I want to know about why you weather your locomotives? I've noticed that everytime I see a special on TV that the big train companies always seem to keep their locomotives spotless? It seems to me that these companies (Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX, etc.) take extreme measures with their cleaning and general mechanical upkeep. So wouldn't it be negating this upkeep and the "reality" of the real-deal thing by doing hard-core weathering? I mean don't get me wrong I'm not "knocking" anyone who likes to weather their locos... I just like to know why you do it... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! And because no post is complete without pics...
Because Railroads sell them self's as eco friendly on TV, it would not fit to have a unclean locomotives. In the real world you have to look very hard to find and loco over a year old that clean. That said i will not weather any loco nor any kind of rollingstock, i like the clear look.
Most of the locomotives that pass through my territory are down right dirty and the UP's are filthy to the point you can't hardy see their colors. Edit: Here is a photo that I shot a couple of weeks ago of a UP locomotive sitting on a siding in Tehachapi during a snow storm.
On a typical railroad you'll see extremes. That's what makes it fun. If you spend time studying your prototype, you can't go wrong. You don't weather everything, or not weather anything. I do Santa Fe in '72. They had just received SD45-2's and U36C's. Those were SQUEAKY CLEAN, almost sticky. And the good stuff, the SD45's, F45's, bigger U-boats, even GP35's, were generally pretty clean except for road grime and dust from 80-mph running. They were washed regularly. You'd never see rust or even faded paint, just road grime and a little exhaust soot. The F-units that were left were either leased to Amtrak for passenger service, or being slated for conversions to CF7's, which started in '69. Most were in Texas, and they were a MESS. The GP7's and 9's were getting tired on their first paint, as was a lot of stuff in the 1970 scheme. June of 72 saw the introduction of the yellowbonnet, so anything that had hit repaint was equally spotless in the new scheme. If a unit was assigned to a district that didn't have a regular wash rack, another story. The cross-county units that hit Barstow and Argentine were usually pretty clean. A yard switcher stuck in the boonies except for annual inspections, different story. So on my layout, I get to go from 'rolling wreck' to 'factory fresh', and I love the variety. Same thing applies to cars, what's the service, how old is it, etc. That determines the weathering plan. '72 was also the Santa Fe "Billboard" scheme replacing "Ship and Travel" and the maps. So 40' boxcars can be either a factory-fresh bilboard or a faded and worn map scheme. PRR cars are weathered, PC stuff is relatively fresh, so is BN since the 1970 merger.
Why I do, PROTOTYPE! Look at photos and you get a pretty good idea. Some units are washed or cleaned up a little at the 92 day inspection, some are cleaned up for public relations projects, and some very dirty and get new paint like a locomotive or railcar in BN paint getting "swooshed" and are "clean" until they start to get dirty again.
Because in the real world, trains are dirty work horses. It is much of the charm. I LOVE the dirt, grease, grime, clutter, and smells of the industry.
I remember one day in Houston, in autumn 1997. A train with a set of SP engines was running parallel to I10. These engines were so filthy you could think they were scrap, but the train was moving Probably no TV camera around....
I don't weather anything.I have a lot of stuff,both custom and factory painted.I could never get myself to weather a REALLY expensive loco,or a 3-4 unit lashup I spent weeks custom painting,out of fear of screwing it up,so,since I wasn't gonna weather everything,I decided not to weather anything.I lightly weather my RR so the locos don't really stand out as being too clean.I also feel that weathering reduces resale value of trains,since mine are such a large investment because of how many I have,that's a factor,also.Right now,however,I'm working on a small portabe backwoods 20's ice/coal/logging RR,everything on that will be weathered.
My Amtrak trains run in a world where they are well taken care of and never really look weathered. My orange work train is heavily weathered though!
I tend to mix and match. Since I model the SP during the '50s most of their steam is down right filthy, such that you can barely read the herald on the tenders. My passenger streamliners are relativly clean with just a hint of oily black on the roof. My freight/passenger engines and heavyweight equipment are lightly weathered and my freight engines are more heavily weathered. The freight cars are somewhere in between, some worse, some like new. I find this aspect of the hobby along with scratchbuilding engines are the most enjoyable part to me. Now if I can just focus that enjoyment to the layout and get it finished.....
Sorry Lou, this is something I don't understand. If you are a collector, then you are supposed to buy trains and leave them exactly where they are: in their boxes. Opening them reduces the value. Using them reduces the value. Custom painting and/or weathering them voids the value. I am among those modelers who buy trains to run them and yes, I like them when they are weathered caused they look like their 1:1 counterparts. If I were to buy a weathered engine or a car, that would be a plus for me not something reducing the value of the item. Of course it has to be nicely weathered, but I guess with a little pratice anyone can achieve good results. Take a look at a couple of cars I weathered following advices from modeltrainsweathered.com http://www.sp-coastline.com/search/label/weathering Have fun! :ru-biggrin:
Denny, I love your weathering techniques. I just recently received the book on Weathering by Tom Mann and I can't wait to try some of his techniques. To me, Tom's book is worth it's weight in gold.
I weather EVERYTHING before it goes on my railroad. I think it brings out detail and just plain looks better. If you want to see some real weathering check out some military modeling. Those guys really know what they are doing.
Weathering can be tricky. As you look at pictures of my equipment you won't see much weathering. You see, I've spent most of my adult life collecting the individual pieces of equipment. I'm not ready to screw it up by a bad weathering job. Until, I get to the point I want weathered equipment they will remain box delivery clean. Oh, heck seems the natural environment has weathered some of my equipment.
The locos I see at Gang Mills (N.Y.) are mostly NS and are mostly "lightly weathered". They do a great job Even the Conrail engines (aren't they ever going to re-paint them NS?) are in very good condition. Occasionally there will be UP or BNSF units as well and some of those have been "heavily weathered". My pre-Conrail era modeling came when the LV, E-L and NYC had let their maintenance programs slide. So if I ever get an airbrush I'd like to do some weathering of my motive power. My rolling stock is SLOWLY getting weathered as I'm learning how to do washes (getting better) and chalks (still on the upside of the learning curve!). Modern locos do seem to be better maintained these days!
