Obscure Lionel Warbonnet Question

[Pauley]

Hello all!

 

My name is Pauley, and I'm a geek.

 

So here comes the geeky question of the day. 

 

The Warbonnet is sort of “hobby within a hobby” for me. I’ve got quite the collection of paraphernalia, pictures (including a puzzle) and books on my walls and shelves. I’m also in the process of building a Kato N-scale Super Chief (circa 1951).

 

At one time I had read that the there was a small difference in the paint scheme on the Lionel version of the Warbonnet. Because decals were used to apply the logos and stripes, a water-slide decal would not be able to cover the compound curve of the hood between the headlight and the windshield. For that reason, the three stripes are missing up there. At least that’s what I thought.

 

Recently I watched a YouTube video of a guy’s newly-acquired F units, and the stripes were indeed on the hood. (I left a comment but, as of yet, haven’t received a reply.)

 

Perhaps later versions have the stripes? Or maybe the modeler added the correct stripes for realism?

 

Can anyone fill me in? I'm trying to learn all things Warbonnet. ;)

 

Thanks,

 

Pauley

[Dave45681]

Lionel did a Santa Fe freight set for their 120th Anniversary a few years ago that may be what you saw.

http://www.lionel.com/products/lionel-120th-deluxe-lc2-f3-set-2022120

Unfortunately the catalog depicton doesn't have a good view of the nose from above, but you can sort of see that it extends towards the windshield from the headlight in the side view.

It basically looks like a solid yellow rectangular extension of the graphic, starting below the headlight, going right over it (so there is yellow surrounding the headlight), and then continuing up towards the windshield.  I just looked at mine, and it doesn't go right up to the lower edge of the windshield, but maybe something around 1/8" to 1/4" (I didn't take a tape measure to it ;) ) from where the window starts.

[Pauley]

I think you may have nailed it Dave. The headlight surround is clearly yellow in those pictures.

Thanks!

 

Pauley

[Dave45681]

After seeing another set that seems to have the extension of the yelow up the windshield (starter set, but I didn't write down the catalog #) at my local Hobby shop yesterday, I got curious.

It looks like (at least per box and web pictures) that this is becoming more the norm on recent sets.

Here are 2 others I found on the Lionel site that seem to have what you were looking for (though the single picture on the 2nd one is hard to see how far it goes towards the window, but definitely seems to at least cover the headlight area):

http://www.lionel.com/products/santa-fe-super-chief-lionchief-set-6-84719

http://www.lionel.com/products/santa-fe-super-chief-lionchief-bluetooth-50-set-2323110

 

[Pauley]

Thanks, Dave. 

In looking at a picture of the genuine Warbonnet on an old photo, the yellow does NOT reach the windshied. But I discovered something I never noticed since practically every picture of a Santa Fe Warbonnet seems to be from the ground. 

The yellow part consists of 3 separate lines under the headlight. But above the headlight, on top of the hood, the yellow is essential an undived square. 

Of course, the details for the paint schemes may very well have changed over the years.

(Gotta be a real geek to appreciate these datails. Fortunately, I am and I do.  )

[wjstix]

Pauley

At one time I had read that the there was a small difference in the paint scheme on the Lionel version of the Warbonnet. Because decals were used to apply the logos and stripes, a water-slide decal would not be able to cover the compound curve of the hood between the headlight and the windshield. For that reason, the three stripes are missing up there. At least that’s what I thought.

If you do a Google or Bing image search for something like "1940s Lionel Santa Fe F3", you'll see the early warbonnet Lionel F3's nose stripes only came up to the bottom of the headlight. In more recent years, Lionel has made Santa Fe F-units where the stripes go up and over the nose top like the real ones did.

[Pauley]

Thanks. I see that now.