D&H diesel engines in 1984

(Updated 6/05/2019)

D&H's roster in 1984 was diverse. The variety of locomotive makers (Alco, GE, EMD) and paint schemes really interested me. Some railroads (ex: Union Pacific, Conrail) have had a mind-numbing assortment of engines, but they were pretty much all painted the same way. Boring! The D&H wasn't like that at all, though it took a bit of research to find out just how diverse they were. I first started with the D&H's historical group, the Bridge Line Historical Society, whose webpage had some information and pictures about their all-time roster. This allowed me to make the spreadsheet above. The year is along the top, and the type of engine is on the left. I sorted the RS-11s by nose height (high and low). 

I also added a couple of other things that appealed to me (when the Adirondack passenger train ran, the one-week period when the D&H repainted an Amtrak dome, and the "I love NY" boxcars). While I am happy with my decision, I do miss the U23B class, especially the "Gray Ghost" #2311. However, I can still add that as a Maine Central patch paint job.

To further narrow down what was on the roster in 1984, I relied heavily on the book Bridge Line Blues by Hal Reiser. This excellent resource had a section on motive power from the late 1970s to the early 1980s which gave specific road numbers and paint scheme histories. With this information, I started making charts by type (RS3, GP39-2, etc.) listing each road number that was supposedly around in 1984. Next, I went online to the Railroad Picture Archives  (RRPA - D&H engine page) and hunted down pictures of these engines. I also scoured Ebay for relevant slides. Those pictures were also helpful for determining how to weather the engines as they looked in 1984. A couple of things immediately jumped out at me.

First, though the D&H had 9 types of locomotives in 1984 all but three were Alco, and usually a class size was a dozen or less. Surprisingly, through attrition and rebuilding into RS3m engines the large class of RS3s had been whittled down to just four by May of 1984.

Second, the diversity of paint schemes was astounding. The classic "Lightning Stripe" scheme was modified by the N&W in the early 1960s when they controlled the D&H through their holding company "Dereco." N&W insisted that road numbers be painted on the sides of the engines, but this was not done consistently. In 1977 in an austerity move the D&H went to solid blue scheme nicknamed "Blue Dip" or "Altschul Blue" (referring to D&H president Selig Altschul who served briefly in 1977). There were variants such as the color of the nose, frame trim, truck colors, and even one engine had script lettering. In 1979 to spruce it up yellow chevrons were added on the ends, creating the "zebra stripe" scheme.

Then, the side numbers were enlarged with the lightning stripe repaints at Colonie beginning with the 5012 on 3/15/1981. Units which were still in blue and grey paint were usually re-stenciled in this fashion by patch painting out the original lettering and applying the new standard numbering over the top. Unfortunately, this weathered poorly and peeled or washed off revealing the older lettering.  

So how did this all play out? A perfect example is the six high-nose RS11s. By 1984 nearly every one was different. Two were in the original lightning stripe scheme but with large hood numbers (#5000, #5005), one was in the blue dip with yellow nose (#5001), one was in solid blue with silver trucks (#5002) one was in a solid blue with yellow nose chevrons (#5003), and one had its nose chopped/modified (#5004)! It was quite a diverse class of engine. Also consider RS36 #5015, which featured three vastly different paint schemes from 1977-1979. 

Third, by 1984 many of the Alcos were on borrowed time. The influx of reliable EMD GP382s and GP39-2s made it economically and mechanically smart to congregate all of the remaining Alcos near the Colonie shops. So, even though some escaped to other parts of the system most were based in the Colonie Main area. Some lasted into the late 1980s, but they were likely on the Colonie dead line at that point. And, the engines were filthy by 1984. The sharp zebra stripe scheme looked dingy, anything with the lightning stripe scheme was severely faded, most had their numbers worn off, and the Geeps frequently had their previous owner's scheme coming through. 

The D&H also had patch paints (LV red, L&HR blue and white, CR blue engines), the Bicentennial #506, and several one-offs. The quality of the paint jobs seemed to run from very good (the Alco Centurys done in Hornell) to absolutely horrible. That being said, I plan to use restraint in compiling my HO scale roster. Because I like Alcos, I will lean heavily on the four classes that were prevalent in the area: RS36s and RS3ms for mainline and yard assignments, RS3s for yards, and RS11s for mainline and local trains. 

