Russo Loco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tank Smith Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The sunrise paint scheme on #483 (w/ silver lettering instead of white, and dark red loco-
> > motive trim including the cylinder covers) was done by Scenic Ry’s official paint
> > crew/artist, who also cut the stencil. The tri-color tender herald was first given to #487 (there's a story
> > behind this); both happened in August 1974.
>
>
> In regards to the RGS-style "Sunrise" herald, Tank
> -
>
> I vaguely remembered hearing it was done by John Coker,
It was never popular with the crews, but he put a lot of time and effort into it.
> but I found the following the following intriguing snippet at
> [
ngdiscussion.net] this morning
:
>
Quote
> > Herb Kelsey Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > > . . . IIRC that herald was a John Coker
> original.
> >
> > Earl Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > > I believe someone asked John about that and
> > > he emphatically denied creating it,
>
Herb is correct, although JC may be denying all knowledge.
>
. . . and I'm quite sure that I am not the only one here on The Forum who would like to read 'The
> Rest of the Story' regarding the creation and application of the tri-color C&TS heralds
> (hint, hint).
Ok, here goes: the art department really wanted to resurrect the tri-color tender herald, but as a bit of a surprise without getting any kind of official sanction beforehand. The idea was to put it on just before an eastbound double-header, when 487 would be the helper. This would require doing the deed after-hours with the target simmering next to the engine house and the shop crew gone for the day. In order to get it done in the limited time available, an accomplice was needed, so that both sides could be painted simultaneously and as a result moi was recruited for the skunk-works project.
So we went through the paint storage and were lucky to find some small cans that would work (the budget for the project was of course zero); the red was a good shade but the blue seemed to be a bit on the light side. We dragged out the scaffolds and got to work in the fading light. As anyone who has had the experience will agree, it is tedious painting between the white in a herald and takes a long time.
As I recall, we weren't able to finish both sides in the evening and had to restart in the morning. In the sunlight we saw that the blue shade turned out pretty good and were feeling good about the results, but were subsequently interrupted by the yard crew servicing 487 and putting the train together. So about 45 mins before traintime, I was still up on a ladder finishing the fireman’s side close to the depot when Fritz Bauer came trotting out to see what was happening. I asked him what he thought, and his exact reply was, in his German accent:
“It looks like a g-- d--- potty seat!"
He then turned around and trotted back in the depot. Everyone else liked it, though.
