NS G87 Gon Weathering???

[ljudice]

Can anyone explain the weathering/fading of these NS G87 Coal Gons???  I am guessing the black paint wore off the aluminum, and the white showing through
is actually bare metal that was affected by the paint??

Current:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=684519

New:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Norfolk-Southern-Aluminum-Gondola-G87-Decals-N157-/120888193966?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1c257f73ae

[Hyperion]

Looks to me like the car is just really, really dirty.  All the black lettering is fine, it's just almost the same color as the coal dust on the car now.  The ends look strange though.  It doesn't appear to be bare metal, and to me actually looks like someone took a rattle can of white paint to the ends likely for safety/observability reasons.  Note that there appears to be overspray on the lower end crossmember as well as most noticeably on the brake cylinder.  It does not appear to be a wipedown job, nor is it where the car would be grabbed for dumping (notably because it also wraps around the ends).  It appears they may have tried to catch the stirrup steps too but for obvious reasons that wouldn't stay very white for very long, especially if it was sprayed right over coal dust.

[C855B]

Speaking of wipedown, or, rather, the lack thereof, I like how they just slapped the conspicuity tape over the dirt. Curious how much of the tape will still be there in a year or so.

[jmlaboda]

"...I like how they just slapped the conspicuity tape over the dirt."

Actually what you are seeing isn't so much dirt as it is oxidation.  Aluminum cars oxidize over time, turning into a grimy gray color.

The lighter painted areas are curious... don't remember seeing this before, but then, it has been a while since I have seen a unit coal train with these cars.

[ljudice]

Finally found one with the black lettering showing!

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=832438

Hyperion, I am sure you are right, the black paint (or vinyl??) has just faded to a lighter color than the skin of the car has oxidized...

[Hyperion]

I wonder if the painted ends have to do perhaps more with equipment operations than with safety.  Perhaps some equipment like a dumper needs a high-contrast area for some sort of 'eye' to determine when a car begins and ends and therefore when it needs to start/stop dumping.

[ljudice]

Ok, so which car do you guys like as a starting point for this - Kato or Deluxe....

The Kato cars are easy to get and one of the real bargains around.  I don't like the funky suspension spring thing though...  Anyone change the trucks?  MT's would be too short looking - would need to go with Atlas 100T, but then couplers are going to stick out further????

Dilemma....

[Hyperion]

I'm far from an expert on NS cars, but I would have thought that the LBF/Huberts Johnstown cars would be pretty darn close.  The Deluxe look pretty similar, and for all I know may even be identical models.  They certainly look closer to me than the Kato cars do.  However, in NS paint, the Kato is about 1000 times easier to find in quantity.

[ljudice]

Mark,

I'm looking at one or two single cars lying around here, and I think you're right, the Deluxe looks to be the closest, with the highly visible riveting around the ribs. The Kato cars are definitely easy to find though, and they do look more "hunkered down" when paired with the BLMA topgons.  The Kato cars also seem to have a slightly better approximation of an aluminum finish - and less of a silver paint finish IMHO, although this may not matter if I decide to weather heavily.  The most recent Kato set has at least one wrong road #.

Right now, NS coal trains seem to have about 90% topgons,  about 5% coal porters (although more of the newer ones still shiny and with the smaller logo) and about 5% mixed up NS, CR and other cars. Most of the CR bathtub cars left are the 3CR12 cars, which Athearn did - although they are hard to find.


- Lou

[OHCR 4218]

For a good idea of what these cars looked like new, look at the Fox Valley Trinity RD-4 coal cars in NS paint I don't know the reson, but all the aluminum cars NS runs are painted on the ends and always have been.

Brandon

[mogadad]

 The gray paint showing on certain places on the ends is where the rotary dump machinery grasps the car. Cat ends are not as exposed to the coal dust in the dumper as the side. If you check the tubs under the car you will see streaks where the machinery rubs the car as it turns.

 White lettered cars have been re-lettered. The coal dust accumulation is unique to the paint on G87's