Greetings - When the NYC FTs (#1600-#1603) were first released in Jun '44 they had the short-lived "cat whisker" striping on the front nose. (Would love to scratch-paint that on a pair of NYC FT A-Bs sometime.) If I understand correctly the E7s were the first NYC diesels to be released with the familiar lightning stripe, sometime in '47(?). Does anyone know when the FTs were repainted using the full lightning stripe? I bought a lightning-striped Stewart FT A-B kit off eBay for $50 recently and I wanted to find out what year that paint scheme would be appropriate. I was guessing either '48 or '49. I did some googling and got on the Fallen Flags website but didn't find anything definitive. I appreciate the help...
I wish I could help you, but kind of lost interest in my favorite railroad once the diesels arrived. I'l bet Hank or Roger may be able to help. Meantime I'll check my NYCS books.
Yes, the full lightning stripe like the one in the link you provided above. I did find an interesting photo on Fallen Flags (dated 9/21/49) that shows #1601 with the original cat whisker scheme and the trailing B-unit and opposing A-B FT units in the newer lightning stripe scheme: If the date on the picture is correct then the repaint was sometime prior to 9/21/49 for at least one of the four A-B units.
And we have a fourth scheme. That is the version of the 'lightning stripe' most directly related to the prewar Henry Dreyfus style of the 20th Century: It isn't identical, but it's two tone, and the darker gray lines up with the cars' window boards, like the prewar scheme.
Yes, I realize that it wasn't the two-tone gray scheme. However, did show the full lightening stripe used on the Es and Fs. So, not wanting to argue semantics, I'm still interested in knowing approximate dates (i.e. mmm/yy) of when the FTs were repainted with the newer lightening stripe scheme. I appreciate any help. Thanks,
To the best of my knowledge, all these lightning stripe and whiskers variations are postwar. They appered shortly after the war, and lasted through the late fifties. To no small degree, they were concurrent. NYC was big on painting this train in this scheme, and that train in that scheme--often with the result that their trains wound up not uniform, as they had to switch equipment around at times. Note that Point353 is studiously and graciously providing dates for those photographs where possible... LOL cool! Never saw that one before!
acptulsa, I know for sure that the NYC FTs were painted with the cat whisker scheme when they were first released in June '44. The lightning stripe was indeed a post-war release. As mentioned in my initial post, the lightning stripe (as pictured in Point353's earlier post) was found on the E-units in '47. I'm just looking for a more definitive date for a FTs - not Es, not F3s, not J3 Hudsons. Am I clear as mud? Point, Thanks for the link. I looked at that thread before. Unfortunately, the links with that thread no longer work. Thanks,
If you mean the links to photos in the second post, simply replace "http://gelwood.railfan.net/" with "http://rr-fallenflags.org/" and they should all work.
Yup. Cear as mud. The early schemes lasted until they required a repaint, then they were standardized. The photo you yourself provided indicates that the original paint and simpler wartime scheme only lasted around five years. Does that clear the mud up?
No, I was referring to the links in this thread: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=93&t=48322
So, basically you're saying you can't give a specific date for one of the FT repaints. That's all I'm looking for.
I can say that as of September of 1949, 1601 hadn't yet been repainted but several others had. The lightning stripe didn't exist during the war, and no FTs were built after. I sincerely doubt records of when each individual unit was repainted survived.
I think it's a safe estimate that the odds of any of those wartime paint jobs lasting until the 1958 introduction of the EMD LWT12 would be approximately zero.
I found this photo in an old Headlight. It shows FTA 1601 still with Cat Whiskers in 1948. However, it also shows Lightning stripes behind the cab. I found a few photos of FTA 1600 in Cat Whiskers, but none with dates, so I'm not bothering to post them.
