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Bunch of cnj questions

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Bunch of cnj questions
Posted by NVSRR on Monday, December 23, 2019 7:37 AM

i have a set of babyface dr4-4-15's. FR43 in cnj id system.  They predate the ebay guy.    I finally decided to do something with them and found p2k FA chasis fit with some work.   

The pictures i have seen so far hint at CNJ having two different greens. One a brunswick type super dark green and the other a somewhat lighter green.  So which one is correct?  And who makes the best match  for paint? Who has the best match for the tangerine/blue scheme?

I did note three different decal  types. Stripes, no stripes, and the tengerine/blue version. I figured one unit per scheme for a standard A-B-A set.  

In my search for info. I found a pic that lead to a page that had some short info On the first version unit 70.  In there it said that unit 70 was sub lettered for the Central railroad of Pennsylvania   Although it was not on the side.  CR of P was a railroad in the early days and built the line known today as the Buffalo line out of Harrisburg pa.  The CR of P was long absorbed into the PRR.  Why would the CNJ have that sublettering? 

Shane

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An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

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Posted by dti406 on Monday, December 23, 2019 8:19 AM

The Central Railroad of New Jersey attempted to alleviate their personal property taxes in New Jersey by transferring some of their assets, read locomotives and cars, to their subsidiary the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania.  The courts eventually sided with the State of New Jersey and the CNJ paid the taxes on those units and eventually relettered all the equipment. Here is a car I did for the CRP:

 

As for the green paint, I would go for Pullman Green, the DGLE of the PRR is too dark for the CNJ.

Rick Jesionowski

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Posted by dehusman on Monday, December 23, 2019 5:59 PM

The CRP was not the PRR line west out of Harrisburg, it was the CNJ's lines in the state of Pennsylvania, two different properties.  

There was a Central Railroad of Pennsylvania that was a PRR predecessor but it was merged into the PRR early on and never had its own reporting marks into the "modern" eras.

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

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Posted by NVSRR on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 3:22 PM

I have found they do have two green colors.    

So cNJ resurrected the CRP name to avoid taxes?

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 4:46 PM

Here's a photo of one of the Babyfaces, scroll down to see it.

http://www.subchat.com/readflat.asp?id=775421  

The CNJ referred to the base color as "Sea Green."  Not as dark as the PRR's "Brunswick Green" by a long shot, "Brunswick Green" has been described as "Two parts black, one part green!"  "Sea Green" is pretty close to "Pullman Green," but has a bit more green in it.  "Pullman Green" is almost the same color as military "Olive Drab."  

To my knowlege the CNJ never changed the green color, but as times got tough for the railroad they dispensed with the yellow stripes to keep costs down. 

If there's no hobby shop around you that sells railroad colors the best thing to do would be to check the selection of military colors for the closest shade of green you can find.  The color photo should give a pretty good idea. 

And yes, the "CRP" was an attempt by the CNJ to dodge New Jersey taxes, but as you know now it didn't work.

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Posted by NVSRR on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 11:28 PM

I found historical data. Ans sea green was stated.   The yard switchers were painted a unnamed green the entire life of the diesel era on the CNJ.  They were never changed for some reason. The road engines were changed from sea green to austerity green. That green was darker but was also cheap. When CNJ did away with the striping and reduced the remaining gold logos as cost cutting, used the new cheap austerity green. Which the sun wreacked havoc with turning it almost black.  Hence the false thought of the use of brunswick green.

 

footnote NJ Transit is doing a heritage fleet.  the CNJ unit is the late blue/yellow scheme

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

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  • From: Henrico, VA
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, December 25, 2019 6:32 PM

You're really doing your CNJ homework there!  Well done!

Interested in a "wild card?"  How about a CNJ Fairbanks-Morse switcher that wasn't  done in green and yellow?

http://archives.anthraciterailroads.org/view_image.php?photoID=40  

Yep, that thing's blue with tangerine stripes.  I believe that and one other FM switcher went to the CNJ with that color scheme.  How long they kept it I don't know, but as far as I know they were the only CNJ diesels painted that way.

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