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 Posted - October 30 2007 : 10:28:00 PM
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Presenting the new STC locomotive fleet!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
(Disclaimer: OK, I'll admit it: I'm proud here, and I'm going to show off. Apologies but I can't help myself. There will be many HUGE pictures and my usual rambling. So out of respect, I warn you not to wait for it all to download, if you're not interested in my freelance schemes).
Finally, after years of planning and aquiring the skills and materials to
make them a reality, the STC is pleased to present a set of locomotives in the new corporate locomotive scheme!
  
ABOUT THE MODELS
The 7638 and 7655 are new-release Athearn RTR GP40X models, which were delivered undecorated in the new gray engineering plastic. The 7673 is an Athearn blue-box GP38-2, also delivered undecorated in the old black plastic.
The new RTR kits are very complex in areas of their assembly (and require disassembly of the drive train in order to paint the bare-metal frame), requiring careful planning in areas of cab details and the like. All three locos were done as a batch group, averaging out to about 10 hours per model – half of that in just paint (masks, spray, decals, touch-up) alone. Like all superdetailed models, 10% of the details take about 80% of the time. Obviously there are plenty of details to go, especially in the pilot areas.
It took a lot of patience and skill that I didn't have even just a year ago; fortunately my planning and process worked out so well that I wish I had tried it sooner. Nonetheless, when I say five years in the making, I'm not exaggerating. I first theorized what I wanted a locomotive to look like at that time... which was more difficult than I expected. I didn't even really have a logo designed yet, but I had coincidentally picked the slogan "The Evergreen Route" over a 15 years earlier, long before I even knew about the Maine Central's "Pine Tree Route". From then on it was a matter of practicing my paint skills, acquiring tools, researching materials and finishing techniques and learning new skills such as decal printing and graphic arts and design. Of course I don't do this full time, so really - it could have been faster, but for once I was in no rush.
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ABOUT THE PAINT SCHEME
Going into the process, I had a few requirements for the design. My freelance Saint Canard Midland is planned as a sort of "regional Class-1" (in the vein of what the Wisconsin Central ultimately became), modeled from the mid-70's through the mid-80's. In that time there were still many Class 1 lines (and fallen flag veterans) sporting a variety of bold schemes, so I wanted to adopt a similar look. The requirements for the design were:
Boldness: Present a proud, dynamic, attention-getting scheme.
Inspiration: As a free-lance road, evoke subtle elements of certain other Class 1 schemes and tie them into an original yet classic design.
Visibility: Prototypical attention to safety and purpose, with bold colors and contrasts, especially up front.
Originality: Not quite like anything else… no carbon copies, no boring stripes or solid colors.
Feasibility: Simplicity of design for ease of painting and minimized “prototypical expense”.
What I arrived at is a scheme that combines two of my all-time favorite locomotive design elements: the contrast and unique shapes of Santa Fe’s freight warbonnet, and the bold colors striping of the Chessie System. You can see these traits in separation of the cab and intake portion of the long hood (Warbonnet), and the tri-color banding (Chessie). In this way the STC could be plausibly affiliated with either one (which it is), but still stands on its merits with a look all its own.
During evaluation, I became torn between the Chessie-inspired Blue-Yellow-"red", and a more unique use of green which kept in with the STC's legacy colors and turquoise logotype. I even tried to put it to an informal vote to make sure I wasn’t “missing something”.
But aren't all railroads prone to multiple schemes and commemorative & experimental units? Yeah. So the decision was easy: try both! As my preference leaned toward the Tricolor, I batch-numbered and painted both GP40X units that way. The GP38 then became an “experimental test-bed” for the purposes of this story.
During the build, the Yellow versions were the clear standouts. But as the finished locos took shape, the Green one became more and more polished, especially once the yellow trim was applied. So I’m afraid I STILL don’t have a preference!
I may choose to split the schemes based on HP ratings (above or below 3000HP), or the home shops for servicing (Chicago vs Frankfort). Or just on a whim.
The colors used are
-Polly Sclae CSX Yellow
-Polly Scale ATSF Blue
-Testors Fluorescent green
-Alps Cyan (numbers and logos on yellow units)
-Alps yellow (stripes on green unit)
-"Alps recipe red" (stripes, heralds)
-"Alps recipe royal" (heralds, logos)
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Not just a slogan - a philospohy
Coined out of the coniferous regions of its northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin home base, the Saint Canard Midland maintained its celebrated "Evergreen Route" identity throughout its expansion southward to Wetsern Kentucky and eastward to Michigan. But over the decades it’s become more than just a geographic nomer - it's a philosophy for our continued success and strength, symbolizing all facets of the operation.
Indeed, remaining "evergreen" requires forward thinking, applied to the STC’s values:
Environment - promoting the railroad as an environmentally friendly alternative to highway congestion, providing benefits to the community and nation; enacting operating practices that enhance and promote these benefits.
Commodities - a large portion of revenue traffic is still generated by and for agriculture, from harvest grains to wood products, from implements to packaged supplies.
