I found this site on weathering seems pretty good although it deals more with indoor trains. It could probably be used for outdoor as well.
http://www.modeltrainsweathered.com/
Inneresting.
I’m still on the fence as to weathering.
Light weathering, yes.
Rust bucket weathering, no.
On the railroad I own, I take pride in my locos looking sharp and clean. It means the crew cares a bit on how their locos look and operate. A rust bucket gives the impression that the thing is barely running and in need of a major overhaul.
I agree with you on that one John. However, a light weathering sure makes the equipment look better to me.
Yeah…I don;t understand why everyone seems to think “Broke Down & Dilapidated” is the way that narrow gauge railroads ran. While they prolly did run some junk on occasion, most railroad superintendents didn’t let stuff go til the scrappers moved in. Not to mention Federal Inspectors and safety regulations. Now a locomotive is a piece of heavy equipment that lives outside most of the time. As such its gonna get a little dirty, Mother Nature does that. I opt for the “Hardworking, but cared for” weathering style. Lots of grime and dust, but very little rust and damage…A nice shiny black loco looks nice on its own, but it sure makes the details hard to see, a little ‘dusting’ with some gray primer (to simulate dust from using the sanders for traction and braking) really makes things pop!
I like “sharp and clean” too. I have a Garden Railroad, not a Model Railroad.
When the sun weathers my rolling stock, I’ll repaint.
Just a matter of personal choice.
Ralph
I think a lot of the “BD&D” weathering comes from folks visiting old railroads and seeing all the old abandoned equipment and buildings. To me, some of the buildings that get rave reviews are just ridiculous - pieces of the roof missing, gaps in the siding. Yeah, I’m going to work in a building with 2 foot holes in the roof.
Same thing with rusted locomotives. How would that work???
I agree there is a limit as too how far a loco should be weathered. I like the look that it is used but maintained. I could see a piece of rolling stock that sits on a siding waiting to be towed to the junk yard. You want that to look like it has been there for some time. Bruce and Kevin do it just right. Thats the look I like.
I remember the logging railroad that my Uncle Luke worked on in the early 50’s near Anacortes, WA. The locomotive had some dust and tree debris on it, but I do not remember any rust. I remember being given the “honor” of sweeping out the cab at the end of the day, while the other guys in the crew tended to the other needs of the locomotive. The locomotive was clean and ready for the next day’s work before anybody went home. As I recall, the finish was bright and shiny. I think it was a Heisler, but do not want to bet a paycheck on that.
Steve,
I lived outside of Anacortes, in a trailer park in the 50’s. Had a blast there as a kid for awhile. I remember an old logging camp and the tracks by the shore, can’t recall what ran on it though. Remember an old pier also.
I remember getting in trouble for walking out on an old pier along the RR tracks. “You idiot, you could have been killed by a train!”
Jerry, here is a link to a Google map of the area. Similk Bay is that body of water that extends north along Reservation Road. At the southern tip of the western shore of Similk Bay, you will see a small spit of land that extends south. It is from that spit that the pier I got in trouble on was built. It was a major logging pier for the Skagit County Logging Railroads. If you switch over to Satillite and zoom in, you will see the remains of that pier, and the roadbed of the railroad, as it goes North by North, NorthEast.
That long spit of land that extends out from the eastern shore of Similk Bay is, or was when I was a kid, prime clamming grounds.
Interesting Steve. I remember being able to ride my bike to town from the trailer park, bit of a ride, as I recall. Sort of went down a hill from the road to town-there was a covered bus stop shed there. From the trailer park, yu went through some woods, down to the track across it then you were on the sound. THere were some marshes we played in and some old buildings. Big old pier, don’t recall going on it, just around it. We used a fallen log to hollow out and paddle around the sound some, till the bottom fell out. Made a raft to pole around on the ponds. Had a blast!