Leased Units

[ebtnut]

In essence, lease units are locos that have been acquired by leasing companies like Helm, which then leases them out as needed.  Sometimes they get Helm lettering, sometimes not if there is a big demand and no time for paint shop work.  In these modern times there is a lot of run-through power.  Consists may be put together in Omaha and run through to Selkirk (or Baltimore or Newport News, etc.).  It saves time and effort at connection points.  The railroads keep track of all of the off-line units and how many miles/hours they run on their railroads, then settle up the differences periodically with each other.  In an ideal world, everything balances out, but in the real world money does have to change hands to settle accounts. 

[Guilford Guy]

CSX still has an SD40 in C&O Blue.
I'll second Paul on using decal striping, unless you want to totally remove the lettering, in which case I'd recommend Polly Scale engine black.