People - In addition to taking care of our own employees, we take care of the community as well. From timely professional service to community improvement programs and sponsorships, we strive to be active members of a healthy, thriving community.
Progressiveness - Green means Go, and competition from common carriers of road and rail requires us to embracing new ideas and concepts, from PR to technology, physical assets to cooperative strategies.
Assets - Adherence to the above principles has always enabled us to operate from a position of fiscal strength which is the fundamental goal of any business enterprise.
While the STC may no longer roam exclusively where conifers grow, our adherence toward our values and guiding principles allows us to proudly remain "The Evergreen Route" now more than ever.
The STC also celebrates the people who inspire and keep its spirit alive. Locomotives are subnamed for important individuals (the 7638, 7655 and 7673 are named for the CEO’s grandfather, father, and wife respectively), and cabooses may be decorated in commemorative schemes (currently the 1127 sports a scheme celebrating the birth of little railroader Bethany).
MANY THANKS to those who voted in the poll a few months ago, and convinced me to give it a go. For comparison, here's the concept schemes I drew on the computer a few years back.
Edited by - GoingInCirclez on October 30 2007 10:44:28 PM
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ptgolf
Little Six
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 Posted - October 30 2007 : 10:38:46 PM
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| Awesome job, your a vert talented individual!
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 Posted - October 30 2007 : 10:43:05 PM
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WOW!!! Those look great! I especially like the green one[:p]
-cheez
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Posted - October 30 2007 : 11:48:54 PM
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GIC,
Very nice!!! Great seperation of colors and beautiful pinstripes. I also am leaning toward the green color. Goes great with the "Evergreen Route" slogan as well.
Another option for the different color schemes would be a work or MOW loco. I wanted a bright and flashy (to the point of being gaudy!) loco for my layout. So the NMN has a bright GP28 pulling the MOW train now.
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Posted - October 31 2007 : 12:06:47 AM
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The green one really was a surprise.
I'll be honest, I hated it at first. The stripes are custom decals so all I painted and masked was the blue and green... and with just those two colors, it looked terrible. By comparison, the blue and yellow ones looked so good they almost didn't need the stripe. I *almost* repainted over the green one the spot!
But it's amazing what a simple touch of extra color and a stripe can do... once I added the yellow stripe to the green, it was a whole new ballgame.
And honestly, the more I look at it, the more I like it. I really still can't decide. So I will make an excuse to use both. I made decals for 6 units of each scheme.
The STC has an en-Rock GP38-2, and an ex-CN Alco C424 in the fleet as well. The story on the 7673 is that it's ex-ROCK as well... the other unit is its mate but is not repainted yet. I'm actually going to leave it "painted out" in the fleet. Will probably do the same to the CN 424 and assign that one to MOW service.
Edited by - GoingInCirclez on October 31 2007 12:10:47 AM
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Posted - October 31 2007 : 01:54:58 AM
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GIC:
Was that Rock one the blue detail job you posted in LotW a little while back witha pic of the prototype?
Btw: If I were to send you a shell what woould you charge for a repaint? I have a couple shells in mind. One is a very Tiger Valley C424 in metal!
-G
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Posted - October 31 2007 : 01:56:50 AM
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Hey GIC:
Feel like the HH unit needs some blue to balance it out!?
-G
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Posted - October 31 2007 : 12:18:35 PM
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Exellent detail work!!! My votes for the green one too.
Just curious? The first two pics. Are those inside and outside wipers, or am I just seeing the rear window wipers showing through the front windows?
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Posted - October 31 2007 : 1:29:43 PM
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Gareth - the earlier ex-Rock I posted was a different unit, a U25B that I modeled speficially to match the prototype. It'll stay that way but is not affiliated with the STC.
I'll have to get some pics of the ex-Rock GP38 once I fix a few things. I first started it a couple years ago but wasn't happy with an experimental goof I made.
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The "dual wipers" are the ones on the rear cab windows, showing through the front.
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Posted - October 31 2007 : 8:45:16 PM
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Hi GIC,
Great work! I like the blue and yellow. It's good to see your work on here again.
Mike
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Posted - November 04 2007 : 3:06:40 PM
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Thought I would consolidate all my custom-painted STC stuff into one post. So here's a look at all my rolling stock:
This was the very first one, back in 1991. I used a green paint marker to color out the crappy Tyco BN logos, then tried to come up with a new carrier reporting mark. I already knew I liked "Saint Canard Midland" as a name... but quickly realized that the abbreviation "SCM" was, um, a bit too "scummy" for comfort! Would make sense for MOW cars though.
This boxcar became a test bed for other weathering experiments. Most of it washes off that Tyco supergloss....
The next one was a test of coming up with an image. I expanded on this one a few years back, by adding the "Tree-Track" logo, although it had been lettered long before.
This is still representative of many concepts I continue to use, and will be used as a "transition car". The herald font is from the old STC before the new image of the late 60's. The red & white (while adopted from an Old Spice car on the cheap) represents the STC adopting a bit more color and variety, akin to what the DT&I became famous for.
