I have been searching for a good side picture of the 4-8-4 SLSF 4500 when she was still in service and cannot find one. What color were her drivers? I looked at Glacier Park Models website and they have them painted black. This does not look right to me for some reason. Were they black or Zephyr blue like the boiler? Also, I have seen one picture of the 4-8-4 SLSF 4500 sitting in what looks like a roundhouse and her cab roof is white. Was it white all the time or painted later? I have seen this two different ways also. As you can tell I am trying to get all my modeling facts down before I call a model done. One other question, did the 4-8-4 SLSF 4500 ever have a coonskin headlight bracket? Thanks a lot so far guys! You all have been a big help! Will
Well looking at what Glacier park is coming out with soon. http://www.glacierparkmodels.com/Frisco_4-8-4s.html I would go with white roof and black wheels. But I swore I saw a color photograph at St. Louis Union Station of 4-8-4 SLSF 4500. The color cast seemed very close to the body, which would make me think they painted them blue as well. I believe that the white roof was early, and then changed. Could you image how hard it would have been keeping the roof white on a cab? And from all the photographs I have and seen, I cannot remember the Frisco 4500s series ever heaving a coonskin bracket. Maybe Don can jump in on this thread and let us know his thoughts.
Was the white cab in a shop photograph? Could it be they primed in white lead for corrosion protection? This is just off the top of my head, but makes some sense. George
4-8-4 SLSF 4500-4502 details. - Drive and pilot wheel centers are blue. - Cylinders are blue. - Cab, boiler and domes are blue. - Cab roof is gray. Per Joe Collias' book Frisco Power, page 202. Tom
I went back through my collection and 4-8-4 SLSF 4505 and SLSF 4511 did have coonskin number plates, but none of the others did. Seems odd only those two did, but I am sure there is some special reason. However, from what I have seen, the Meteor's number plates were rectangle. The color is your call, per the era you are modeling. White cab roof new, then it was grey, then it was blue. The white was not white primer, but paint. You can tell the white was to keep clean from some of the latter pictures. Especially looking at the tenders.
I found this thread and thought it was very interesting, almost makes me nervous. I have one of these on order, and for the money I hope it is correct. So if per Joe Collias' book Frisco Power, page 202, the drive and pilot wheel center were blue, does GP know this and will the pilot model be corrected? Craig "Willie" Wilson
The 4500-4502 had the wheels painted blue at Baldwin. But it did not take the Frisco long to paint them all black. The cab roof was not white, but a light gray color. Whitewalls were only for the builder's photograph shots. If I recall the 4-8-4 SLSF 4505, 4508, 4513 had headlight bracket coonskins. I would think they got them after being involved in mishaps where the front ends were damaged. Otherwise they were all rectangular. I had the GP pilot models for a week nitpicking them. I returned them along with Frisco erection drawings and a list of corrections to be made. I got a copy of the builder's final prints a couple weeks ago and signed off on them. So they should be in production as we speak with a late summer delivery. From the craftsmanship that I noted on the pilot models to the paint and lettering work to the way they run, these will be the epitome of Frisco models. Hopefully, they will sell successfully as he would like to do some other Frisco, perhaps 4-8-2 SLSF 1500 and/or SLSF 4100 classes.
I did my part, I have two on order and I cannot wait to see them. Thanks for setting GP straight. I hope they sell well and they come out with others. Steve
I would also like to add my thank you for all of your efforts on this project. These posts have set my mind at ease. I too have one of these on order and I figure with the cost of one, I would like it to be as accurate as is possible. And I am glad to see that GP has the true professionals helping. I am eagerly awaiting its arrival from GP later this summer. Craig "Willie" Wilson
You just cannot get away from your reputation can you, Don? It is good to see the manufacturers at least consulting people " in the know". Dan
Don, My thanks to you as well, and thanks to all of you who have worked on other reproduction efforts, whether it be a spike or a "Jawn Henry". I am just glad to see manufactures are trying to be as accurate. Is there any way to determine how many of each "type" will be produced?
Below are 4-8-4 SLSF 4500 and SLSF 4501 as they appear today. While they are beautiful, they are not quite decorated as they originally came from the factory. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=437520 http://www.flickr.com/photos/eoscatchlight/8218918977/ According to Joe Collias' book Frisco Power, page 202, the Meteor paint scheme was as follows. Zephyer Blue - Boiler jacket, pilot and drive wheel centers, cylinders, tender body. Gray - Smoke box, fire box, cab roof. White - Running board edges, wheel rims only when delivered, tender stripe, engine lettering. Black - Underframe areas below running boards, tender numerals. Red - Meteor "swoosh" lettering, outlined in white, on tender. When 4-8-4 SLSF 4500 was prepared for display in Tulsa in 1954, the "arching streak" colors were inadvertently reversed with white outlined in red. See photographs in Frisco Power, second edition, the Frisco Museum edition, page 310 and in Frisco In color, Volume Two, page 8. Tom G.
Those 4-8-4 4500s are "centerfold" material huh? I would have loved to see one in operation pulling a big passenger train! Tom
