On Nov 7, 2007, at 7:06 AM, Philip Lord wrote:

Hi all,

I am about to weather a combine to match a photo of the same one in
the late 1940s on the branchline I am modeling and near my prototype
area. The combine also served as the "caboose" on the end of a short
mixed train, and the photo shows one window converted with weather
guards and a rain deflector to serve as the crew observation area.

Given all this, I am assuming it is pretty dirty and worn, yet some
people are saying passenger cars should not be weathered much since
they went through the washers all the time and stayed pretty clean.
True no doubt on the mainline. But I am thinking in this peripheral
service, on the low-end route, and late in the game, it was pretty
much a "poor relation" and not serviced that often.

Phil, you're right that ex-passenger cars used in mixed train service
or as cabooses weren't maintained to the same standards as main line
passenger equipment, and certainly were seldom run through the car
washers. I still remember a similar Santa Fe car I rode on when it was
used on branch line locals in Southern Calif. and it was both weathered
and dirty, though perhaps not as much as if had been used in LV "coal
country."  I'd model your LV car with faded and weathered paint and a
fair amount of dirt and grime, but I'd avoid overdoing it.

Richard Hendrickson


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