Model Railroading > SOO/CP Red?

Is SOO red (late locos painted solid red) the same red as Canadian Pacific candy apple red?

no different color if I remember correctly.

Mongo

dash944cw Wrote:
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> Is SOO red (late locos painted solid red) the same
> red as Canadian Pacific candy apple red?


No! ... definitely, no.

Going the other way, there was some thought the new CP red (after the Action Red) was based on the SOO colours and that thought was totally wrong. When I painted my OMI Red Barn, I went through several variations of believing this and all colours came out wrong. I finally phoned around and tried what was suggested by a Canadian Hobby Shop and that was to use Santa Fe red. This worked.

Just before closing this, I will say that two Red Barns were painted in the Two Flags scheme. I painted my unit #9000 as I saw it the day it went west from Alyth after the re-paint. I used Scalecoat 1.

There is one person around here who has "SOO" in his ID so maybe he is a SOO modeler and can add in his comments to your request.

Rick



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/09 16:08 by rschonfelder.

I say yes, definitely yes. In the mid-to late 1990s, for about about five years I spent most weekends visiting a 'friend' in London, Ont. that lived in an apartment about 150 feet south of the CP Toronto-Windsor main. I can provide countless photos of relatively fresh candy apple red CPRS and SOO units coupled to each other, with the red matching and distinctly darker than CP action red. I'll go so far as to say this color is the same as the red in the SOO white/red paint scheme.

The above was pre-beaver/Canadian Pacific paint, but with some digging I expect I can find photos that demonstrate the same point. I do not believe the color changed between SOO candy apple/CPRS/Canadian Pacific red.

I submit a 1993 photo of two repainted units, SOO 6616 and CP 5475 (ex GATX/NS/SOU). It sure looks like the same color to me. This is a digital photo of a color print, I can update with a flatbed scan on Monday and also check with CP sources.

<edit> trying to figure out how to include a photo

Doug Stark

dash944cw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is SOO red (late locos painted solid red) the same
> red as Canadian Pacific candy apple red?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/09 17:49 by BN_FAN.

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I guess the age old argument of "agree to disagree" is appropriate here. I am not trying to be insulting but your scan or photo has poor reproduction in it (why is there green algae on the fuel tank of the CP unit?). I would rather see a better scan of your "proof". Accounting for the quality of the scan, I see a variation that you don't. However, the mind does play funny tricks once one has a preconcieved notion up there. After taking a recent Photoshop course, I now question whether anyone can accept photographic evidence anymore plus other variables like what kind of film was shot and what is its' propensity to capture and retain colour rendition especially for long periods of time. How good is the scanner that someone uses, is also relevent.

What I am seeing start to happen here is a similar disagreement that often occurs within the SP&S and NP discussions. There are some who believe the yellows (or gold) is different and there are those who say the same. Supposedly, the "proof" comes from the purchasing records of the pre-merger records which says it is the same Dupont colour code. However, on the one hand you have a railway that lives exclusively in the desert sun of Eastern Washington and another that travels across multiple climates. The weathering and fading is bound to be different. Arguing will always continue.

To my knowledge, no one has ever found prrof through the CP/SOO purchasing records and even then, the question begs, "which production batch was it from at the paint manufacturer"? It has always been my opinion that the SOO red has more of a "maroonish" colour to it than the new CP red.

I'm out of this argument because they never get resolved but i will say I have always thought Athearn has done some really good work on getting CP and SOO units together. Does anyone who owns them have any opinion on the accuracy of an Athearn SOO all-red SD60? What does anyone think of the colour on the P2k SD60 wide cab ? ... and how do they compare to the red on a CPR unit?

Rick

Depends where they were painted. All the red SOO's were not even the same.

Thanks to all who responded. Sounds like weathering could change the hue of the red even if they were the same color originally. (Remember those original BNSF Hertage units???) As a result of your posts, I've researched shots of units MU'd where they looked both identical in color, and also very different (???) In either case, I conclude I'd probably be OK using either SOO red or CP candy apple.
Again, thanks to all.