Good afternoon all.
Living in the midwest I'm drawn to several local railroad names, including several fallen flags (e.g. Milwaukee Road, CNW, Wisconsin Central, etc.). My layout is a modest 8 x 11.5 ft and, as a result, the motive units that look "best" on the layout are of the 12-13" varity (e.g. GP7/9, SW8/9 GP15, 20 and maybe the slightly longer GP38's if it's on the outer main line). Problem is that I can only find the above units in the road names I desire usually by luck, and then most are used. A friend in the hobby suggested that I buy a new unit in a readily available road name and custom paint it to the desired road name.
The painting and decaling are beyond my abilities, at least at this point. Does anyone know of a good source for custom painting motive units? Is this the approach you would take? Thanks much. Paul
--Black Diamond-- One thing about a train, it doesnt matter where it's going, You just have to decide to get on... Woo Wooo.....
I have had Jeff Sohn paint a few of my locomotives, he is a master. The Northern Pacific GG-1 came out of his paint shop.
Bill T.
I dont know where you live so I am unable to say who does good work by you. My guess is you live in Wisconsin by the road names you have mentioned. I would go ask at some hoby stores near you and ask if they do custom work. If they do I would ask to see a engine that thay have done custom painting on, before you hand over one of your engines. I bought a Dale Earnhardt Jr Set (the engine is a GP-38) and had the engine custom painted, (Burlington Northern) Alas another fallen flag.....yes they make engines that are Burlington Northern....I could get on ebay...but they were made in the 80's and I wanted something a little more up to date...Good Luck!
I highly recommend being able to see in person examples of a custom painters work. If it looks good 5 feet away but not up close is that acceptable to you? There is at least one custom painter often recommended that never sands or strips paint before a paint job. He paints right over the previous graphics and you can see them through the new paint job. To me, that is unacceptable.
Roger
The No. Pacific GG-1 indeed looks VERY nice. Can you give me the contact info for Jeff? Also, just out of curiousity, is the telephone pole custom made? If not who is the manufacturer? Thanks much.
Jeffs web site.
The telephone poles are custom made but the gentleman that made them has stopped making them for a while.
here's the link to his website:http://jeffscustomtrainpainting.com/
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