Found one of these new in the box and unbuilt and had to get it! This really is an interesting piece of model railroading history, and it turned out very nice! And I still can hardly believe that the 70-year-old decal sheet worked! Darth Santa Fe, doing weird and challenging projects for the fun of it!
Country: USA ~
Posts: 249 ~
Member Since: September 13 2011 ~
Last Visit: June 21 2025
That's a beautiful locomotive and very neatly built. I like the Russia iron jacket and brass boiler bands. The decals are not identical to but remind me of the 1870s standard Baldwin tender paint job.
The two engines in the picture are Baldwins of the late 1870s and if you look at the general shape and construction of them, it appears that the Belle of the '80s is a pretty standard off-the-shelf Baldwin.
Though I hate to nitpick such a beautiful job, I would suggest that making the cab roof more of a roofing color than the color of the rest of the cab would make the engine look more typical of its construction and era. For example, the engines in the picture are roofed with a kind of lead-plated soft steel that gives the roof a grayish cast.
Carpe Manana!
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2407 ~
Member Since: September 17 2013 ~
Last Visit: June 22 2025
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Posted - June 20 2025 : 01:03:41 AM
USA ~
Posts: 
Posted - June 21 2025 : 8:31:49 PM
