Its always been dream of mine to model part of the Rocky Mountain Division. I was recently given access to a few N scale little joes - brass I think. They are the freight road numbers only, no passenger joes in the collection. Some are the in the 70s simplified scheme and some are in the maroon stripe version. I have been researching the prototype in what books I have. My dilemma is which era to model. It seems that during the 1960s, when the joes had the Maroon stripe, they seemed to often run in pairs on freights. I can find no pictures of any freights running with a single joe during that time. As the diesels took over in the later years, it seems that a single joe on the point was much more common. Since my numbers of Joes are limited, I am wondering if I should model only one era and sell the other era's joes, or embrace more decades and keep the entire collection. I understand these models are very rare. I am tempted to sell some to fund my layout project, yet their rareness makes it difficult. For me the "maroon stripe era" seems so much more appealing simply by virtue of aesthetics. I have probably stared at the one in Deer Lodge too many times and grown love it. Also, the classic picture of a pair of them in the Steinheimer book (where a pair of them are passing in front the hereford ranch) speaks to me. I'd like to keep at least one in the maroon scheme, but it appears no freights ever ran that way during that time. I am interested in you thoughts. Many thanks.
You are correct........one Joe on passenger trains and 2 on freight.........followed by 2 Joe's and a GP9........followed by 1 Joe and several SD40's. I think it's only a matter of time before someone produces a non-brass (i.e. cheap) Joe and the demand for the brass versions will hit bottom, so part of me says sell, but if it was me, I'd keep at least a pair of each scheme. They didn't all get painted at the same time, so you could run them together during the "transition"
The Joe repaintings started about 1966. Also, as I recall it, by the days when there was a single Joe leading a high horsepower set of diesels, the Joe itself was essentially considered to be a helper.
Thanks for the replies. I know that once I sell one, I will never be able to replace it. Also, I do feel that some company may bring a mass produced joe to N scale in time; despite the limited number of paint schemes. Keeping a pair of joes in each scheme does seem to be a sensible idea indeed. I wonder, (and here is the personal challenge), can I live with just one joe in the maroon scheme? I have seen exactly one picture of joes together in both schemes. I wonder then did the "transition era" last a very short time?
