Were steam loco running boards wood in the 1940s-1950s?

[peteski]

Anyway, after all this pondering and researching (much of it by you folks and I think you), I still think metal is the way to go.  It won't have a wood grain, but then, at this scale, I doubt the wood grain should really be visible anyway, especially after it is painted.

Exactly!
Woodgrain or texture of 1:1 wood is way out of scale to look like N scale wood.  Painted metal is way to go.
Speaking of out of scale, I have the same opinion about way-out-of-scale treadplate detail on plastic N scale Diesel loco walkways, but many modelers want it.

[coosvalley]

I have the same opinion about way-out-of-scale treadplate detail on plastic N scale Diesel loco walkways

Yea, we know. Trust me,all but the newest members here already know...
 

There must be an etched piece of brass that has wood grain etched into it out there.....Right?
If you can find such a piece I think that would be perfect

[peteski]

There must be an etched piece of brass that has wood grain etched into it out there.....Right?
If you can find such a piece I think that would be perfect

You mean the out-of-scale etched wood grain? 

[Chris333]

Brass models have etched wood grain.

[coosvalley]

 

Would scratching grain into it make it more to scale though?

See the conundrum?..Nothing visible or something oversize....

Your serve!

[mmagliaro]

Brass models have etched wood grain.

Yes, Chris.  That's why I noticed this in the first place.  The HO version of this engine that I'm looking at does have it.  But it is very subtle.  In HO, it's easier to do without it being out of scale. 

[Kiasutha]

Max:
Take a look at the on-line PSC catalogue for "general use-sundries" on page 13.
They have quite a variety of wood-grain etched brass sheet.
It's all a bit thicker than you want, but very nice...

[mmagliaro]

Max:
Take a look at the on-line PSC catalogue for "general use-sundries" on page 13.
They have quite a variety of wood-grain etched brass sheet.
It's all a bit thicker than you want, but very nice...

It is nice!  But not only is it thicker, but it has board lines in it and the boards are on the order of 20" wide in N Scale, and the grain will be way too coarse for N.  PSC frustrates me.  They have always made a massive assortment of amazing products and parts for building steam, but almost zero in N Scale.  Their N catalog has about 4 pages of items in it, most of which are not of much use.  The few parts I have ordered, such as the cross compound compressor, look wonderful, but are oversized for N.

[Cajonpassfan]

Max, nothing like looking at a real photo to work from, but I seriously doubt that there would be much difference between wood finish and metal after it's painted. I'm still traveling so I don't have access to my library and don't pretend to know NP practices, but some roads used open steel grilles with metal edge frames when modernizing their power. I've used etched running boards, trimmed to fit, for this with some success.
Amazing work so far!
Otto

[wcfn100]

Decal?

Jason

[nkalanaga]

Most steam running boards were probably kept in good repair, so wouldn't show much grain.  After all, they were required safety appliances, and the ICC inspectors could get very picky!

Also, while some roads painted the edges, the tops were almost uniformly black, or very dark gray, due to all of the soot and cinders falling on them.  The exception would be a locomotive with a non-black paint scheme, and even then only if it was washed regularly.

[mmagliaro]

Well, I hear what you're saying about these things being black.  I would expect they were treated with a preservative that was mostly black, and yes, then they got rained on my cinders, soot, smoke and more "black".

Well, here's the experiment I tried today.
I made a walkway from .012" phosphor bronze strip.  Then I electroplated it with a mix of nickel and black nickel plating, being deliberately not too fussy about making it even as I swabbed over it with the solution and even dipped it a few times.

This is the result.  Maybe you'll say it should be blacker, but it sure looks like wood to me.

The board joints were made with an Xacto blade.  The wood grain was just 150 grit sandpaper swiped randomly over it a number of times.

I wanted to show you a photo, but Photobucket nailed me and said I have to update my account to enable 3rd party hosting.  So the game's over.

 

Here's a link to the photo that should work.

[svedblen]

Yes, sure looks like wood!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Sure looks like wood, but I really think these were probably painted along with the locomotives.

I feel like you should give RYPN a search or two, these are folks who actively restore and maintain steam locomotives:
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=1

[JMaurer1]

Either painted black with the locomotive or coated with creosote making them almost black. But that really does look like wood.