HELP - Looking for Hudson5432 | O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum

Dave GarmanOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERMEMORIAL SUPPORTER

A few of us here on the Forum are interested in getting our 3rd Rail J3a Hudsons corrected as far as the lettering is concerned. Back in August, Jack (Hot Water) posted within a thread by Nick (PC9850) and said:

"I remember a discussion about that #7, way back when the models came out, and Hudson5432 explained the whole "number thing" in great detail.

I am creating this shout-out for Hudson5432 or anyone who knows him to try and find out what was discussed in that original thread that Hot Water mentioned. I for one am REALLY interested as I own #5447 but I believe all of us would love to know all about the whole number thing. We have been unsuccessful in finding the original thread on the Forum and it may no longer exist.

So, help us out here guys. Where's Hudson5432 or what do you remember about said thread???

Thanks in advance!

Best,

Dave

11/8/138:57 PM

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NYC FanOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I seem to remember that the lettering or numbering was the later san serif style except for the "7" which was the earlier Roman Style lettering.

11/8/139:15 PM

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Dave GarmanOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERMEMORIAL SUPPORTER

You're right Skip. And the lettering on the tender is ALL Roman circa New York Central LINES vintage rather than the San Serif that it should be...

The night watchman at 3rd Rail was asleep at the switch when this beautiful locomotive went through per-production quality control

11/8/139:21 PM

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PC9850OGR Forum Member

I think Jack (Hot Water) had the best theory on the tender lettering.

Originally Posted by Hot Water:

That said, it is a beautiful model, except the tender has the incorrect "NEW YORK CENTRAL" lettering! It seems that Scott's builder first produced the NYC Dreyfus Hudsons, then the ESE Hudsons, and lastly the J3A "super hudson" models, but forgot that the NYC lettering on the big PT centipede tenders was quite a bit different from the streamlined Hudsons.

He is correct; if you look at a Dreyfus or an ESE Hudson you will notice it has the same NEW YORK CENTRAL font on the tender that is applied to 3rd Rail's de-streamlined model.

However the whole "7" thing is even more interesting to me because it would be neat to know how such a complex error as mixing different era fonts could occur and how it can be fixed. As the photos below illustrate, the issue occurs in all six places that the number appears on the model.