Obviously this is a "what if" excercise!
Of course the real LV never owned any SD70's!
would have been impossible anyway, since the SD70
was first introduced in 1993, 17 years after the LV ceased to exist!

When I was in highschool, (in the 80's) I painted many fictional LV
HO-scale locomotives, my favorite being the LV SD40-2.

If the real LV had survived, I figured she would need new power by 1980,
and SD40-2's would have been a logical choice.
So in my fictional model railroad world, the LV was alive and well
and owned SD40's! 
why not? many model railroaders do "what if" modeling..

So now its 2004, I am modeling the LV in "G-gauge", 1/29 scale.
USA trains announced they will be coming out with a SD70 soon!
hmmm!! imagine a SD70 in LV colors?!
but that begs the question..*what* colors?!
obviously the black & white tiger stripes that were on the nose of the LV's GP38-2's and U-boats
wont translate well to a wide-cab, I think its time for a new scheme!
The real LV was well-known for trying out lots of unusual schemes anyway, like the yellowjackets
and the "White elephants"..
But still, I want something that *looks* like it belongs on the LV,
something that would be a natural progression of real LV color schemes if the LV still existed today.

So I went searching for SD70 photos on the internet, looking at real SD70 color schemes..
wow, those Alaska SD70's are really sharp! hmmm..replace the blue with red? interesting...
still has that "LV look" to it..somewhat close to the RS3 and GP9 that had the wide yellow stripe!
The real LV used a lot of red and yellow, so I feel this new scheme fits very well.
I like it!

So now I would like to introduce the Lehigh Valley's newest locomotives.
SD70's 700-725.
The LV bought them new in 2004.
The SD40-2's are 25 years old now!
they were the main road power all through the 80's and 90's,
but now its time for new power again..
 
 

Here are the original unmodified photos.

original photo by "AirNikon" - used by permission
 
 
 

original photo by "AirNikon" - used by permission
 
 

Return to LVRR Survivors.

Scot Lawrence, January 2004