D&H whimsical models

I was scrolling through Ebay recently as I usually do, looking for any D&H items that might be of interest to me, when I saw some models that just had to make me shake my head. There are times when a manufacturer takes a model and slaps any road name on it to try and sell it to the unsuspecting public (or perhaps someone who knows it is wrong but doesn't care), and I guess I understand that. Examples that come to mind are steam locomotives, with any old road name listed on the tender, and boxcars. The D&H didn't roster any PB-1 engines but Athearn still did one in blue and silver.

Along those lines, when Riverossi released its E8 engines in both A and B units they painted some in the sharp blue and silver scheme. They look great, and remind me of the PAs (as I am sure Riverossi hoped) but they are completely fanciful. Not only did they get to sell the engines, but they also released passenger cars to go with them! In a move that was surely done with forethought, they numbered the A units "15", which is smart because the PA units were numbered 16-19. So, no conflict there. Still, I don't think any will be joining my roster anytime soon.

But, there are some real head-scratching models out there too. For example, D&H cabooses. Most were painted red, though some bay window cabooses were painted yellow in 1968 when delivered. They lasted only a couple of years before they were repainted red. Also, Guilford had some cabooses that were painted into orange in the 1980s and 1990s. However, Like-Like must have anticipated this when they released a model of a "North Eastern" caboose, which the D&H actually had, but instead of painting them red they used orange. Then, they used a font that screams "1940s" and varied the location of the shield (centered, and off-centered). I think they were produced before Guilford, so the choice of orange instead of red doesn't make sense.

Like-Like then decided to paint cabooses to match the engines it was also selling, EMD Geeps in the "Lightning stripe" scheme. But, the D&H never had any cabooses painted in gray and blue! This time, they actually used a font style that is somewhat plausible and picked a number that fits in the range of D&H cabooses. The large shield is a nice touch, though too large. I must say the engine and caboose sold together in the combination box looks nice, even if it is unrealistic. Why again didn't Life-Like just paint the cabooses red?

Not to be outdone, Lionel too painted up a bay window caboose to match their U33C engines which were done in a very dark rendition of the Lightning stripe scheme. I can't say I like it, and wouldn't recognize it as a D&H caboose were it not for the circle emblem on the right. But, Lionel has been doing this sort of stuff for ages.

Then there is Bachmann, that went with red in the wrong way. They decided to release some D&H hoppers in red and have been doing so for decades. Even my first train set in the mid-1980s had one. I remember loading it with sand or some other scenery material and gluing it in place. Unfortunately, the D&H never actually owned bright red coal hoppers. In fact, that idea is absurd, as they would get dirty quickly. I don't know which came first, but Bachmann actually released two different hopper cars in red with D&H markings. One featured yellow letting and a bright shield, the other was red with white lettering.

However, at least as it regards the yellow lettering and the shield, the D&H did roster some covered hoppers that were painted this way. I think they look really sharp, and have a couple of models myself. Perhaps someone at Bachmann thought that the paint scheme would translate well. I think if I want to run unit D&H coal trains I will stick to the black or brown hopper cars! However, for a train running under a Christmas tree it would look pretty festive.

What is the point of this rambling? Well, it shows me how far I have come in terms of the D&H. Just ten years ago, I couldn't have told you anything about the railroad except for the Lightning stripe scheme. Had you offered me a PB or E8 engine, I might have bought it. (A couple of years ago I bought an O gauge FM Trainmaster in D&H's Lightning stripe scheme, and seriously considered buying a GP7 even though I knew they were fakes... so rules are meant to be broken). I only learned last year about the history of the yellow cabooses. I doubt I would have fallen for the orange or gray ones, but who knows? I shouldn't be too critical of the manufacturers. When it comes to train set equipment, anything that will sell will probably be made. But, it is fun to look back and wonder at some of their decisions.

That notwithstanding, there is a line that must be drawn and to me seeing a steam locomotive painted Conrail blue with a "can opener" on the tender clearly crosses that line. Note: here is a tongue in cheek take at a Conrail "Rocket" 2-2-0 engine (scroll down the link to see it) which is pretty amusing!