Hello everyone,

Prior to signing up to this forum I had just purchased a Spectrum 2-8-0 and I was happy with the way it looked.
Now, after reading so much on this forum and getting advice from all of you I couldn't  not weather my locomotive - I think Gene started me down on this path.  By the way now I have about 25 steam locomotives.  Six of them are Model Power, four of them are Bachmann standard but the rest of them are all Bachmann Spectrum.  Spectrum is good stuff I don't need to tell you guys this but man...

I printed out this thread and headed to my LHS.  I picked out all the stuff I needed and went to the desk and asked for advice but I didn't need any.  I had everything I needed based off of this thread. 

As you all know, I will be modeling Union Pacific and Nacionales De Mexico.
I found some Diesel Decals that I can use on the steam engines and they look just fine.  I found plenty of pictures through google so I can designate actual engine numbers.  For the actual weathering I have some books I picked up at Barnes&Noble in the bargain section and boy what a deal on these books.  Now I know I can get some custom decals made because I will need to change some rolling stock to NdeM but first things first.  I want to finish my locomotives.

I began work tonight.  I started with the Spectrums 2-6-6-2's and so far things look good.  I will take some pictures soon and post them for you guys.  Mind you, this is my first shot at this.

But I wanted to run this by you guys.  Based on whatever photos I find, the boilers are usually shiny.  All the lines around the boiler are a matte black probably from gunk building up.  The mechanism and the whole section under the boiler is a matte brownish/grayish black.  A few details here and there like the coupler and snow plow can show some reddish signs of rust.

Also by making the boiler shiny it will really contrast against the matte, filthy looking bottom of the machine. 

The tender will be shiny as well but the bottom portion will be dusty looking.  I want to portray the railroads in a period of prosperity. 

Now I know that most likely NdeM had all used locomotives but I'm sure they had a booming economy at one point they probably kept their locomotives pretty clean.  I just bought a DVD titled "Ferrocarril Pacifico" and man, their equipment looked in bad shape.

Anyway,
Like always I wait for your comments and proceed from them.
Thank you all for your contributions to this thread.  This has become my go-to guide when I need instructions.  For pictures I got some books and google as well. 

By the way, what's a good brand for airbrush equipment?  I read somewhere here to just get a decent compressor at home depot.

Hey guys,

Rogertra,
I checked out your trains, you did an awesome job with your steam engines.  They got an ashy look to them and certain sections shine off like a glare.
The Great Eastern 2-10-0 is my favorite.
I also like the picture where you have the two steam engines by the garage and all around the floor there is ash or oil that is sweet.

I just got mine in the mail today.

It ran very slow at first but after a few minutes it began to speed up.
Overall it runs smooth and quiet but it's a bit on the slow side.

Lots of info.
I will have to read that several times.  Thanks.
I almost want to see pictures of some of your body mounted couplers.  Just so I get an idea on how to do it.  I just started this hobby and I already have about 20 locomotives so I can see how easily it can escalate to a large number but 120 WOW that's a chunk of locomotives.
What do you have mostly of?  What era brand and model?

I like the golden period of locomotives where the american 4-4-0 and then the consolidation 2-8-0 were popular.  I'm not real crazy about the streamlined locos like the J style where everything needed to look like space ships in that era.  I also don't like the early era of diesels which interestingly enough, in my opinion look more modern than contemporary locomotives again with theri streamlined space era look.

So I have a lot of consolidations, some 2-6-6-2's 'cause they're cool.  Some american 4-4-0's and then I have lots of diesels like the SD90, AC4400 and so forth.  Some late 60's like the Alco 628's.

All this talk of weathered locos has made me want to see some.
I don't want to google for some.  I want to see you guys' work if possible.
Thanks. 
BTW, I will most likely be printing this out and turning it into a hand book with a highlighter for quick access to info.
Thank you all

Well I'll be darn.
I grew up really close to the train station in Mexico.  As far back as I could remember I would walk to the train station to watch the train up close and I must have seen hundreds of Alco 628s (well I don't know that they owned hundreds) as well as the U-boats but I don't remember ever seeing a hint of green on those diesels not even from the glare.  Which means I'm probably slightly color blind or something.

Well even my Atlas 628 looks flat black to me.  It must be one hell of a deep green.  I will take it outside in the sun light because now I'm curious whether I can see some green hues on it.

Hey thanks.

Wow, well it seems like they couldn't have made it easier.  Yeah I guess crapidos is a 70's legacy?  That's as good as couplers could be back in the day.  Although looking at some rolling stock from that era, they could do a decent job at molding plastic.  But I guess they had their limitations when it came to very minute things.

I gotta tell you.  70% of my fleet has crapidos.  Even all the spectrum locomotives I bought recently have crapidos on the tender side.  They must be like last year's models or something.  None of the Kato stuff I bought has crapidos.

Well I have no experience in the field of airbrush and I knew one day I would need it.  No problem I'm still young - not as young but never late to start.

I will not rush things but I definitely want my steam engines weathered.  So I will practice airbrushing and I will do some research on weathering techniques.

My email address is sterotypender@yahoo.com in case you want to send me some pictures.

Gene, Yeah now I feel I should pop in the BTF III dvd so I can see the locomotive's number.

I appreciate everyone's help here.  Thank you all.  I've been reading a lot of the DCC articles because eventually I want to go that route but in the meantime I will concentrate on getting my fleet of locomotives completed along with my rolling stock.  Next lots of Kato track because I will have a temporary layout for a long time before I do a permanent set-up since I'm a newbie (spelling police).

