Need opinions on boxcar weathering

[chicken45]

Are we sure the lettering yellowing is not from lighting?

We're sure.

It's the rust fade.

[loyalton]

It looks great; nicely done.

I see weathering like this on such a relatively new car to be more dust and grime. There could be any amount of crud on the car. Like Dave Vollmer said, blackish/grayish roofs work, particularly if you've got tunnels on your system, from either steam engines or first gen diesels working hard. If there's a serious rainstorm, the crud could be mostly gone the next time you'd see it.

If it was overall fading, I'd expect to also see bits of damage to the white lettering, perhaps a touch of run if stencil paste was used. Lettering often wears unevenly.

[Lemosteam]

If it was overall fading, I'd expect to also see bits of damage to the white lettering, perhaps a touch of run if stencil paste was used. Lettering often wears unevenly.

@loyalton can you share any pictures of the condition you are referring to?

[loyalton]

@loyalton can you share any pictures of the condition you are referring to?

Per Chicken45's comment about not finding much useful for weathered cars in the '50s: there weren't very many people at the time shooting freight car pics. They seemed to be very selective of either what they shot or maybe more what they kept and traded. So there's not a lot of photos usable for weathering from that time. Tons of pictures of motive power. The result is photos of nice clean cars. Therefore the following pics date from somewhat more recent times. The photos are dated so you might be able to figure how old cars were at the time -- I don't have the info. Keep in mind that renumbering was possible, repainting after a major shopping was possible.

http://www.boxcars.us/Boxcars_M_Z/P/pages/image167.html
PENNSYLVANIA is damaged in spots where the paint has worn away. That might be due to the door scraping the body. Car data is also gone in spots.

http://www.boxcars.us/Boxcars_M_Z/P/pages/image169.html
Somewhat heavier wear and damage vs. the previous car, though similarly strong lettering. That's except for PENNSYLVANIA worn in spots along the panel weld seams (with door scrape) and the shadow of the keystone either dirty or faded.

http://www.boxcars.us/Boxcars_M_Z/P/pages/image182.html
Lettering is dirty but intact. However, much of the car data here is worn away and looks to date from a LATER period than when the basic lettering and logo were done.

http://www.boxcars.us/Boxcars_M_Z/P/pages/image139.html
This car was deadlined in 1970, still PENNSYLVANIA is worn more in some places than others, the shadow keystone is worn at the top.

http://www.boxcars.us/Boxcars_M_Z/P/pages/image154.html
More extreme example of a old paint job on an old car (in 1993). There is still strong paint on a few parts of PRR but that just highlights the uneven wear/fading.

http://www.boxcars.us/Boxcars_A_M/C-CO/pages/image188.html
http://www.boxcars.us/Boxcars_M_Z/U-UP/pages/image142.html
White lettering/paint is running.

For weathering comparison FWIW:
http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/gallery/boxauto/copr4017main.html
late July 61 photo of a car that ran in the '50s built in 8-48, i.e., nearly 13 years of weathering here, assuming the paint job is original (probably is). I'm not saying this is typical aging (it might be) but here's a car and paint job that I can date.