# Favorite diesel paint scheme(s)?



## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

*Everybody has one*_
(or two or three)._

I have three:
1.) Southern Pacific Black Widow.
2.) BNSF.
3.) Norfolk Southern.
Honorable mention... CSX.

What's yours?


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

1) Denver & Rio Grande
2) Delaware & Hudson
3) Sante Fe War Bonnet
Honorable Mention...Great Northern


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## mustangcobra94 (Apr 28, 2014)

lehigh valley has a nice paint scheme


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

mustangcobra94 said:


> lehigh valley has a nice paint scheme


LVRR had many color schemes. Which one(s) is (are) your favorites. Personally I like anything Lehigh Valley.








Lehigh Valley - Railroad of Many Colors


I was running my new 44 tonner the other day. I put a few cabooses behind it and it dawned on me that the LVRR probably had more color schemes than any railroad I could think of. I have four LV diesels and each one has a different scheme (Cornell red with a yellow stripe, LV red with a yellow...




www.modeltrainforum.com


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## mustangcobra94 (Apr 28, 2014)

there's some i haven't seen but the maroon ? color with the gold letters is cool. i had the life like version when i was a kid. the white with the flag is nice also


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

If I have to pick a favorite it would be PRR Tuscan with five stripes. But I like it on the GG1 more than on diesel cab units.

There are a lot of color schemes that I like though. In no particular order:

B&O Royal blue, gray, black & gold

CB&Q cab unit in silver with black stripes

D&H lightning stripe

D&H war bonnet

Erie Lackawanna/Lackawanna gray & maroon

Lehigh Valley 44 tonner pre-war scheme

Lehigh Valley Snowbird

Lehigh Valley any in cornel red or Tuscan red

Norther Pacific two tone green

PRR DGLE with 5 stripes

Reading yellow & green

Santa Fe war bonnet


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## IronManStark (Jan 15, 2017)

1- Santa Fe war bonnet. 
2- csx 
3- N & S 
Honorable mention- BNSF (pumpkins) 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I like the red of Canadian Pacific. Don't own any though.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

I must say however...
My _least_ favorite motifs are the SP _Daylight_ and _Kodachrome_.


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## CambriaArea51 (Sep 2, 2019)

CSX and Chessie System.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

1. Chessie System
2. Denver & Rio Grande
3. GT
Honorable Mention: Conrail


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## JNXT 7707 (May 5, 2013)

Louisville & Nashville blue and cream passenger scheme

Santa Fe Warbonnet

Chesapeake & Ohio passenger scheme(s)

...and about 20 tied for third place.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

*Also nice*_
(IMO)_

GN green/orange.
NP green/yellow.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Here are 2 of my favorites.....


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Seeing what some of you guys are choosing, I am realizing that it sometimes depends on the shape of the locomotive as to how good it looks. For instance, the D&H warbonnet I think looks awesome on the Alco PAs, but isn't all that good on the more modern cab units. Those CN and GN schemes on the F units are beautiful, but I've never seen them look so great on modern diesels. I guess it's all individual perception...


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

As are pretty much most things in life, I guess.....


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## Andreash (Dec 30, 2018)

What a great subject!!!
1) Great Northern (orange)
2) Northern Pacific passenger scheme (green)
3) the classic Santa Fe F7 war bonnets 
Honourable mention -D&H blue/silver PA 1’s
Cheers...🍻


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Southern green/white warbonnet was always my favorite but there are so many great schemes out there.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

IMO, the old cab diesels seemed to always lend a better 'look' to a paint scheme.
The Black Widow motif for example, I think looked better on an F7 than a Geep.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Nice!


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

1. Santa Fe war bonnets
2. Milwaukee road Hiawatha 
3. Great northern empire builder
Honorable mention is the sp black widow.


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## lorettospringfield (Feb 18, 2015)

LateStarter said:


> *Everybody has one*
> _(or two or three)._
> 
> I have three:
> ...


I like the Grey/Yellow on the Louisville/Nashville the Great Northern Orange and the Burlington Northern in the Green, That BNSF is sharp to...heck they all are!


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

lorettospringfield said:


> and the Burlington Northern in the Green


I thought I was going to be the only one! But it comes in third, behind B&O (#1) and Delaware & Hudson.


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## Andy57 (Feb 7, 2020)

Favorite, to new I guess. What I want and can't seem to find, a SD70ACe in The Katy, HO .


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

LateStarter said:


> I must say however...
> My _least_ favorite motifs are the SP _Daylight_ and _Kodachrome_.


I never did like the Daylight scheme on diesels, but it does look pretty nice on the GS-4s


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The USRA Guy said:


> I never did like the Daylight scheme on diesels, but it does look pretty nice on the GS-4s


I have the Bachmann version (least expensive). I run it at the club, where it looks better on bigger curves.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Nice. Got any of the Daylight coaches?


