; ends of units gray instead of black; gray striker over coupler; lettering gold instead of imitation gold.
Williams F7: anticlimber/striker painted blue instead of gray/black. Lettering gold instead of imitation gold.
I suspect I'll live with the gold lettering, but plan to correct the other errors, and backdate all post-1957 characteristics to 1950.
