Williams NW2 Conrail

I don’t have one, but I have seen them in person and the shade of blue looked pretty good to me.  Also bear in mind that Conrail blue wasn’t always the same shade- even freshly painted units differed by the shop doing the painting, whether it was painted by the builder or the railroad, etc.

Thanks for the info! Here’s what google comes back with for images. I really like the darker color......

@C_Murley posted:

Thanks for the info! Here’s what google comes back with for images. I really like the darker color......

 

Personally, I have never seen a CR loco painted in that dark blue; also, the photo itself looks a little under-exposed, which would darken the color.

I would call the dark blue incorrect. Certainly there may be variations, but RR's have standards and most CR blue was the reasonably the same, so far as I know. 

The lighter blue looks pretty good; also, the blue would lighten with age and fading, once in service. 

But - I certainly have never seen every CR loco ever painted. Anyone have a few prototype photos (not just one) of "dark" ones?

The top image (lighter) looks closest to the ones I’ve seen, as well as the real thing.  CR blue is definitely a lighter shade of blue, the bottom image looks too dark, probably underexposed as D500 said.

Thanks! It would be great to see some pics! That was my thought exactly as pics on the screen can vary so much. Would be great to see one in person but the local hobby store didn’t have one. Only Pennsylvania and Lehigh valley, and who knows when they will open again.

So I got to answer my own question. One of these babies popped up on the bay and I needed power for my coal train so I picked one up.  Its not as light as the first photo but not as dark as the other. The MTH transfer caboose is a beautiful shade of blue and the NW2 is close but a bit lighter. Anyways I’m very happy with it. Already modified it to series wired, next to add true blast plus. This railroad exclusively runs nw2s for its freight service and this will fill in nicely for the anthracite loop.

First rule in government spending. Why have one, when you can have two for twice the price!

added true blast plus.  Great anthracite power!

Coal train was getting a little long so the railroad put another locomotive on this branch......

C Murley -

Do you only run switchers?  And only conventional?  I ask because I only have MTH power (DCS) and have zero experience with  Williams or anyone else. Except for post war Lionel steamers and 80s vintage diesel.

It looks like you are using thin batting for cover over foam. I really like that technique.

Jeff

Hi Jeff, yes, i only have Williams Switcher engines and run them conventionally. always loved end cab switchers so thats what i run haha!  i have the layout set up for "set it and forget it" throttle. for now, i like pouring a cocktail and watching them go in circles.  on the down grades i have diode pairs wired in the feed lines to the track so they dont overspeed. took some playing to get that right.  these williams engines will crawl..... well i wired them in series. but at low throttle will run at a nice scale like speed. they are super smooth running engines.  as for the scenery, yes cotton batting glued down on the base material then brush paint into it and add ground cover from woodland scenics while the paint is still wet. then spray it with a white glue/water mixture to lock it in place.  youtube vids helped with that. it goes real fast, and looks great!

Chris

@C_Murley posted:

Coal train was getting a little long so the railroad put another locomotive on this branch......

Very nice. Do you have any issues with the three engines fighting each other or do they play nice together?  I have a PRR NW-2 that I wired in series. Makes a huge difference.

Nope they play very nice together, once i broke in the new one for a half hour of going in circles by itself. i put the 3 of them next to each other and fired up the line. after 3 times around they were about two feet away from each other. close enough for me!!