color matching of Lionel's 21" U.P. passenger fleet

I just received all of the various Excursion and Challenger expansion packs. Very much improved from the first run of excursion cars! Took me 10 sets of the excursions to get a set mostly free of cosmetic issues. Of the new cars received, they matched well and 5/6 didn't have issues. The Lone Star only had part of the red pinstripe done. Can report more once the Bush funeral train set arrives. 

It's really unfortunate that people have experienced so many issues with these cars, especially the first run, but I must also say that I am not one of them. I have the full set from the initial run of the Excursion cars, a Challenger expansion pack and the recent Lone Star expansion pack. Color matching is not an issue but with UP colors being so well established I would not expect it to be. Mine have had no other cosmetic issues. 

Some of the factory assembly of mine is messy (excess double-sided tape) but as I have successfully opened them up to do work on the (very plain) interiors this has not been a real problem. 

I didn't get the Bush set as I didn't need the engine but did get two Lone Star sets (Excursion #4 two pack). One has been relettered Kenefick. Both Lone Stars have no cosmetic issues nor do the other cars. They also disassemble easily. I think the double sided tape issue was limited to the first sets released about 4 years ago.

The 2 car expansion set released last year do have a slightly lighter shade of gray on the roof but not far off enough to be objectionable in my mind. As I model current day UP if you look at pictures of the cars today the grays do differ car to car.

Pete