Long Island G5

I repainted (and modified some details) on my MTH Pennsy G5s into a model of LIRR #30 (I have a photo of it at Oyster Bay with the small tender like the PRR version has).  For the color I painted it Scalecoat Detail Black. 

On their recent runs MTH factory painted LIRR G5s and H10s black as well, so I guess black is correct.

Stuart

Stuart,  great!  I was never a fan of Brunswick green anyway.  Besides all the black and white photos show the loco as black.   What details did you add to yours?

I removed the air tank from the pilot deck and relocated the train control box from the fireman's walkway to the pilot deck.  I also removed the smokebox mounted marker lights, and I covered the pilot slats with a thin piece of brass sheet like the LIRR did on their (and sometimes leased Pennsy) locos.

Stuart

I'd sure like to see a photo of that!!

The engine is at my friend's house.  He has an O gauge layout where I run it.  I'll get some photos of it this weekend when I go there on Saturday.

Stuart

Looking forward to it!!

I have an MTH Pennsy and an MTH LIRR G5, both are black. I'm not sure that means the prototypes were always black, but the running gear and cab for LIRR#39 in Riverhead are black. The boiler which I saw in Strasburg last June was no longer black - more like rust . I hope it is eventually restored.

Edit: the Pennsy is very dark green (see posts below)

Spectac - my MTH Pennsy G5 also looks black at first but is a super dark green.  Compare the two of yours side by side.

You are right. I never noticed before I took a close look with the two G5s side by side. The pennsy one is a very dark green compared to the black of the LIRR. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I've had it for a year and just thought it was black

Here are the photos of my MTH LIRR G5s #30.

Stuart

Well, the boiler was never painted black, they're covered with insulation and a sheetmetal jacketing, which is painted.  I assure you it's perfectly normal for the exposed boiler to have a rust coating.

Stuart,  thanks for sharing those shots.  They were well worth waiting for!!  You've got a winner there.    Now all we need are some ping pongs for the real deal!

Island Model Works made O scale P54 Ping Pong coaches, but they are moving and the kits aren't currently available.

Stuart

That is good to know. I can still hold out hope to ride behind it some day!

And Stuart - That engine looks great! Nice work.

-Tom

As I recall watching the G5s powered commuter trains racing through Floral Park, the external paint was grimey black.

Awesome that you got to see them in action.  The first time I ever saw one in motion was just yesterday when I found a short video clip from the RR Museum of Long Island on YouTube.  It showed a few of them zipping by and the End of Steam Ceremony at Hicksville.  Got to hear a few chuffs and a whistle blast.  Cool stuff - I believe the sound was real - I don't think it was dubbed.  (There's nothing that crimps my veins more than fake clikety-clacks or a bell ringing MP-54's)

I had a cab ride in LIRR G5s No. 34 from Floral Park to Oyster Bay and back. 

Bobby O,  would you happen to have any info on the type of whistle the G5 had?  The one quick blast I heard in the video sounded like a very low pitch.

Wow a cab ride in a G5!  There's a memory to last a lifetime!

The LIRR did not use that horrible Pennsy Banshee whistle. The whistles as I recall had a conventional deep sound one typically associates with steam engine.