Whether to weather or not

[NarrowMinded]

Does any body else have trouble taking the leap to weather their new locos, I have no problem doing it to rolling stock or a bashed loco from used loco's but it hurts me to dirty up a beautiful new little loco.

JJ

[Tomcat]

Me too - in most cases I do run the new models for a while and then weather it. Rolling stock-no problem, kitbashed stuff too, but a new model-a problem. Especially with my MMI K-27,K-28,K-36,C-19 etc.

Cheers, Tom

[steinked]

I do weather new locos, as out of the box they look too toyish. But I admit that I would not make them look derelict. Even on industrial pikes, crews were proud of their engines and kept them in state as good as possible. So I usually give new models a little flash of rust, dust and grime and some greasy spots on the moving parts.

Kind Regards, Dieter

[NarrowMinded]

Thanks for the repies,
I do find it easier to weather them after I have run them a while and the "new" has gone away, usually after a year or so. When I do weather a loco I also just give it a little dust and grime treatment. I have never seen pictures of any running loco's that looked like they were neglected completely.

JJ

[Allamuchy Joe]

Does any body else have trouble taking the leap to weather their new locos, I have no problem doing it to rolling stock or a bashed loco from used loco's but it hurts me to dirty up a beautiful new little loco.

JJ

No problem weathering. I usually keep the "road engines" cleaner, but it always makes it look nicer to add some sand and road grit on the lowers of the locomotive. It also makes the details pop!

My Porter, though, looks like it has been used and abused.

[El Loco]

I do weather new locos, as out of the box they look too toyish. But I admit that I would not make them look derelict. Even on industrial pikes, crews were proud of their engines and kept them in state as good as possible. So I usually give new models a little flash of rust, dust and grime and some greasy spots on the moving parts.

Kind Regards, Dieter

I agree with Dieter, I weathered my shay to a well used and not so maintained appearance.  My other locos will only have light dust on the lower half,   lightly grime on the lube points and some mineral deposits in and around various piping joints and valves.

[C.S.R.R. Manager]

My weathering for locos has been fairly simple.  Starting with the stock Bachmann paint, I add decals, dullcote where needed, and then airbrush on some light gray for mineral deposits, earth for dust, and an overall control coat of grimy black, just a bit.  The real expert on loco weathering is John Pryke.

However, at some point I may start repainting all of my locos, with a more shiny finish.  Over the weekend, we visited the Redwood Valley Railway in Berkeley, CA.  Their locos are working steam locos, and it was interesting to see how the weathering really worked.  Sometimes in the electric train world, we have to make an effort to avoid the "plastic train" look, but we often overdo it.  I was struck by the shiny metal on the tender sides and boiler, and at some point, I need to find a way to achieve that same metallic sheen on my models.

In terms of the 4-6-0, it represents one of the newest additions to the roster on my imaginary little railroad, so it will accordingly be rather lightly weathered.  It's all about realism, and has nothing to do with the fact that my wife doesn't like the trains looking all dirty.  No, that's totally irrelevant...

Manager

[El Loco]

Good point! Nowdays when you see a modern day RR they don't look like a bunch of dingy mud balls rusted to all getout.

[JohnR]

Manager -

I agree that seeing locos like the Redwood Valley are good references.  These are 5"/ft locos and are very well maintained.  Even so, they still get dirty.  I hope you took reference photos noting where the dirt gathers.  I'm striving for the "scruffy cuz I've been working but still maintained" weathering look.

If you're still in the area, there will be a small 1:1 0-4-2 porter at Ardenwood park in Fremont this coming weekend.  There will also be some On30 operating.

-John

[NarrowMinded]

I think fire breathers still in service these days seem to be a little "over restored" or kept looking as if they were just delivered. this is fine they are beautiful machines, but a bit unrealistic for a working railroad.  I think it is important that your loco's and rolling stock match your layout, for instance if I were to build a layout of Disneyland  the locos and rolling stock would all be shiny with barely a hint of dirt or grime, to the far extreme if I were doing a layout of a railroad in India I would weather and paint them so they looked as if they were about to fall apart at any moment.

JJ

[JohnR]

True.  I look at what living steam I can.  I also look at modern diesels, semi-trucks & trailers, my own car, etc.  Dirt and grime cling to vehicles of all sorts in pretty much the same ways.  I was fortunate to see  Durango & Silverton #473 fresh from the paint shop at the line's 125th anniversary celebration 3 years ago.  Even the short trip from the roundhouse to the station was enough to dust the top of the stack with soot and start soot streaks down the sides of the smoke box.  A couple days later, the stack was heavily sooted as was the smoke box.  The tops of the running boards along the boiler sides were also sooty.  Apart from that she still looked "clean".  Her sister engines, were quite grimey by comparison - soot and road dirt everywhere.

-John

[C.S.R.R. Manager]

Good point! Nowdays when you see a modern day RR they don't look like a bunch of dingy mud balls rusted to all getout.

Well, I do recall spending a few hours in an Amtrak coach, wishing someone would have washed the mud spatters off the outside of the window.  No rust, though.

And I do recall how sooty the locos were on the D&S.  Perhaps it's partly a matter of the railroad's philosophy, or the crew culture.  Also a matter of fuel.  The D&S is all coal, glorious coal, while the Redwood Valley and the Disney Lines run on oil.  The Eureka & Palisades #4 runs on wood, and I'm sure that helps it stay clean.

Back to the 4-6-0 -- I've got mine almost ready to weather, and the general approach will be to keep it clean.  This is a new loco, recently purchased to pull the main passenger train, so it's going to be in good, but somewhat sooty, condition.


manager