My very first 100% custom paint job, which left lots to be desired. Still, you need to learn how to mix paint, and what colors work well. I also discovered that trying to fit solid text between and over ribs is a royal pain, so I began designing decals to fit.
This car is supposed to be a more sparsely-decorated modern car, in the typical STC colors of blue and / or green.
The next custom-paint went much better! Unfortunately I got excited and decaled before I used glosscoat - oops - so you can see the film.
Starting to come up with service branding and PR gimmiks - "Detroit CARgo!" - a la the Chessie System's labeling of specialized cars, and Santa Fe "Shock Control" among other examples....
"One for 85" is a tribute to the 85 Chicago Bears superbowl team... a huge car in appropriate colors for the best there was! Blue and Orange will be the scheme for Auto Parts cars.
And now onto some of my favorite class of cars: CenterFlow hoppers!
The first center flow test scheme, now using the official "STC Blue". Thsi was an old Front Range kit I picked up used; I stripped all but the data. The blue is only on part of the car as a test, partly to see how it would look, but mostly because I did not have data decals designed yet so I needed to reuse the factory-applied data.
By way of evolution, the next car shopped was almost all-blue, except for the sill. The real reason for this was again, lack of data decals, but it makes for an interesting story and variant!
Also, there's a prototype precedent as in real life, the Chessie System inconsistently applied contrasting sills to its own centerflows.
The fully-realized scheme is seen here on these Athearn 2970 2-bay undecs. I finally made my own decals for all the typical data, making these much easier, cheaper, and more realistic to make. There is data on the car ends as well!
A third car, #3209, is currenlty in interchange... [}:)] A fourth car is built and painted, awaiting shop time for decals and data.
The same "stripe-side" experiment was done on 3-day cars (which, being primarily assigned to Ag service, mostly use Green instead of Blue). The 3302, and Accurail 5400CF, was painted at the same time as the 3201. I scavenged data decals from a single-car Microscale set - an expensive proposition.
The full-green scheme is shown here on these Intermountain undec kits...
...as well as these Atlas Trainman undec 3650's. I love the unusual "open cages" on the ends of the car (they do not touch the top of the hopper body).
Another personal favorite of mine are cylindrical cars. For these, I introduced another branded service: "Harvest Hauler". This is an Atlas 3-bay undec with a Plano roofwalk.
This atlas 6-bay keeps its roofwalk, but is the first STC car I bothered to weather.
These quirkily odd covered Coil Gondolas have ALWAYS been a favorite of mine! While they were very rare and quickly became obsolete, of course I still had to add some to the STC roster.
I made a complete decal kit to perfectly match the factory data, as can be seen next to the somwhat scarce AHM/ Life-like Illinois Central offering:
Invert the colors on the car and covers, and you get a more typical STC coil service scheme, see on this Evans coil car by Walthers.
The STC owns some trailer-train racks, and was an early adopter of the auto-rack concept. STC panels are applied in a variety of colors at the whim of the paint shop, with blue for yellow cars preferred...
...while Purple was decided to give a subtle touch of color to a drab brown tri-level.
The STC saw the writing on the wall for the impending intermodal revolution, and not only adopted the concept, but co-branded a separate subsidiary.
A caboose still brought up the rear in those days of course. This one was customized to commemorate the STC's "little live mascot". [:D]
Finally, a look at an alternative revenue producer! The STC sub-leases cars to certain cars in captive client service, as billboards. A true win-win as the client receives additional ppublicity and exposure, while the STC charges for the paint job and other incentives for the rolling billboard.
Edited by - GoingInCirclez on November 04 2007 3:08:32 PM
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Posted - November 04 2007 : 3:38:01 PM
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Great fun to look at. Do I hear a video device warming up?
Alco Fan
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Posted - November 14 2007 : 10:03:01 PM
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Oops, I forgot these two:
(heh heh, I always thought a cool thing about painting your own stuff, is putting it in the box and pretending it's actually "real" or something.
And a service vehicle. This Trident F250 is a little too modern, but it's all I could find, and I like how it turned out. I need to dirty the hubs a bit though.
 
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Posted - November 16 2007 : 12:07:04 AM
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Hi GIC,
Great stuff! I love it all. I have a question about engine #7638. What kind of trucks are those? Are they new style or something old? Did the real railroads use them and if so what time period?
Thanks
Mike
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Posted - November 16 2007 : 12:52:32 AM
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quote:question about engine #7638. What kind of trucks are those? Are they new style or something old? Did the real railroads use them and if so what time period?
Originally posted by mytyco - November 15 2007 : 11:07:04 PM
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They were called "HT-B" for "High Traction B-truck". They are real, and were an experimental option that EMD offered on a batch of GP40X's. Only the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific tried them out; I surmise they weren't successful since they never appeared anywhere else.
The 7638 has them because it was just about IMPOSSIBLE to find a low-nose undec from the first run of Athearn GP40Xs (those had the standard trucks). I finally opted for an undec UP version. You can swap the sideframes at any time though, but for now I like the "experimental" look.
The 7655 will get a chopped nose if I can ever find that part.
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