Re: (erielack) More EL product reviews...

["Tony Horn" <"horn_@_HUB.ofthe.NET">]

Yes, I got C300 in Erie.  Although its been a long time since I've seen any
type of Erie caboose (along with everyone else), this one looks good.
Actually, I got it by mistake(ordered a gmy) but liked it well enough to
keep it.  A long, long time ago (as the song goes) I modified a brass SP bay
window (Athearn style body) and researched photos for that.  The Overland
looked right on to me.  The SP bay window was more angled, a compromise I
accepted at the time; the Overland is right.  And, yes, the black roof is
correct.  There is an overhead shot of the Marion yard in Sweetland's Erie
book that shows the caboose track with some bay windows on it.  It is fairly
evident that the roofs are black.  I thought this carried over to the
original EL red caboose repaints, but from overhead shots in one of Larry's
books it was evident that just the sides were painted red with red overspray
on the roof.  A dealer told me the C301 series models had a red roof.  I do
not think that would be accurate on an Erie version, however, as he said "it
is easier to add paint than take it off!"

I'm still upset about the black nose panel on the Overland EL SDP-45 for all
those $$.  Where do these importers/manufacturers get their information?

Tony Horn
ELHS #2
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <"paultup_@_lucent.com">
To: <"erielack_@_internexus.net">
Sent: Friday, September 01, 2000 9:21 AM
Subject: (erielack) More EL product reviews...


> I picked up a bunch of HO scale EL stuff yesterday. Here are some brief
> reviews...
>
> * EL autoracks (from Accurail). The cars are nice! The colors are accurate
> (brown for the tri-level and bi-level racks, the bi-level flat is TT
yellow,
> which I have photos of, so that's right). The placard lettering is a bit
off
> (they used a generic Helvetica typeface for the words "ERIE LACKAWANNA" -
oh
> well, I will have to do a decal set for these, I suppose)  But for many
> people, it will suffice - the logo is nicely formed.
>
> * EL gondolas (from Life-Like). These are the new "second generation" of
> gons with metal grabs (but no metal stirrups? ugh!). They're offered in 3
> numbers assembled and 4 unassembled. The assembly on these goes much
faster
> since most of the underframe is already put together for you, a nice
touch.
> These cars have also gone up in price - I paid $7.50/kit for undecs in the
> first run. These kits cost me $11 each! Ouch. As for the accuracy of the
> lettering - I'd love to find out who's doing their artwork, since there's
a
> lot of commonality between Life-Like's models and others (including
Atlas).
> The billboard ERIE LACKAWANNA roadname is OK - the lettering is a tad bit
> heavy, and too squared off, but it's acceptable. The reporting marks are
> very close to the correct typeface, but they lettering is not heavy
enough.
> Fortunately on a black car, it's easily fixed. The small Roman lettering
> (Capy, blt., etc.) is very nicely done. Overall, they're very good (but I
> always have a gripe somewhere, don't I? ;)
>
> * EL bay-windows (from Overland). WAY cool. Really. If you have a couple
> bucks lying around, splurge and treat yourself to one of these. The detail
> is great - the more I look, the more I find - the small window wipers, the
> small square marker lights, tiny lettering is clearly readable. (by the
way,
> does anyone know when the square markers were added? The red models don't
> have them)  Speaking of markers, this Larry Berger collection photo on
> George Elwood's site (http://gelwood.railfan.net/frt/el-c344l.jpg) very
> clearly shows the "highway-style" markers the railroad used before they
> standardized on those small square boxes. Anyway, the GMY scheme cabooses
> had only one notable shortcoming that I could quickly pick out - the step
> edges aren't yellow (but that's easily fixed).
>
> I haven't had a chance to compare the model to the drawings on George
> Elwood's site (http://gelwood.railfan.net/frt/elcab.gif), but they sure
look
> accurate to me...
>
> By the way, did anyone get an ERIE bay-window? I haven't seen one of those
> yet!
>
> - Paul
>
>
> Paul R. Tupaczewski______________
> Lucent Technologies
> Mobile Internet Applications
> Wireless Networks Group
> 67 Whippany Road                 Voice: (973) 386-4966
> Room 15C-121                           Fax: (973) 386-3538
> Whippany, NJ 07981       E-mail: "paultup_@_lucent.com"
> ____________________________________
>
>
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>


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