Idaho Belt Freelanced plan

[basementcalling]

I'm terrible with color schemes...

Does the Idaho Belt have some history?  Maybe a parent railroad or another that they bought locomotives from?  That might give some possible paint schemes to work from.  Just a thought.

Good advice, Scott.

Of course that didn't mean I thought about it before doing a C40-8W.

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My basic sketched history is that the Idaho Belt was a response to service meltdowns on UP and BNSF in the late 90s during the merger mania. New rails were laid to increase capacity in some places, and trackage rights purchased, and in a couple cases politically forced on the big 2 out west as part of broader issues. The lines are a loose collection of industrial areas and middle of nowhere runs. I am debating new tracks up and over Hells Canyon or along the Salmon to connect southern Idaho along the Snake with Lewiston, ID (on the old Camas Prairie), Spokane, and points north to the Canadian border (A connection insisted upon by DOT thanks to NAFTA traffic increases.).

A similar narrative could be created for the "Oregon Belt" if I chose to go that route and run from Coos Bay to Klamath Falls, and then south into California. But that location requires more trees.


Either way, I know I want hi vis safety colors on the ends, dark on the tank and trucks to better hide dirt, and two other colors. I am working on a logo that uses an outline map of Idaho as the I in the name for second generation IBRR power, once the venture was on more solid financial footings. Think the real Utah RR once it chose the gray and red stripe paint scheme, but I don't want one that hard to mask. A real class II or III would think through the complexity of applying paint to the locomotives. I am doing that as well, just from a modeling perspective. Modern power in my experience is harder to mask along the sides than E & F units, which had natural horizontal lines to use as color separation borders. Burnishing down tape over all the doors and ridges of a C44-9 or AC4400 is not my idea of fun before airbrushing.

IBRR power would pre 2010 would find plentiful SD40-2 units, rebuilt SD40-3s in SD45 carbodies (the railroad equivalent of fins, and I just like flaired radiators), and a few assorted 4 axle units for local work - probably leased from UP or older UP power rebuilt in our shops. Switchers will be new - GP 15-2s cause the mini tunnel motors are cool. And speaking of Tunnel Motors, I have a few Intermountain units that could wind up in IBRR colors given that UP sold off a chunk of theirs, I believe. I have a couple roster books from the era, but haven't reread them recently enough to have a more firm plan.

Of course a Big Blow turbine would become a IBRR mainstay if Scale Trains releases an N scale version of their soon to debut HO Big Blow.

Anyone with thoughts on what I am overlooking?

[C855B]

A thought:

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I didn't color in absolutely everything, but everything below the sill should be gray. Font is "Bankers Gothic Medium". Suggest handrails gray, safety railings white.

[basementcalling]

A thought:

(Attachment Link)

I didn't color in absolutely everything, but everything below the sill should be gray. Font is "Bankers Gothic Medium". Suggest handrails gray, safety railings white.

A good one.

I redid this. Calling it the raccoon face scheme.

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[mu26aeh]

A thought:

(Attachment Link)

I didn't color in absolutely everything, but everything below the sill should be gray. Font is "Bankers Gothic Medium". Suggest handrails gray, safety railings white.

I really think C855B is on to something with this one.  Or I was thinking you could use the colors of Boise State ?

[Erik aka Ngineer]

I'd go for a font the paint shop guys could make by hand... so the Bankers Gothic fits more nicely..

Merry Christmas!

[C855B]

I'd go for a font the paint shop guys could make by hand...

Bingo. I lettered a 1:1 locomotive (SN 653) doing exactly that. The font was entirely in masking tape widths... and it was originally done this way!

[basementcalling]

White Top scheme.

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It might show some influences.

[basementcalling]

I'd go for a font the paint shop guys could make by hand... so the Bankers Gothic fits more nicely..

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you.

I don't have Bankers Gothic in my version of MS Paint.  I do like the map of Idaho on the side. Probably EMD blower vents are about the right size to hold the map.

[basementcalling]

I really think C855B is on to something with this one.  Or I was thinking you could use the colors of Boise State ?

Boise St? Blue and orange look great on football uniforms, but not on engines. One Idaho short line already uses them, but I forget which.

