If there's sufficient interest, there will be another run of these. A batch were made in late 2020. This style was used August 1947 to December 1964.

Stainless steel blanks to original size and thickness, silk-screen printing, blank data blocks for engraving (by your local award and trophy shop). Note that this one has the date of completed restoration on it, in addition to the EMD data.

$105.00 each, plus postage. If interested, let me know.

Thanks,

Howard P.

Hi, just wondering if these are marked on the back in some way to identify them as reproductions? Is the front just a smooth surface, or is the background recessed like on originals? Id hate to see people passing them off as legit in the future.

Just sayin.....
Pete

These are screen-printed on the surface of the stainless steel blank; they do not have the recessed "etched" background surface that the originals have. I doubt they could be accepted as originals, they are obviously reproductions.

Howard P.

NEVER underestimate the gullibility of rich and well-meaning but inexperienced and/or un-knowledgeable buyers. And not just in railwayana.

With all due respect, I'm going to say that your repro EMD plates, while obviously not original, are plenty good enough to fool somebody who lets themselves be fooled. They could fool somebody who hasn't spent that much time around diesel locomotives, maybe somebody at one of these train shows who always wanted an EMD plate, or maybe you'll see these on Craigs List or ebay.

I base this on my experience in China in 2005. While I was treated with professional courtesy, and was able to buy some authentic steam plates quite reasonably, I witnessed several fellow travelers paying several times as much for really cheesy, crude, fake plates. Especially in Daban, Inner Mongolia, the employees of the JiTong Tielu had a prolific fake factory, and there were plenty of people who wanted plates badly enough to bite.

There is no denying that these repro EMD plates have a legitimate use for locomotive restorers, but I shouldn't be surprised to see somebody try to pass one off as real, or somebody else to be taken in.

Caveat Emptor



Scott Kwiatkowski
Bridge for sale N.J.

Someday in the future that repo builder plate will have become part of the "historic" fiber of that locomotive... And when some "kids" decide to repaint that 1950s GP9 in Penn Central or Conrail and remove the plate (as it was missing by then originally)... we've just duplicated history and so someone buying that repo plate _then_ 20 years from now makes perfect sense :)

Since the plates still have to be engraved with the builder number and date just have the engraving shop put REPRODUCTION STOLEN FROM (your name here) across the back in big letters. Problem solved.

Of course, if the blanks were laser cut out of the sheet, they could have been laser engraved at that time, IF the power on the cutting laser could be set that low.

If I recall correctly, the original plates had the loco information stamped with number stamps, not engraved. The difference between the old stamping technique on the originals, and the new engraving technique on the reproductions (if that is what they use), should be fairly easy to spot, probably with the naked eye, but with a magnifying glass if necessary.

Question: Since a batch of these was already made in 2020, in that time, how many have been pushed as the real deal?

Not necessarily a valid question.

Were any duplicates made for resale, or were they ALL applied to preserved or privately operated locomotives?

And then, if we assume the latter, how many have been stolen off of said locos, or removed upon scrapping? A thief will lay low on them for years; I assume the latter hasn't happened.

I assure you, if I got a few of these "blanks," was unethical, and worked to "weather" them a bit, I could easily flip these at a train show to the gullible. The major barrier is the high initial cost and the time/effort to give them a better "patina."

So, to all the critics of this offering, what's your plan to put a builder's plate on a preserved locomotive? What's your idea to solve all the heinous problems that you seem to fear occurring? And, why didn't any of you produce these, in a more-satisfactory-to-you manner?

The previous batch of these, produced in 2020, were all supplied to known preservation groups. They were not offered on "Thee Bay"---

You will note that the plate pictured carries the date of that locomotive's completion in the "TONS" block, which was almost never filled in by EMD.

Actual preservation groups are the "subscribers" to this run as well.

The original EMD plates were engraved on a machine made for the purpose, the data was not stamped in with individual stamps (although there were a very few plates done that way, and it is very obvious-- because there's mis-alignment). The data lettering on an original plate is very uniform and very aligned.

Howard P.

Yes, no need for hand wringing. IIRC, Howard’s plates are silkscreened flat plates and have no relief like the original plates. Easy to tell the difference at a glance. If you’re in the market for an original plate, I’d think you’d know or should know what you’re looking for.

We are now in an era where the only place people will now see builder's plates are in museums or at railwayana meets. You either can't get close enough to locos in service now, or they use stickers instead of plates.

I've dabbled in a few other antiques fields for some time, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people are taken in by good-looking reproductions of antique glass, cast-iron toys, and whatnot hawked by unscrupulous or ignorant sellers.

About two weeks ago, I found an Asian knock-off of a classic antique "hen-on-nest" candy dish being offered for $125 in a store. I was able to quickly pull up on my smartphone the current listing for the SAME item in a major cheap-goods chain's website, and show the vendor it was available for $9.97. ("Experts" can easily tell the difference. But I do occasionally see on online groups folks being ruefully told that they overpaid for a cruder reproduction, not the real antique.)

I appreciate that the distribution of these plate reproductions is being controlled, at least at first. But when I made reproduction cast plates, never mind that they were made in the wrong metal--I still engraved "REPLICA" in the backs of each and every one. Because SOME ignorant person thirty years from now may have no clue otherwise.

Years ago I noticed an SD40-2 inside a shop that had the serial number stamped on the plate, rather than engraved as was the rest of the plate. The other plate looked normal, with all of the data engraved. I had never seen this before nor have I seen an example since.

It was not a thing of beauty.