Hello
This layout is very well done and a very unususal subject for Belgium. Thank you for sharing it here with us.
I did not see the time period you are modeling. If it is from June of 1947 and later, no problem. If it is between 1940 and MAy, 1947, there is one large detail that caught my attention. You can read about it here...
http://utahrails.net/up/up-diesel-paint-classic-era.phpSpecifically...
"1940 - Harbor Mist Gray First Used
The EMC E6A units delivered in August 1940 were the first units in Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray. The new yellow and gray scheme continued in February and March 1941 with the delivery of the new E6s for the new City streamliners. This new paint scheme was also the first to use gray trucks.
In June 1940, Union Pacific changed the colors of its Streamliner trains from a combination of Armour Yellow and Leaf Brown, to Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray. The first cars to receive the new colors came in July 1940 and were the damaged cars from the August 1939 derailment of the City of San Francisco, after they were repaired and returned to service.
The road's first switchers were delivered beginning in May 1940 in their all-black scheme with yellow striping and 11-inch yellow lettering. The lettering on the cab sides was "Serves All The West" on the left (fireman's) side and "Road of the Challengers" on the right (engineer's) side, with the words "The Challengers" in red. The trucks on these all-black units were also painted black.
The first use of the black switcher scheme was actually on the NW2 demonstrator from EMC, numbered as UP 1000, received for a six month demonstration period that ended in March 1940, when UP decided to buy the unit. During that demonstration period, UP 1000 had multi-colored Overland shields on both cab sides.
All switch locomotives delivered between 1940 and 1947 (when the yellow and gray scheme became standard for switching locomotives), were delivered in the black switcher paint scheme. Included were the EMD NW2s 1000-1075, Alco S-2 1036-1054 (later renumbered to 1100-1118) and 1119-1153, Baldwin VO-1000s 1055-1060 (later renumbered to 1200-1205), Fairbanks Morse H10-44s 1300-1304, and GE 44 ton 1399. Until 1953, locomotives were lettered with "D.S." prefixes on their numbers, denoting "Diesel Switch", similar to the "M" character in the road numbers of the road's Streamliner passenger motive power, which denoted "Motor"."
And...
"1947 - Yellow And Gray On Freight And Switch Locomotives
With the inauguration of daily service for the Streamliners in 1947 (City of Portland in February, City of Los Angeles in May, and City of San Francisco in September), and to promote the new daily service, the all-black switcher scheme was changed to yellow and gray Streamliner colors. The previous 11 inch lettering was retained, changed from yellow to red, with a 1/4 inch black edging added (the drawing is dated August 8, 1947). The cab side slogan "Road Of The Challengers" was changed to "Road Of The Streamliners" and the red lettering was retained, with an added 1/8 inch black edging (drawing dated August 16, 1947). The last switch units delivered in the black scheme were the 25 NW2s, numbered 1051-1075, delivered in February to June 1947. Fairbanks Morse H10-44s 1301-1304 were delivered in February 1947 in the black scheme.
The first switch units delivered in the new yellow and gray scheme were the 20 NW2s from EMD in March to September 1948, numbered as 1076-1095. The five new DS-4-4-10s from Baldwin, numbered 1206-1210, also delivered in September 1948, arrived in the new Streamliner colors.
Union Pacific's first road switcher freight units were delivered in the new yellow and gray scheme: two units from Alco-GE, RSC-2 1190 and RS-2 1191, both delivered in February 1947. The 11 Fairbanks Morse H20-44 road switcher units in the 1360-1370 number series were delivered beginning in August 1947, in the new Streamliner colors, and were immediately placed in helper service in Southern California.
The yellow and gray scheme, with gray trucks, was already in use on the road's passenger power, since 1940. The scheme was continued on UP's first combination freight and passenger units, the Erie builts from Fairbanks Morse in 1945. In 1947, 85 car body units were delivered, all in the new Streamliner colors. These included: EMD F3As and F3Bs in May; Alco FAs and FBs in June; Alco PAs and PBs in September; and the A-B-B-A set of FM Erie-builts in November.
Also to reflect the overall change to Streamliner colors, in June 1947, the color of cabooses was changed from Freight Car Red, with white lettering, to Armour Yellow, with red lettering. However, because the caboose fleet was so large, it took as long as three years to repaint all of the cars to the new yellow scheme."
Here's a review with a photo of a Union Pacific EMD NW2 (the UP's first diesel switch engine) as delivered in black..
http://ctt.trains.com/how-to/product-reviews/2016/03/union-pacific-nw2-from-williams-by-bachmannAnd the phrase "We can handle it" was started in 1972. By then the Sherman tanks were long gone...
"September 1972 - We Can handle It
Cab-side slogan on diesel units was changed from "Dependable Transportation" to "We Can Handle It," without black edging on the letters. The first units to be completed were GP9s 202 and 206, done at Council Bluffs, Iowa, both in late October 1972 (the drawing is dated September 28, 1972).
GE 44 ton 903999, Roadway shop switcher in Pocatello, Idaho, was completed at Omaha with "We Can Handle It" in mid February 1973.
"The "We Can Handle It" advertising campaign was started in 1971. The slogan was first used in commerce in April 1972; the federal service mark was filed on August 16, 1977, and was allowed to expire on May 11, 1999; registration no. 109350; license no. 7313779.)
I have been an American railfan in Belgium for almost 25 years and know a few things about both systems, the CFL and the SNCF.
