WALTHER'S CATALOG

[PNCROSE]

I lament the absence of Athearn and MDC/Roundhouse from the new catalog. I also have a question. In the front of the catalog is a discussion of European paint schemes and various "phases" over the past couple of centuries. Why aren't schemes for American railroads given a similar treatment? It would be very helpful to determine if a particular railroad's paint scheme was current during a particular era. An ATSF modeler would not want a PRR box car with a shadow keystone or a Monon car with MON reporting marks if he was modeling the late 40's for example. Both of those changes occurred in the 50's.

[cacole]

The biggest problem with this is, most European countries only have one state-run rail system and their paint schemes don't change that often. In the U.S., there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of railroad companies over the past 150 years or so, and a listing of paint schemes would be larger than a set of Encyclopedia Brittanica, and probably cost twice as much.