Anyway here it goes. Hope it brightens your weekend a wee bit.
Well here it goes, 9 months late.. HA!
I worked on this assignment with Key Model Imports; a dream come true for me. My first real experience as a researcher; nonetheless I covered a lot of ground. There are a lot of misconceptions about the E5 out there from stainless panels applied to a E6 like a Pullman Standard lightweight car to fellas thinking the red paint was the first variation. It was difficult to weed through the rumors and come to hard facts. I am indebted to the guys all over that still had records and photos and notes about these fine but odd extremely unique locomotives. These were a very different kind of animal that is for sure.
PHASE ONE 1942-1948 Black painted stripes
PHASE ONE Late Red painted stripes
In the later years these locomotives were so dirty despite acid baths and cleanings at shoppings that we decided to take a standard approach to the late E5 and make it the standard finish. Dull coating the roof was a good option that I think would have worked well however I felt it gets away from the bare stainless finish. However it would have very well simulated the heavy grime and accumulation of life on the rails for 20 years on the roof and ends that were often missed in cleanings.