I would be remiss without mentioning Scot Lawrence's compilation of engines that the D&H owned prior to Guildford's takeover on 1/04/1984. While our lists aren't a perfect match, they are certainly very close. I likely had resources he didn't have and vice versa, and his list is for January while mine is for May. Still, it is very useful. There were also engines acquired from Guilford (transferred from the B&M or Maine Central), including types that would normally not have been found the D&H. I haven't fully tracked everything down yet that was painted for Guilford but lettered for D&H. 

I am very excited about modeling high-nose Geep #569, which was used for their executive and special railfan trains during the early period of Guilford's ownership. In January 1984, MEC GP7's #569 & #573 (which had recently been repainted in the new Guilford paint scheme) were relettered D&H. The #573 was subsequently lettered MEC later in 1984, but #569 kept its D&H lettering until 1988. I love high-nose units, and being able to model a first-generation EMD engine will add some diversity. They also leased six Conrail U33B engines in 1984 which were patch painted and lettered. They lasted a couple of years. 

Here is the 1984 D&H roster with paint schemes as best as I can put it together:

RS3 Road #	Notes
4075	Blue Dip with yellow stripe along frame, large yellow numbers on hood
4099	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
4103	Lightning stripe with small blue numbers on hood (in 1981… what about 1984?)
4118	Blue Dip with yellow stripe along frame, large yellow numbers on hood

  

RS3m Road #	Notes
501	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
502	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
503	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
504	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
505	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
506	"Bicentennial scheme" with white script lettering and stars on cab.
507	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
508	Lightning stripe, but no evidence of any numbers on hood

  

RS11 Road #	Notes             (#5000-5005 originally high nose, #5006-5011 originally low nose)
5000	Lightning stripe with small or large blue numbers on hood (large numbers in 11/1983, which were gone by sometime in 1984 and repainted in 1984 with ghost images of large numbers showing).
5001	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
5002	Blue Dip with large yellow numbers on hood
5003	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
5004	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood; nose chopped
5005	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
5006	Lightning stripe, but no evidence of any numbers on hood
5007	Blue Dip with large yellow numbers on hood
5008	Lightning stripe, but no evidence of any numbers on hood
5009	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
5010	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
5011	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.

  

RS36 Road #	Notes
5012	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
5013	Lightning stripe with small blue numbers on hood
5014	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
5015	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
5016	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
5017	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
5018	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
5019	Lightning stripe with small blue numbers on hood
5020	Lightning stripe with small blue numbers on hood
5021	Lightning stripe, but no evidence of any numbers on hood
5022	Lightning stripe with small blue numbers on hood
5023	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood

C420 Road #	Notes
401	L&HR colors with D&H patch-outs on front of hood and cab numbers on sides of hood.
404	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood
405	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
406	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
407	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
408	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
409	LV red with white diamonds on nose, D&H patch-outs on front and sides of hood.
410	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood. Notched nose from high-nose N&W C-420
411	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
412	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
413	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
414	LV red with white diamonds on nose, D&H patch-outs on front and sides of hood.
415	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.

  

C424 Road #	Notes
451	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
452	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
453	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
454	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
455	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
456	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
461	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
462	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.

  

U33C Road #	Notes
754*	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
755	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
756	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
757*	Lightning stripe with small blue numbers on hood
758	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
759*	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
760*	Lightning stripe with small blue numbers on hood.
761	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
762	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.

* After 1981, generally stored inactive at Colonie

GP38-2 Road #	Notes
7314	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7315	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7316	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7317	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7318	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7319	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7320	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7321	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7322	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
7323	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7324	Guilford gray with orange band and large white “G” on side of hood.
7325	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood

GP39-2 Road #	Notes
7401	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7402	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7403	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7404	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7405	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7406	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7407	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7408	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7409	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7410	Reading green with yellow diamonds on nose, D&H patch-outs on front of nose and cab sides.
7411	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
7412	Reading green with yellow diamonds on nose, D&H patch-outs on front of nose and cab sides.
7413	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7414	Lightning stripe with large blue numbers on hood.
7415	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7416	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7417	Blue Dip with full yellow nose, large yellow numbers on hood
7418	Reading green with yellow diamonds on nose, D&H patch-outs on front of nose and cab sides.
7419	Blue Dip with "zebra stripes", yellow stripe along frame, and large yellow numbers on hood.
7420	Guilford gray with orange band and large white “G” on side of hood.

As for the #7600 class (#7601-7620), of GP39-2 engines, Hal Reiser's book states that they were sent in 1984 for rebuilding by Morrison Knudson and when they returned they were painted for Guilford and lettered for the B&M. I have found no pictures of any surviving to May 1984 in D&H paint, and very few pictures exist of them after 1983.