The fine detail plastic that this loco shell is printed using a polyjet printer. The resin has a "slimy" finish. We suggest soaking and scrubbing the finished shell in mild detergent (i.e. dish soap) in an effort to get the surface clean such that it will take acrylic paint.

General Installation Instructions - Handrails and grab irons penetrate areas of the locomotive where these decals sit. The simplest way to handle this problem is to remove the handrails first, and reinstall them after you have painted and decaled the model. Alternately, the decals could be carefully slit to clear these obstructions. If you choose this more challenging approach, insure that the area between the grab irons and the body are open and clear of paint and lacquer buildup before installing the decals. We have spaced the road name lettering as on the prototype to allow installation as a single piece, no need to cut out individual letters. On this locomotive, the short hood is the front. In these instructions, left and right sides are from the viewpoint of the engineer.

Front End - Vertical grab irons on either side of the door in the front, handrail ends, and crescent shaped, high, side-handrails all interfere with herald decal installation. The top of the herald should be 5¾" below the bottom of the headlight, and the stripes should be level on the sides.

Right Side - The "A" in Virginian should be behind the grab iron ladder to the roof of the locomotive. (Note: in N-scale, the "A" should be just to the left of the ladder as one would be looking at the side of the shell.) See prototype photos for exact positioning. The bottoms of the letters should be 21" above the walkway.

Rear End - The crescent shaped, high, side-handrails interfere with herald decal installation. As on the front end, the top of the herald should be 5¾" below the bottom of the headlight, and the stripes should be level on the sides.

Left Side - The duct on this side breaks the flat plane of the side and prevents installing the road name in one piece, but simplifies decal positioning. Make vertical cuts through the road name just to the right of the R and just to the left of the G. Install the VIR so that the R is just to the left of the duct, and install the GINIAN so that the G is just to the right of the duct, as you face this side of the locomotive. For both parts of the decal the bottoms of the letters should be 21" above the walkway.

Stripes - These locomotives had long horizontal yellow stripes at the roof line (1’ wide) and below the walkway (6“ wide) and we’ve included stripes for that.

Virginian painted electric locomotives were black, except those manufactured by Lionel. Some color prototype photos suggest a very dark blue, much darker than the Lionel blue. This is due to oxidization, either of the black paint or the color photo dyes.

Properly stored, these decals should remain usable for many years.

This project would never have happened without the tireless support of Skip Salmon, of Roanoke, VA, Mark Bowman of Bristow, VA , William Brillinger of Precision Design, Altona, MB, Steve Dennison of Kibworth, UK, the late S. A. McCall, of Franklin, VA, David Neff of Willoughby, OH, Dr. Michael Ross of Fort Worth, TX, Ellen Schwartz of Sacramento, CA, Marty Swartz of Pittsburgh, PA., and Terry Terrance of Johnson City, TN.