Decals for O Scale Conrail engines to renumber for Norfolk Southern

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could point me in a direction to where I could get decals for renumbering an O scale Conrail engine for Norfolk Southern. Thanks,
Cody

[brianel027]

I do an extensive amount of repainting and swear by Microscale Decals. I think they are the best, and I have used some of the other brands by comparison.

Microscale does have a website with an online catalog although not all decals are illustrated. They do make a variety of Conrail and Nofolk Southern decals to my delight since these two roads have been grossly overlooked by both Lionel and K-Line on traditionally sized trains. There are also some S scale decals too, but these are more expensive but come in handy on a size level.

Now Cody, I don't know if you are going to be painting full scale trains or the traditionally sized, less than scale proportion kinds of trains like me. I find buying decals in other scales (mixing and matching) is a good way to go. The full scale 0 decals for example will be too large for an engine like a K-Line Alco FA or an S-2 switcher.

I'm not sure if Microscale makes a post-merger CR-NS set, but I'd bet theat they do. The only real difference here is the painted box over the older Conrail number with the new NS number. NS has been repainting the units as they get to them, but there are still a good many Conrail units out there on the real rails.

What I do is get a bunch of HO and S scale sets of the hearlds and logos and then O or S scale sets for capacity and data information. For example, a large hearld for an HO scale Hi-Cube box car works well for a smaller locomotive like the ones I repaint. The HO sets do give you a good many more logos and hearlds than the 0 scale sets.

I do find I have to take a few small liberties when placing decals. That's just the nature of working with the semi-scale kinds of trains I'm working with. But it's fine with me. Lionel and K-Line have taken liberties too. But if I was waiting for them to make a few trains in current roads, I'd still be waiting. This year is the first year ever Lionel has bothered to make a semi-scale Norfolk Southern hopper. they haven't made an affordable Conrail set since 1993... no affordablestarter NS set ever. K-Line isn't much better. They've made lots of CR stuff but as CR employee safety bonuses only.... man what a hugh mistake that was!!!!

Anyways, Microscale decals are the way to go. You also have to use glossy paint also for the decals to adhere to properly.

[ChiefEagles]

There is now a "horse head" to go with the decals for modern NS decaling. This is from Ironcarquoit. To make it perfect, you will have to add width to the leg on the N next to the stripes. As Brain says, Microscale is the way to go. You will find the lady there is very helpful.