Sunday, September 4, 2022 Been a long couple of weeks at work. We originally planned to be out of town this weekend, but a typhoon hit one of the small islands in southernmost Japan that we were going to go visit. So between odds and ends I got a bit of modeling done. First-the long awaited Algoma Central decals came in, so I finished my AC heritage unit. Unfortunately, a number board got lost, so I’m going to keep it as the 2nd unit in any consist until I can find a suitable replacement. Second-I picked up an exactrail gondola on eBay while I was bidding on something else. It was a pretty quick weathering job as the prototype(sort of, it’s a foobie) is relatively new. I finished it in a morning and I’m very happy with how it turned out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Makes me want to put on a hazmat suit just looking at them! I wish the prototypes would have kept the pride they once had in the appearance of their equipment. Alas, the bean counters gave us yet another aspect to model.
Based on my experience with the real WC, back in the day, I'd recommend caution when weathering WC owned items. Ed Burkhart always wanted the equipment looking good for the customers. He believed in keeping up a good image for them. He felt they deserved fresh, new looking equipment to use. Therefore, rolling stock was kept in very good condition. It always amazed me how even the WC boxcars were quickly sent to a shop for repainting. Graffiti was quickly covered over. Locomotives were frequently washed and often looked newish. It really wasn't until the CN takeover that things began looking really grungy. My point, go carefully on wearing anything WC owned. Look at how nicely the AC F units were kept. It was a point of pride to keep them new and shiny both for the WC, and the fellas in the shops at the Soo.
Yes, we washed the locomotives every 92 days. They got paint worn but they were never really dirty. I still do that on my current railroad, keeps the employees including myself a little cleaner. Randy
Sunday, 30 October 2022 Been a while since I’ve posted here. Busy couple of months at work. On the model railroading front, I ended up working on a bunch of autoracks for other roads. A while back I bought a bunch of Concor autoracks and Plano panels. This weekend I worked on my last four. I completed two in my fantasy WC scheme this weekend and I got all the panels and cars installed in the last two. The first one is the very first autorack I did almost two years ago. It’s okay, but I didn’t come back to doing any of this until this fall because I wasn’t happy with the results. The next two are from this weekend. Lastly, I did a little graffiti and light weathering on a Red Caboose BNSF autorack. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The first rack is excellently done. We are always our own worst critics and that unit is very well done. The other two are also superb examples of reality [even though I hate graffiti, but that is personal]. All will work very nice on your layout.
Sunday, 6 November 2022- So this weekend I finished up my last two Concor autoracks. Just weathering and decals because I did the Plano panels a couple of weeks ago. I also took some time and revisited some Dash 8s I started a while ago. The idea is that WC purchased 5 used from BNSF, similar to the purchase of the F45s from ATSF back in the 90s. My plan is to have 3x only patched over, with maybe 1 or 2 with some scorched paint on the sides. I patched those three a few months ago but hadn’t made any further progress. The last two will be painted in WC colors, so I made some progress on that today. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Monday, 14 November 2022: So I finished the three patched Dash 8s. Two with burn marks, first time doing those. Pretty happy with the result. I may try to leave a little primer visible the next time. I also finished (finally!) the 6x coalveyors that will be in C & D service. I patched them from Greenbrier to WC and added extensions, similar to how the prototype Greenbriers were modified when they went to leasing companies. I’ll get around to making loads at some point, but I wanted to model them empty with some leftover debris in them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I just finished a GP35 with a burn on the long hood, I left a slim line of primer on mine. Adding it to yours would really make it pop! Ditto what Boxcab said, the insides of your hoppers look great!
Weathering looks fine. When the Wisconsin Centrals come through heading south they usually look that clean. It's the one's that come out of the south that are grungy.
I like to model a fictitious modern era where the railroads still cared about the appearance of their equipment... For the life of me I don't understand why today's railroads don't just paint their locos a solid dusty, rusty gray. Not that I don't appreciate the work that others put into realistic weathering, but my railroad, my rules.
Anything to pinch a penny and add to their profits these days. Where railroads once cared about public image, (had REAL public relations departments), today they regard appearance of equipment as an annoying waste of money. I often wonder about the disgusting visual condition presented and how the public perceives it, in regard to assuming neglect exists in maintaining rolling stock for safety. Atop that is the out of control criminal defacing activity...
I get why they don't keep them clean. But why don't they just paint their locomotives with their stock exchange symbol, on a dull, rusty-gray background? Why bother with a fancy, 3+ color paint job, if it's just gonna be obscured in dirt and grime 99% of the time?
It seems that unwashed white locomotives (thinking Soo and KCS here) look cleaner than unwashed black locomotives. I see this on automobiles too. Kinda makes you wonder why white isn't favored, and it'd be more visible at highway crossings at night. Well, not like this, but ......