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The USRA Guy said:


> Nice. Got any of the Daylight coaches?


No, just the MTH Pullman series.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

I'm with Gramps.

1. SR green/white... https://railpictures.net/photo/151379/ ... http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/fm/6304.jpg ... https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=392712
2. VGN yellow/black... https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=294608&nseq=20 ... http://www.nscorp.com/nscorphtml/heritage_photos/virginian.jpg
3. SAL... http://www.railwayclassics.com/images/sal01/sal3002.jpg ... https://www.american-rails.com/images/6129809830987583093508uoi810.jpg ... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/ALCO_RS3.JPG


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## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

Although it's not "my railroad", as a kid in Florida I liked the Atlantic Coast Line purple/grey scheme:


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## markosjal (Jan 28, 2020)

Kansas City Southern
Kansas City Southern de Mexico


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## markosjal (Jan 28, 2020)

LateStarter said:


> I have the Bachmann version (least expensive). I run it at the club, where it looks better on bigger curves.
> 
> View attachment 542297


I do not believe that is the SP 4449, but very much like it. I would take it in any color


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The Bloody Nose motif kinda grew on me. I didn't like it at first, because it replaced the Black Widow.
But now I like it a lot.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

I run these two favorites at the club (I have two of each).
They run in consist, pulling 100-car unit trains and mixed freights, usually in co-op.
Both railroads have hubs here in the Carolinas, and are sometimes seen running together.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

That last photo reminded me that a train buff I knew stated the CSX units in solid blue came from the Chessie System and the blue/gray came from the Seaboard/Family Lines System. I don't know what he based his information on or even if it's true.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

You got my curiosity up, Gramps. CSX has been through a LOT of paint.

CSX Transportation

Trainweb link ----> Website Template


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

These may not have been the best performers that Santa Fe ever owned, but they win the "Beauty Contest" hands down.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

SantaFeJim said:


> These may not have been the best performers that Santa Fe ever owned, but they win the "Beauty Contest" hands down.


They are indeed beautiful!
I have the Walthers Mainline A/B set (D.C. converted to DCC).
Extremely powerful.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Stumpy said:


> You got my curiosity up, Gramps. CSX has been through a LOT of paint.
> 
> CSX Transportation
> 
> Trainweb link ----> Website Template


Based on the link you gave it would seem that the paint schemes evolved over time and it didn't matter from which system the loco originated. Thanks for the information.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The Daylight motif on a GS-4 is okay, and in fact pretty sharp.
But a whole train-full of Daylight coaches etc, is a bit _much_.
My brain sees a circus train.


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## Trackjockey05 (Jun 30, 2020)

First and always 
SP grey and scarlet (also the 2 experimental Daylights, and SPSF Kodachrome scheme)
2-MKT green and yellow
3-NP Northcoast Limited scheme
4-NdeM original red and black (didn't care for the smurfs when they first came out but they grew on me)
5-Chessie System
6-WM circus scheme
7-Interstate railroad
Probably several more I didn't think of


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Deutsche Bahn Br.218 in Ocean Blue & Cream.


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## alaska railroad (Oct 20, 2015)

I have several. But my







favorite is this one.


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

I have a lot of paint schemes that I like but the one that has always stood out is the Southern line Daylight paint scheme. The blend of colors all compliment each other and screams class. 

Thats my vote for my favorite paint scheme. 👍


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Gramps said:


> That last photo reminded me that a train buff I knew stated the CSX units in solid blue came from the Chessie System and the blue/gray came from the Seaboard/Family Lines System. I don't know what he based his information on or even if it's true.


Full on falsehood.

The blue/grey/yellow was the standard scheme around the 1990s, and the solid blue shown is a late 2000s paint scheme.

Both of the engines in the photo in this thread were built _YEARS_ after the CSX merger. The last engine in dark blue is quite recent.


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

Wow, it's been years since I've last visited this forum!

My favourite livery(s) on a diesel locomotive is BC Rail's Two Tone Green scheme and their later red white and blue livery.


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

1. Warbonnet atsf
2.Empire builder Gn
3. Black widow sp 
4. Bnsf
5. Northern pacific green scheme


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## HawaiiTraction (Jul 3, 2020)

LateStarter said:


> *Everybody has one*
> _(or two or three)._
> 
> I have three:
> ...


BNSF
Pacific Electric Red
Western Pacific Perlman Green


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

From another thread...
I really like this one.


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## HawaiiTraction (Jul 3, 2020)

LateStarter said:


> *Everybody has one*
> _(or two or three)._
> 
> I have three:
> ...


SP Daylight, WP Perlman Green, BNSF


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