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Good afternoon,

I have a question... I've noticed that there has been some FA and F3 models produced with a truncated Lightning Stripe, that end before the end of the car body, just behind the last porthole. Most recently, this is seen on BigE's Lionel scale F3's that he had for sale.



This is different from the "whiskers" that Atlas had on their last run of F2's, and MTH had on the FT's. This had the low whiskers on the nose of the A unit, and just black B units. Seen here at Niagara Hobby.

I thought that the "whiskers" was the first scheme (as delivered) on the FT's, and then the NYC switched to the full body Lighting Stripes on both A and B units for the F3's and F7's, then to the Cigar band on their A units, with back to "dip" black for the B's in 1958.

I also find it curious that the FT and F3, A and B units, are in the same 1600 and 2400 numbering series, respectively.

Did the NYC actually use this truncated lightning stripe, and was it a transitional scheme between the whiskers / Lightning Stripe or from the Lightning Stripe / Cigar Band?

Does anyone know of photos of these short striped units?

Does anyone know of photos of NYC FT units?


They are not on rrpicturearchive.net or railpictures.net...

Thanks,
Mario
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Wyhog - Amen.

Even the guy's "supercharging" - wrong as it is - probably would have been wrong
anyway; typically, "turbocharging" was used on diesel locos. Those two things work differently.

Alco used a lot of turbocharging; not GM/EMD, until, I believe, the SD24. EMD's 2-cycle diesels
did not lend themselves to "charging" as well as Alco's (and other's) 4-cycles.
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The "whisker" (properly the "Century" scheme) NYC paint scheme, to my knowledge, was used only on black
freight units, and only on the FT's and F2's (yes, F2). It's my favorite NYC diesel scheme; simple and
classy - almost formal.
Looks like it may be time for a refresher on the terms "supercharged" and "Turbocharged" when discussing EMD diesel prime movers:

1) Since the EMD/GM diesel engine was and is still a two stroke cycle, any and ALL air for combustion MUST be "forced" into the combustion chambers (there is NO intake stroke). Thus ALL 567 and 645 engines, generally classified throughout the industry as "normally aspirated", where in fact SUPERCHARGED.

2) Beginning with the "special" experimental GP9 units on the Union Pacific, way back in the mid to late 1950s, which where the very first "turbocharged" EMD 567 engines, EMD was forced to drastically increase the air pressure for combustion. Thus the GP20 and SD24 locomotives where born with the first production "turbocharged" EMD two stroke cycle diesel engines.

In conclusion, EVERY single EMD two stroke cycle diesel engine is either "supercharged" or "turbocharged", depending on the locomotive model. Otherwise the two stroke cycle EMD diesel engine would not even start without a roots blower or a specially designed turbocharger with an over-running clutch in its internal drive gear train.
The NYC short lightning stripe is the second freight paint scheme, the whisker scheme being the first. The full lightning stripe including B-units is the third.
The first passenger scheme used on E7s was a light gray body with a dark gray stripe that was straight to the end of the body. The second passenger scheme was dark gray with a light gray lightning stripe and a shallow reverse lightning stripe at the rear. B-units had a shallow reverse lightning stripe at both ends.
Mario:

Lionel brought these out around 2003. They were issued together with the Sante Fe livery as their first scale F3s. There was a US Savings Bond bonus with the purchase of these two sets.

I bought both sets and still have them. I love the Sante Fe set which I run regularly, but I wished I passed on the NYC broken lightening stripe with the black paint. This set sits on a siding. I remember that someone at Lionel said they chose to use this paint scheme to replicate a time when the NYC was trying to save money with this paint scheme. I have no idea if this is true or not. maybe some Forum member can enlighten us.
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