.
My biggest gripe is that
all past and future railroads had paint samples to keep their fleet colors consistant. The PRR, NYC, B&O... etc. (name your favorite railroad), did not want their consist to be a rainbow of colors... and, they spent millions to have their locos, freight and passenger cars herald those colors.
So, why, with both the present day railroads, and the historical societies that have original paint chips of the "fallen flags"....
why can't you put together the same (or similar) railcar, from the differnet model railroad manufacturers... and have them
look the same? ... or, at least
close!!
EXAMPLE:
I don't think Lionel has
ever painted one their GG-1's the
same Tuscan or Brunswick color, two years in a row...
in over 60 years of making GG-1's.
The PRR Historical Society has had the
original paint chip chart for all of the PRR's colors, for
years !! Why hasn't Lionel used them?
The model railroad manufactures should have gotten together years ago, and made the final defacto color standard for
all the railroads they will be modeling now, and in the future.
You should be able to place
any MTH or Lionel Santa Fe loco with "Warbonnet" colors next to each other, and have them look
identical !!
Likewise for any other train item of the same color, from all the other manufacturers... whether it's G, O, S, HO, N or Z scale.
The industry begs for a "Standard Color Chart for All Railroads- Past and Present".
Every model train product should look like it has just come out of the paint shop... brand new and shiny.
If
you (the model railroader) want it to look "weathered"... fine!! You've got a thousand tools, paints, materials and books of how to do just
that !!
Wouldn't
that make it a
lot easier to mix and match items from different manufacturers?
. YOU BET !!!
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