Described in two earlier articles, the pair of SW7s are now complete and painted/lettered.

It took a while to decide on a scheme. Back in high school my first freelance HO layout was the Madison-Quincy-Southern, and I had some decals for it kicking around for years. In thinking of what to decorate these models for I needed a freelance line and what color? The old MQS had a Pullman green engine (inspired by the route being along the Verdigris river valley), and that gave me inspiration for this new MQS model.

To the paint specifically, I had a new and unused bottle of Polyscale Pullman green and used that. I was nervous to brush paint the engines but actually it was not a problem at all. The first coat literally soaked into the “Strong & Flexible White nylon plastic” 3D printing material as did the second. The one area I painted more was the cab sides as they needed to be smoother to support the decals well. That area received about 5 coats of paint. Also I painted the handrails white. They are a bit clunky looking and if you look too closely the entire model has a rough finish. But decorated as they are they do work well on the layout at viewing distances.

One thing I did do intentionally was number them sequentially. The MQS is a short line and it points out that it is probably a small roster of locomotives. The HO model mentioned earlier was number 12, so these are further up the roster.

And any train needs a caboose. This one is a curiosity, purchased with some other models.

What a prior owner had done was modify a Scale-Craft caboose body to fit a Lionel caboose frame. Why!?! In any case, I was thinking to decorate it to sell on eBay but even then, who is going to buy this mutt? Being a nice car I decided to decorate it for the MQS. And being a special model it needs special trucks, and it received my last pair of North Yard caboose trucks.

This final photo is a view of the bottom showing the Lionel frame and the trucks which are ultra-free rolling. As with all the photos, click on the photo for a closer view.

Next up for the MQS is a SD24. I did not have the 3D model made for me, but rather obtained the body from another OO gauger that had it made but decided to go in other directions. I have a drive that will work well for it and just need time over the summer to get it running. Until then though these two engines and caboose are likely to rule the rails on my little layout.