Erie Diesel

bpate

New Member
Hello everyone,

Could someone tell me what model is used in the photo posted by Marty W in 'The Gauge / Trestle Bridge Photo Contest October 2002' which is listed at the bottom of the Gauge site please? BTW, nice photo Marty W.
 

marty w.

Member
Hi bpate,

The model is a HO scale Stewart Hobbies EMD F3A with Kato drive. I think it was stock #8460. These are no longer produced, but you maybe able to find some on E-bay.

Marty
 

bpate

New Member
Picture of VicRail S Class

I have found a picture of the VicRail S Class that Marty's Erie model reminded me of. Very similar paint scheme. No doubt the VicRail people used the Erie as a prototype scheme and seem to have just changed the E for a VR.
 

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pjb

New Member
Vic Rail scheme

Barry:
They may never have seen the Erie scheme , as such . The loco makers cooked up these schemes and presented them to buyers in the early days of dieselization , for their approval .
Later , when it became apparent that some of the elaborate schemes ,especially with pastel shades , became filthy and subject to instant fadeout - railroads began to opt for simple , durable (and usually dull ) , colors.

With western european railroads now selling express locomotives as advertizing billboards , we are seeing the most elaborate and sophisticated raiments ever put on locomotives appearing there.[
 

bpate

New Member
Thanks pjb,

That's very interesting to know.

I have ordered a set of A&B units of the Stewart FT in Erie colours from Greenway Products so that I have an approximation of the old girl at least. Australian prototype models are not that common and apart from some very old Lima models, with I am told have poor mechanisms, there is nothing on offer for the bulldog style units. It will be my first Stewart so I am looking forward to seeing how it performs.
 

Gary Pfeil

Active Member
Actually, there was a thread here maybe two years ago where Woodie stated that someone from the Australian railroad had indeed visited the US and saw the Erie scheme and intentionally duplicated it. Perhaps Woodie will read this and chime in.

Gary
 

bpate

New Member
I asked about this via the Victorian Railfan website http://www.railpage.org.au/vr/ and to quote James Brook

"The VR is based the livery on the Erie RR livery, but they used the
blue and yellow colours of the "Spirit of Progress" instead of the black & yellow of the Erie RR. As for EMD, IIRC they suggested a scheme with thin lines starting at the front of the nose and then curving up and back along the sides of the loco. The Commonwealth Railways livery is a heavily modified version of this livery."

So there is a bit of truth in both theories but the Erie link seems to be it. Thanks guys. Anyway the Erie FT unit can be run with the knowledge there is historical link to the VR S units I recall from my youth. Excellent! :)
 

Woodie

Active Member
Hi Barry,

I can't find the thread where I went through the history of VR and Erie, nor the references I used for it. But it was a concious decision by the VR commisioners at the time, when evaluating the move from steam to deisel to replicate the Erie scheme, following a visit to the US to evaluate the the deisel locos.

Anyway, good to see another Aussie on The Gauge. I don't get as much time as I used to to visit here, but do keep an eye on things from time to time.

You may wanna try here and check out the layout I had before moving up from Sydney to the Northern Rivers of NSW. It got trashed a week before I moved when the washing machine hose burst and flooded the house while I was away. :( , so it is no more, sadly.

I have 5 of the Lima S and B class locos (both traditional VR and V/Line liveries) and they run OK. Not brilliant, but for the price they do OK and serve their purpose.
 

bpate

New Member
Hi Woodie,

A real shame about the flooding. The layout looked really good. When do you start another?

I have received the Stewart F A&B units and was brave enough to respray them in VicRail blue/yellow with appropriate decals. I know it isn't 'exactly' an S Class but it looks the part for us and runs like a beauty. I am quite happy with my first attempt at using an airbrush. I got an Aztek dual action with compressor and I must say it was worth the money.

Greenway Products were great, only charging their standard US postage even though the actual postage cost was $8 higher than that.
 
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