With what seems like an endless number of posts on this Forum that talk about quality issues, operating problems, missing parts, incorrect paint colors, etc., etc....I thought I’d share something positive...well, at least to me, anyway.
I just received a MTH Premier 2-rail GP40 from the latest (and final) production run painted in the Guilford (Boston & Maine) livery. MTH has offered Guilford engines in the past—a Springfield Terminal GP35 several years ago and a Delaware & Hudson GP38-2 last year. I own both of them and unfortunately they were painted in a light gray color that was not even close to the charcoal-like dark gray of the prototype Guilford engines...despite the catalog renderings correctly showing a very dark gray.
I assumed this latest and final GP40 would just be more of the same. I knew what I was buying and had a plan in mind (not even sure it would work!) to weather/darken them to look more like the real thing.
However, when I unboxed the new GP40, I was very surprised (and very happy) to discover that MTH changed to a darker gray color that is much closer to the prototype. Still not perfect, but MUCH better.
Now, I know some here might be upset that the colors of “new” and “old” don’t match—or that MTH didn’t announce there would be a color change. I for one think it was a pretty cool gesture by MTH to make an effort to correct something that had been wrong for many years...especially at the end of their existence when they could have very easily just stuck with the status quo one last time. Thanks MTH!
Here are a couple photos of “old” on the left and “new” on the right. Unfortunately the lighting understates the difference between them—it makes the lighter one look darker than it is—but trust me, it’s a significant difference. Enlarging the photos seems to make it more noticeable.
I liked the way the new one looked, ran and sounded so much that I just ordered the other road #. It should arrive later this week. If there are any other Guilford fans on here, go get one of these while you can. They’re sold out at MTH!
