Even though I'm an Ho scale person, I found this. http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=2375
Those are beautiful engines--I saw some excellent pictures of them on eBay a while back. They are not for the "faint of wallet." Tom
Williams did do a nice job of decorating those E7's for the Texas Special. I looked at their web site and see they also have a set of 72ft streamlined passenger cars to go with it that also look pretty good. The TS, and The Meteor, were darn good looking trains! Of course, these E7's would look a tad bit better if the road number was 2000 or 2003, and the logos were reversed. They would also run better. And, to pick a slight nit - the pilot and the lower side skirt on the E7's should be a couple of shades darker than the red on the rest of the unit. But, that's no big deal - after a period of service, it was very hard to tell any difference. Does anybody in frisco.org who models in "O" plan to purchase these? Ken
I was trying to save a few nickels for an older Lionel F3 set of "Texas Special" units. They have held their value pretty good over the years, but this may just sway me over. I am gonna have to take a day and find a train store with a set of these to look at.
Has anyone ever decided what two shades of red are correct (model paint) for the Texas Special/Meteor E7's? For the "Racehorse" E's (*), I'm just matching the red used by Proto 2000 on their E8's. But - I have had this Model Power E7 sitting here for years, I've tuned it so it runs pretty well, and I have the corregated siding. So all I need is the correct shades of red and it could be moved up on the work list - SLSF 2005 in "The Meteor" scheme, here we come! Ken (*) Interesting - some of us call the E's "Racehorses", some call them "Redbirds". Wonder if that would be another good frisco.org poll topic? "Racehorse" was the term widely used here (StL) along the Eastern and River divisions. In all my time as a Frisco fan (since about 1960), I never heard them referred to as "Redbirds". Yet, some of you always call them "Redbirds", and say you never heard them called "Racehorses". I'll always be a "Racehorse" guy. A "Redbird" is a man that plays on my favorite baseball team - the St Louis Cardinals. Ken
Some (your choice type and manufacturer) "Signal Red," a "fire engine" red. Not the SP red. Think of "St. Louis Cardinal Red." Not Cincinnati Reds' or Philadelphia Phillies' red. Tom
Tom - Thanks. Any thoughts on the darker red for the pilot and skirts? That's really the one I'm worried about - want it to be different, as it was on the prototype, but not too different ..... as it was not on the prototype. Speaking of "Cardinal Red" ..... tough game in Milwaukee today! Ken
Ken--I believe if you'll get one (you probably have one) of those Vanishing Vistas card (EMD) photos of the Frisco (or Katy) Texas Special E-7's and take it with you to compare to a hobby shop color chart, that will be all you'll need. The maroon shows up as well as the red in those cards. The same photo as the Vanishing Vista cards are in the 2nd edition (put out by the late Frisco Museum) of "Frisco Power," but those book color photos look faded compared to the VV's. Tom
Thanks, Tom. I do have that VV card. You are right, the darker shade of red on the pilot and skirt shows up clearly. Now to find paint in the correct shade of darker red! Ken
Re: New E7 and corrugated fluting Ken--How do you plan to model your E-7's? I've been thinking about doing a pair of Texas Special E-7's in N scale myself. I'm going to see how the Williams Brother's siding look/works. I've seen it used on N scale passenger cars. It's an HO product (for barn roofing, I think), but it is about right for car siding in "N." If that doesn't work, I think I'll cannibal-ize a passenger car for the flutes. I think that's what I would do also if I were in HO, but I don't know what fluted material is available in HO scale?? Also Ken, did you ever think about modeling an E-7 (2000-2005) after they were remodeled to look like E-8's and painted in the racehorse scheme? Tom
Re: New E7 and corrugated fluting Tom - I haven't really planned the E7 project out yet. Given that it is to be on a Model Power E7, not an expensive Proro 2000, I think I'll just wing it. I've already installed a correct E7 pilot, using a brass pilot I had, and have modified the numberboards using the Details West parts. The HO fluted siding I have is from Union Station Products in Memphis. I had to order it direct from them - in 1997! Very thin - the instructions note it is appropriate for Santa Fe and Frisco cars, so it should be good enuf for my E7. Looks like the siding will need to be applied with super glue - the siding is too thin for solvent cement. This one will be a Meteor unit (SLSF 2005), not a Texas Special unit. I feel a close relationship with The Meteor, as I rode it often in its later years. (See my screen name!). I never even saw the Texas Special that I can recall. I have not considered doing a rebuilt E7 in the "Racehorse" scheme, as that would involve cutting and fitting to change the body sides. I'm not a good cutter! I remember seeing a modified "Racehorse" E7 that Charlie Dischinger did one year at the OMRA meet - he did a great job on it. It really looked good along with one of his "Racehorse" E8's. Those were before the Proto 2000's came out, so they must have also been Model Power units. Nothing wrong with those MP units - they look pretty good, but you need to do some work on the drive. The MP E8 does have d/b, which the Frisco E8's did not have, so that would have to be removed. Not a problem on the MP E7. Ken
Ken Take a look in my album [ Dan's stuff ], I just posted a photo of a paint sample I did to match my MTH coaches. Very soon, I hope to start the E-8 to match my set of cars. Best, Dan
Re: New E7 and corrugated fluting The last time I looked, a day or so ago, Union Station Products still lists the Frisco car kits. Glenn in Tulsa
As long as you are judicious, a single pack of this Union Station fluted siding willl do two Frisco E7's, with some left over. I still have not used it - the E7 just sits there looking naked. Ken
