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Reply to "Lionel's "new" Southern Crescent Limited"

Well, to keep this debate going I have found another original color photo of a Ps-4 in operation. This is the 1397, photographed by Leonard W. Rice at Washington, DC on February 14, 1950. Photo is from a Vanishing Vistas large postcard published in 1987. This shows how the Ps-4s looked in daily service, for those who like to weather and detail their locomotives. 

 

Some observations: black class lights, black Elesco Feedwater heater and piping, high running boards and ladders, and look closely at the color of the striping. It doesn't look white to me, but imitation aluminum! It is clearly not bright white as on the 1401 or Lionel/MTH models.

 

As for the 1401, that photo was used in Prince's book on the Southern. That is an early shot, before the modifications made at Spencer Shops during the 1940s. Note the as-built running boards and ladders and different style pilot. It also has a strange decoration between the bell and headlight. I have other color views (thanks to the old Vanishing Vistas large postcard series) and the white stripe is definitely there on the pilots by the 1940s. 

 

Suffice it to say, Southern changed the Ps-4s regularly from the 1920s to 1950s, when they were retired. As modelers, we either leave the locomotives as is from the factory or modify based on a specific photograph or year of operation. Personally, I will find a Lionel 11103 and tweak it some to make a good representation of a 1940s - 1950s Ps-4 based at Spencer Shops. 

Southern Ps-4 1397 Ivy City 19500001

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  • Southern Ps-4 1397 Ivy City 19500001

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