This Summer I am highly focused on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. I have been reading and acquiring many books on the topic, plus weekly get togethers with a Lehigh Valley RR expert and author. Not only was the L.V.R.R. running trains from NYC to Buffalo and Toronto as joint operation with Canadian National (Maple Leaf Train), but here at home they owned and ran the Liberty Bell system of electric trolleys with runs to Philadelphia, PA. If I were a kid growing up in Lehigh Valley before the take over of the automobile I would have ridden their street cars semi weekly or more to visit the tri-city area: Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, it was the way to get around Lehigh Valley, PA!
June included a trip to Hornell, NY to see the Union Pacific Big Boy which was a treat to see it and close to home, as my Wife and I missed it time and time again on its home turf. We chased it so to speak and saw it in Sayre (PA), Waverly (NY) and even behind a Arby’s somewhere near Binghampton, NY. The Big Boy’s trip to Philadelphia periodically had layovers including Sayre, PA on the grounds of the historic Lehigh Valley Railroad Locomotive Shops which closed March 1976. The former site includes extensive trackage and the old station is home to the Lehigh Valley Railroad Museum. A further note: Sayre is named after L.V.R.R.’s Engineer Robert H. Sayre, who made the railroad.
I plan to devote a couple of posts in coming weeks to the Lehigh Valley Railroad for Z Gauge, but the first one is a rather brief offering/introduction concerning paint scheme: AZL locomotive PA1. I have two pair of PA1’s: one brass and one injection moulded plastic. Note: prototypical L.V.R.R. trains ran pairs of PA1’s manufactured in the late 1940’s.. The brass set was released with four available running numbers in an edition of 16. The plastic set is currently available with two different operating numbers. Paint scheme for the L.V.R.R was ‘Cornell Red’ which is accurately represented only in the brass sets. As can be seen the current PA1’s are painted with a lighter color suggestive of orange/red. As a color it’s attractive, but it is way off from the prototypical paint which serious modelers may find disappointing. AZL got the color right with the original brass sets which also match Tru-Color’s ‘Cornell Red’ premix airbrush color. One day and perhaps another post I will have a solution to tone down the newest generation PA1 from AZL in the meantime buyers might want to consider if the ‘off paint color’ is an issue for them before buying.
Note: AZL is currently offering diesel locomotive class RS-3 for L.V.R.R. similar paint as the PA1’s. I would love to own this locomotive but not in this color.
A note about the prototypical paint scheme ‘Cornell Red’ used by L.V.R.R. includes documented variations in appearance: paint used by L.V.R.R. was ordered from various manufacturers thereby differences occurred with the color. Plus appearance of well used locomotives show color changes from dirt, soot and grime. Thus modelers concerned with prototypical trains may find historical color photos as best source for painting and finishing.
Manufacturing Note: brass editions made in South Korea by AJIN Precision Mfg. and current plastic injection models are made in China.