Well I have a black Spectrum 2-6-6-2 that I purposely bought this way so I could add my own decals.  I almost feel like I should practice on some rolling stock before I do it on my loco.   Gene, you mention Dullcote.  I'm assuming it's a product I can pick up at my local hobby shop?
Once I spray the dullcote, is the finish permanent?  Does it look a little different in the area where I spray that stuff versus the rest of the loco?

I guess if I ever need to send in my loco for repairs and the bachmann crew decides to send me a new one instead or repairing mine I will have to redo my decals. 

That brings up another question.  I purchased a few locos at my local hobby shop.  I picked up some Atlas C628's and my precious Spectrums condolidations.  Well one of the Atlas needed repairs right out of the box and they told me to ship it to the manufacturer.  I did that but I felt they should have just swapped it for me and I wasn't happy about that.   So my Spectrums 2-6-6-2 I bought brand new on Ebay since apparently I get no better service from my LHS.  Plus I save money. 
Now, the warranty cards need to be mailed right away it says but each box has some kind of serial number written.  It is located inside the box, if you remove the locomotive and the packing.  Is thi the number I need to write on the warranty card?  I don't see a serial number on the locos themselves.
Please help me with this.  I need to take care of this soon.

One more thing.  In the movie, "'Back to the Future Part III"  at the end they use a locomotive to transport Marty back to the present.  What kind of loco was it?  - just a fun question I guess

Thank you for the tip.
I gotta be careful when I order since they have so many choices but they look great.

What do you think of magnetic couplers? 
I was thinking if I had certain trains.  I could have a magnetic coupler here and there on a leading rolling stock car to uncouple it from the loco.

Mind you, I'm completely new to this hobby.  Tomorrow I will be going to my first railroad club meeting.  I was invited so that should be cool.

Wow Scottychaos I was blown away.
A tour de force!

There is no chaos in your world.  It's all in order so why the name LOL.

Without a doubt my favorite part of your website is your story on the model of Lehigh Valley railroad SW1 #112
I admire your perseverance on the research.  The planning  before the execution was involved.  I just really enjoyed the whole thing.  By the end of it all I actually felt attached to old #112 and it bothered to see her broken window.

I truly admire your work and the work of your dad, the railroad crew are fantastic.

I have one question though, in the beginning, after you introduce Annie and we start seeing some bridges.  In the construction page #3 we see Annie head to head with a 4-6-0 ( i can't see if there's trailing trucks) on the red bridge.  What happened to that train?  I don't see it again in the story.
You mention that the stonehedge railroad crew put together another engine from two bad ones but the one I'm referring to looked pristine.

Anyway well you leave me with the thought of putting a garden railroad on my mom's house.  I will run the thought by her see what she thinks...

That's good to know.
I ordered one a few days ago and I'm waiting for it.

Thanks for your help Brakemoto.

I figured it would most likely be okay to inquire about a model from another brand but wasn't entirely sure.
Although I'm not really happy with the fact that different speeds is a common thing among models from the same manufacturer.  At least I'm relieved that there isn't something wrong with one of my locomotives and therefore I own't waste my time nor money swapping motors.  I will eventually buy a DCC system.

As far as the rapido couplers go.  I bought some couplers at my LHS.  I threw away the packaging so I don't know the brand but they require you to drill into the model and it comes with a little screw.  I wasn't too thrilled about this.
My bachmann locomotives use couplers that have a little square plastic cap that clips in .  I'm sure I can find couplers that will use that system.  I can probably get them from bachmann.
You mention a "MT" website.  I'm not sure I know what website that is.

Thank you for all the information guys.

I also was wondering, when the steam is collected in the dome?  how is it sent to the piston.
And since steam is essentially water, what did they use to lubricate the piston.  Wiki mentions it was a mixture of tallow and oil.  But it doesn't mention how it was administered into the cylinder. 

I just received my Spectrum 2-6-6-2 and I think my Spectrum 2-8-0 pulls better. 
I have read here how to remove the lettering and I plan on changing my 2-6-6-2 to NdeM railroad.
I found a lot of pictures on the internet and that's where I got the Idea.
Do you guys advice on applying a matte clearcoat to the decals so they don't fall off?

Yeah I want to model Union Pacific because that's what I see a lot of in my area (Southern California)
All of the locomotives I have are Union Pacific with the exception of Atlas Alcos, I have two.

The Alco C628 is for NdeM railroad.
That's one of the railroads in Mexico and that is why they don't mix with the rest of the locos.
I grew up in Mexico and so I want to model that railroad as well.  I don't know if it's because those were the first locomotives I saw when I was a kid but I really like the Black (they say it's dark green - I don't see that)  red and yellow combination.  I believe a Canadian railroad uses the same scheme except they have a white stripe between the red and the black (dark green?)
They also used GE U36C's and apparently they are also called U-boats? 
Do you know why that is?  I mean they don't look like a submarine to me.  I think it's because they're really long.  Well anyway, I want to see if I can find some in N scale and then undertake the task of repainting them with the NdeM scheme.  I bought some decals on Ebay for $5.00 which I think is a killer deal. 

So yeah it should make sense.  My layout will be part of Mexico and Part of western U.S.
By the way I am just beginning so I don't have a layout yet.

What railroads do you model?