There is a prototype for everything(so far)

[Dr.Fu-Manchu]

The Doctor is in!!![}:)] I bought a repainted Lionel GP-7 Diesel at the april TCA meet in Oakland,Ca. It had been repainted SP Black Widow, I am fond of any thing in Black Widow or Daylight paint. I thought I had a "Odd Duck" because from what I know about SP, they did not have GP-7's. I was watching a video about SP's diesel fleet to see which loco's were used for the Golden State trains, and the voice over said that SP had bought one GP-7. So, I guess that there is a prototype for almost every model train example, So far. Any body else find something that they thought was a "Odd Duck" but was really used by the railroads?

Till My Next Missive I Remain The Humble Yet Strangly Evil Doctor!!![}:)]

[lionelsoni]

I bought a 4-wheel Diesel ETS tinplate switcher in Prague that I assumed was a Beep-like fantasy toy locomotive. I later found photographs of the prototype, including the identical paint scheme, on the Internet.

[1688torpedo]

Hello Dr Fu-Manchu! When I was a young kid I used to think My Father's 1688 Torpedo was a so called "Odd Duck" until I recieved a book on my Tenth Birthday about Railroad Steam Engines & there was this photo of the actual Pennsy Torpedo inside of it. I was really suprised & showed it to my Father who was at the 1939 Worlds Fair in Queens,NY & had seen it there himself as it was on display by the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was there as a teenager with his brother & sister. He said some folks called it the "Bullit" However, The name "Torpedo" stuck & that is the name still used today for that particular engine. Take Care.

[brianel027]

I like to think of the term "prototypical operation" like this:

The real railroads are in the business of hauling freight and making money. In the days of old, many times the railroads (at least some that I like) had their very own shops. Frequently cars and locos were rebuilt, altered, re-equipped, repowered and/or repainted. There were locomotives on the Lehigh Valley that were renumbered from other retired locos, and some that wore 3 differing paint schemes. When times were tough, frequently used or odd-ball equipment was purchased - again, to cut costs and make money. The Chessie and Conrail experiment with what are nicknames "Tupperware Tops" for covering open hoppers for weather-sensitive loading. The idea wasn't in actual practice for long, but it was done and in another experiment to make money and cut costs.

So, as an 027 operator in a hobby that has gone increasingly scale (with a few recent nice welcomed exceptions) I find I have be resourceful and creative and recycle in order to participate in the hobby today. And those terms resourceful, creative and recycle are about as protottypical as one can possibly operate a model railroad.

Did the real Conrail have Alco FA's? Does the real Nofolk Southern have Alco S-2's? To the rivet counting modeler, I'm completely breaking the rules. But in my thinking of prototypical, I'm just buying the equipment available to me, that will run on my track and haul freight. I make necessary alterations as required, recycle, modify and rebuild.

And that my friends is TRUE prototype even with 027 track!!

[thor]

I think I saw a recent post about a steamer with the wrong stack but railroads used to try all sorts of experiments to improve fire draw and ejectors and stacks were promoted too by various inventors - such as the odd looking Giesl injector, a flat sided stack.