[C855B]

A suggestion - in the case of headline or display type like this, mixed case ("Idaho Belt") is a little wimpy unless you've absolutely plastered the side with it in something super fat (a la "Santa Fe" blue & yellow). Think small caps, such as "IDAHO BELT".

[Bendtracker1]

How about replacing the word "IDAHO" with the image of the state, then spell out BELT

[basementcalling]

A suggestion - in the case of headline or display type like this, mixed case ("Idaho Belt") is a little wimpy unless you've absolutely plastered the side with it in something super fat (a la "Santa Fe" blue & yellow). Think small caps, such as "IDAHO BELT".

I wouldn't want to be just a little wimpy.

Here's the racing striped version.

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Alan, great minds think alike.  I am working on a design with the outline of Idaho morphed into the I in Idaho. If I had any skill at all in a graphics program like Photoshop it would already be done. I've hand sketched it a couple times, but getting an electronic form that is usable is proving much harder.

A logo under design will have the state with a curved belt drawn with buckle across the southern portion approximating the route. Those will be for a nose emblem.

I like the swooped transition of yellow onto the side in a stripe here. I just flipped the CSX style diagonal C855B did. It could also lead to a much narrower yellow stripe that acts as a color separator between the dark roof color and lighter. I like the solid gray look, think UP Harbor Mist Gray or SP Gray but covering most of the engine to reduce the visible dirt and weathering. C855B's choice of dark hunter green is another favorite color. Green and tan could reflect the colors of the region the IBRR operates in, as we  have tracks in the desert like southern Snake River Valley and in northern Idaho to the Canadian Border.

Thanks for all the input on this today. Lots of progress. I was holding off on posting anything until I had something more solid to share, but one benefit of TRW is the expertise of fellow members, so thanks for contributing.

[C855B]

There you go. See, doesn't it make a difference? Big and bold, "This is a RAILROAD, dammit."

I'm not sure how I feel about the dark underframe. Details get sucked into the darkness. As far as the yellow on the sill, bear in mind that you're modern, so conspicuity stripes are required. A stripe of Scotchlite™ the same width all the way across keeps you out of dutch with the FRA. (If UP couldn't convince the FRA that their red sill stripe was just as good as yellow, then I doubt your folks will have much luck with that narrow strip under the cab, either.)

[basementcalling]

There you go. See, doesn't it make a difference? Big and bold, "This is a RAILROAD, dammit."

I'm not sure how I feel about the dark underframe. Details get sucked into the darkness. As far as the yellow on the sill, bear in mind that you're modern, so conspicuity stripes are required. A stripe of Scotchlite™ the same width all the way across keeps you out of dutch with the FRA. (If UP couldn't convince the FRA that their red sill stripe was just as good as yellow, then I doubt your folks will have much luck with that narrow strip under the cab, either.)

It does, dude, and I should have remembered that from work. Sneaking time on the laptop in between official family Christmas functions fuddles the brain.

I can paint Kato and Atlas engines with a lighter underframe color to show off the details, but if IBRR ever buys any used Athearn powered F45s, those would need the black underframe scheme.
I have better connections in Congress with a couple key Senators than UP does.

[basementcalling]

Weathered a trio of cars tonight,  testing methods Gary Hinshaw and others developed and shared in the best of thread Fading Fast.

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The starting point was a pair of very blue Arco hoppers, one Atlas and one Deleware Valley car. I started with a plain transparent white  mix on the Atlas car, but feel it's too uneven a build up using a wash technique. Too heavy handed.

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The Delaware Valley car saw better results,  so I also added burnt umber rush on the bay weld seams, and added rust streaks using the brush and my thumb to drag the paint down from the roof seam.

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I did one side lighter than the other on the effects just to play with brush strokes and methods.

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I also used an orange tinted mix to lighten an Atlas D&RGW gondola on the inside only just in case my mix was off.

Thanks to everyone who contributed expertise to the Fading Fast technique thread a few years ago. Only after rereading my saved PDF did I realize I didn't mix in any Matt medium or liquid ex Matt acrylic or microscale flat. Wondered why my mix didn't seem to be skim milk consistency.

I had to stop work after 3 cars because I was using a hair drier to speed drying times, and it's just too blasted hot for that nonsense in am East Coast garage right now.