I am searching for decals to letter the Central of Georgia "Man O'War" cars. Walthers makes a "Man O' War" decal set that includes each of the 4 "Fort" cars. However, all the letters are deluxe gold not black. The photo of the train in the Beckum/Langley book sure looks like black letters to me. Are the gold letters correct? If no, where can I find black letter decals?

-- W. David Godwin (WDGodwin@aol.com), June 13, 1999

Answers

The Champ re-runs do present a usable alternative and have been available for some time. I believe that they are using the original artwork, but are printing the decals on an Alps printer. Bear in mind that the original Champ lettering was close to the Central's Man O' War lettering, but there were some significant diifferences in letter sizes and shapes. Also, the New York Central style typeface that is available online is close to the CofGa's style (probably closer than Champ's), but it's still not an exact match. (It sure would have saved me alot of time if it did match!)

The CGRHS has just recently completed measuring, tracing, and photographing the Central of Georgia road name lettering on one of the few CofGa passenger cars still wearing it's pre-merger Man O' War style lettering. That artwork has been drawn, and work is mostly complete on the round train signs (Man O' War and Nancy Hanks II). We also recently acquired ACF drawings of the Nancy Hanks blue and grey cars as well as Illinois Central drawings of the City of Miami cars. All of that reference material will allow us to complete the artwork for the passenger car decal sets that Microscale will be releasing. (I know I've been working on these for what seems like an eternity, but I still have a regular job!!)

Allen Tuten

-- Allen Tuten (allen@cofg.org), May 19, 2000.

Gentlemen,

Great News! Champion Decals just announced in the June issue of Model Railroader Magazine that they are now doing limited productions runs of old decals. These are not cheep, $11.00 a pop, but we can now get the black Man-O-War passenger decals PH-60 sets. There is an alternative. If your computer savvy, you can download railroad fonts from many web sights. All you need is New York Central Grand Central font and your in business. Use either CorelDraw or PageMaker to set up your lettering sets. Because these are in black, you can produce these on any LaserJet or ink jet printer. I recommend using the ALPS MD-5000 if you have one or know someone who will let you print of it. MicroMark and Champion Decals market blank decal sheets that can be run through a desktop printer. Youll have to play with the scale a bit, but I am sure that youll be very pleased with the finished product.

By the way, If anyone is interested, I am working on my own computer generated Man-O-War decal sets, complete with the correct tail sign and Fort banners. Would consider offering decal sets if there is enough interest out there to make it worth while.

Thanks!

John Walker 8405 Jolima Ave., Norfolk, VA 23518-2219

-- John Ross Walker, US Navy (Retired) (jrosswalker@yahoo.com), May 19, 2000.

The set you need is Champ set PH-60 'Central of Georgia Passenger Car.' It includes the needed lettering, including all the Forts, in black. Unfortunately, the much-easier-to-find PH-42 set is in bronze and really of no use as far as the Man. I've got some leftover PH-60s from which you could probably gleen most of your car names, but the 'Central of Georgia' lines are all gone. I'd suggest you keep an eye out at train shows and hobby shops. Like copperhead snakes, Champ decals turn up in the most unexpected places. Good luck.

-- Rob Richardson (RichDent10@aol.com), June 16, 1999.

Great news about the passenger decal set! Allen, while you're at it, why not add the initials "FEC," "ACL," and "SCL" to the City of Miami section, and presto, the set will also cover those roads' CoM cars?

Larry Goolsby

-- Larry Goolsby (LGoolsby@aphsa.org), June 15, 1999.

David,

The Man O' War cars did indeed have black letters. Sadly, the black Champ decals have been out of production for a number of years and are very difficult to find. (I've not seen a set in about 8 years.) Help is not too far away, however. The CGRHS is working on several decals sets. The boxcar set has already been sent to the manufacturer and covered hoppers are next. After that will be passenger car sets which will cover Man O' War, Nancy Hanks II, Seminole, and City of Miami cars. The passenger car sets should be in production by the end of the summer!

-- Allen Tuten (ahtuten@aol.com), June 14, 1999.

David,

Champ made decals in black for the Man o' War, but I believe the Champ envelope simply said "Passenger Car Lettering - Black." It also contains the Fort names for the Budd cars. And, YES, the lettering was all black. The gold lettering was for Nancy Hanks blue & gray cars or the old heavyweight pullman green cars. There was never a use for the "Fort" names in gold lettering.

- Tom Alderman (Marietta, Ga.)

-- Tom Alderman (Topa12283@aol.com), June 13, 1999.