I plan on modeling 60's era--when I was growing up in Rolla,MO. Plan on getting a couple of E8's and model Citation/Count Fleet, two of the engines that freq. ran through Rolla and pullers of the passenger trains I rode on from the short jump from Newburg. Anyway, my question is any reccs. on E8's? I've seen in the Walthers catalog that both Proto 2K and BLI make them. Someone on the prototype thread on the Model Railroader web site recc. the P2K, stating that they were "good runners." With either choice, will have to airbrush, as I'm not aware of any RTR E8's in Frisco logo. Jim
I'm a new forum member. Just getting back into HO modelling after twenty year break. I, too, want to do a couple of Frisco Racehorse E8s. I just won an E&L Proto 2000 E8 on eBay. And also found some old Herald King Frisco E8 "Racehorse" decal sets. I'm prepared to airbrush the proper colors...soon as I learn what the right shades of red, silver, etc. were. Any advice? lso, any decal sources besides the out-of-print Herald King set? I'll probably use Polly S or ModelFlex. Anyone see a problem with that? Noel Valencia, CA
There were 2 runs of Proto 2000 E8/9's in the Frisco "racehorse" scheme with the white outlines around the gold areas. The first run, about 1993, was 2016 "Citation" and 2020 "Big Red". I have both of these and they run and look good. Circa 2001 there was another run, 2019 "Cavalcade" and 2022 "Middleground". These turn up every once-in-a-while on ebay, but don't expect a bargain as these are still in demand. I can't comment on BLI except to say that most of thier products are DCC and sound equiped. As far as decals go, besides the Herald King set, Microscale made a set for E units, 87-455. These were gold with no white outlines, and included lettering for the "Texas Special". For the red color, "SP Scarlet Red" is a good choice.
Noel and Jim - If you're trying to tag a specific year for your modeling efforts, I'll recommend Mike Condren's old "Paint Shop" columns, now available on his website at http://condrenrails.com/Frisco/Frisco_PaintShop.htm Feel free to share/post photos of your finished work, or even the work-in-progress as you see fit. Best Regards,
About 30 years ago I did something similar with a Model Power E-8/9. After adding a few extra details, I used Floquil SP Scarlet for the car body and Floquil Silver for the trucks and fuel tank. I used Grimy Black and Mud to weather it a bit. I used the gold and white Herald King decals for the lettering. The decals stretched slightly, and it was a pain to get the gold lettering centered over the white, but the “look” was worth the effort. I leave it with you to decide if the SP Scarlet was a good choice. You can adjust the color a bit by adding a drop or two of Reefer White. You have a much better starting point with Proto 2000 locomotive than with the old Model Power locomotive.
Likewise for me...good work, Karl. One thing I'd never noticed was the fuel tank skirts. Looking at some of the prototype photos on Mike Condren's site, it looks like the E8s were delivered with skirts. Later pictures show the redbirds sans skirting, which I presume was by design?
Since my last post, I've picked up two of the E8 Proto 2K's on e-bay, Citation 2016 and Middleground 2022. A question I have, is looking at another photo thread on this site, it looks like 2022 was named "Champion." Any chance this was renamed at a later date, or did Proto get it wrong the first time? Overall like the looks of both locos, by the way, though have had some issues with the Kadee conversion height on the rear of the Citation issue which was a longer bracket and required #33 conversion kit. And you're right, though I did OK on Citation, the 2022 was a little pricier. Jim
The KC-Florida Special, 106, was struck by a 70 car MKT freight train at Ft Scott on Jan 14, 1951. The MKT frt struck the 2022, the trailing unit and a Frisco Express Box (a former troop sleeper).
"Frisco Diesel Power" by Louis A. Marre and John Baskin Harper list the accident as having ocurred in 1952 although no specific date was given. When being repaired, it was discovered that "Middleground", the name of the 1950 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, was copyrighted. 2022's name was changed to "Champion", after movie and recording star Gene Autry's horse. It's interesting to note that before Gene Autry found fame and fortune in Southern California as a singing cowboy, he worked as a telegraph operator for the Frisco in Oklahoma.
Don Banwart's book on Ft Scott has a reproduction of a Ft Scott Tribune article, and claims a 1951 date. Given the revision date of 12-10-51, and the fact that the 2022 is already listed as "Champion" on the attached locomotive diagram, I am inclined to believe that the wreck occurred during 1951. The digital ICC records do not include a report of this accident.
Ken Wulfert's post http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread...50-s-Diagrams-1-EMD-E-Units&p=33024#post33024, has references a new article of the Fort Scott Tribune dated January 14, 1951 as the date of the accident.
