Skip to main content

Reply to "Pictures: Sunset 3rd Rail D&RGW L-131 Green Late 2-8-8-2"

@Paul Kallus posted:

Wow, I am a little late to this forum, and that is a nice engine! I take it that 3rd Rail's green is accurate hue, whereas Lionel's more recent attempts at the D&RGW green was more lighter - more Christmasy? It's hard to believe they could've got it that wrong - it is no where near the dark shade of the L-131; or were there shade variations among the prototypes?

You’ve touched on one of the most highly contested subjects of D&RGW lore: the debate over green boiler locomotives. There is much debate over whether or not the Rio Grande officially painted any of their boiler jackets green. Most believe that some engines did have green jackets which leads to the next debate, what shade of green is actually correct? I think many would agree that a dark olive green is closest to what would have been. I don’t think anyone would argue the case for a light green so Lionel definitely would have screwed up here.

I wonder if any of the L’s could have had a green jacket? Black was the predominant color for Rio Grande engines, especially freight engines. The prevalence of green boiler models has really skewed reality for modeling the Grande.

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
×