Why two different color schemes for P2K E8 Erie?

[Mister Mikado]

Most of the P2K E8 Erie colors I see are black with a light blue band but there is a P2K later model in green with a lighter green band.  Was this prototypical or just the way Lifelike painted it?

[BigDaddy]

prototypical

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=535074&nseq=25

[Mister Mikado]

Thanks Henry but that is a photo of the black with light blue band sheme,  Is the green scheme (second photo) also prototypical or just a Proto 2000 tint variation?

I actually own the green version so it is not a photo lighting issue it really is greenish.

[7j43k]

Here is a photo of Erie E8's in service in 1956.  The E-L was formed in 1960.  It's possible, I suppose, that Erie had another paint scheme between 1956 and 1960, but it does seem extremely unlikely.  I think their energies would have been applied elsewhere.

 

Note that the above photo is much closer to the P2K models than to the photo of 833 that Henry linked earlier.  That photo is much more recent, having been taken in 2014.

 

I propose that the paint on 833 is incorrect.  Unless, of course, you want to run an Erie E8 in 2014.  Then it's absolutely correct.

 

Ed

 

[BigDaddy]

I was on the deck with my laptop, so I am the one with the lighting issue, sorry

Henry

[Uncle_Bob]

The Erie's passenger scheme was two-tone green, with the greens separated by yellow stripes.  The main green was very dark, nearly black but different from Pennsy's DGLE.  The light green was more of a light gray-green.  There was some criticism of the first run of Erie E8's because there was a blue cast to both colors.  As for prototype pics, some very dark colors can shift toward the blue end of the spectrum due to oil on the surface, lighting conditions, and the color balance of whatever film was used.

[Mister Mikado]

Amazing, Bob, are you telling me all those online photos are of a dark green erie? Almost all of the p2k photos look black with an aqua or sea green band.

[gmpullman]

I recently painted and decaled an Erie baggage car:

IMG_0551_fix by Edmund, on Flickr

I used Scalecoat Erie Light and Dark green. I'm pleased with the results. A railroad club I belonged to in the late 1960s bought some Erie 1000 rebuilt heavyweight coaches. They were still in green and I remember the colors well.

The top photo E8 has been Photoshopped and looks like it has gone through some "adjustments" Look at the cut-and-paste pilot. You really can't trust some photos that have been over-processed.

The colors of the restored 833 E8 look odd, too, IMHO. Many of the photos I see of the "restored" 833 have the light green way too "mint" looking (I don't see blue — more of a peppermint green) The folks (NY & GL) that researched the paint probably did a thorough job but, to me anyway, THAT particular Erie paint job looks too light in the window-band.

I have several Proto E-8s and PA1s both from Walthers and original Life-Likes and they look fine to me.

For what its worth... (uncalibrated scanner/monitor)

Erie Dark Green_70-117 by Edmund, on Flickr

Erie light Green_70-114 by Edmund, on Flickr

 

Good Luck, Ed

 

[Mister Mikado]

Thanks Ed, since you own older life like e8s, tell me whether they are black under bright light or a very dark green. I own a later p2k e8 it is medium green. See the top photo of my first post-- that looks charcoal black to me. This is growing into one of those viral illusion things where everybody sees a different color.

[gmpullman]

Here's the E8:

Erie_nose4 by Edmund, on Flickr

And for comparison the PA1:

Erie_nose6 by Edmund, on Flickr

The light-green band is close to the "mint" or sea-foam green that I feel is not right. I'll probably weather them someday and try to tone that down. The carbody IS green, but a darker, aged green.

Erie_nose8 by Edmund, on Flickr

For fun I grabbed an F7 in a "clean" PRR Dark Green to compare the other two. "New" Brunswick green looks "almost" black but not quite:

Erie_nose2 by Edmund, on Flickr

And a pair of "faded" PRR PAs showing what oxidized Brunswick green can look like:

Erie_nose by Edmund, on Flickr

My locomotives are getting a bit dusty. I just remembered that I gave my other Erie E8 to a friend but it had the same green, which, to me, look the closest to what I remember as being correct. The PA body green is too dark and the stripe is, again, too "minty".

I tried to keep the lighting even. Compare the greens to the black on the PA trucks or the E-L coach roof. In hindsight I should have placed a black card in the foreground 

Hope that helps, Ed.

[Mister Mikado]

Thank you all, this has been  a 'colorful' discussion.  That PA is the dark almost black with the bluish band I was used to seeing on the older P2Ks.  The E8 I own is a later generation 920 series and LL brightened it up to a forest green with a green band.  It almost looks like a Southern.  I preferred the darker green but either scheme makes a beautiful engine. 

[j. c.]

checkout this link . http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/loco/erie-cabs.jpg