In a message dated 8/11/2005 6:19:55 PM Central Standard Time,
rhendrickson@... writes:
And the
undersides were invariably an oily mess; plain journals shed oil at a
great rare onto the wheels and from the wheels onto the undersides of
the cars and in oily stripes up the lower parts of the ends. (BTW, for
that reason rusty wheels are a no-no on steam era models, though I've
seen it done. OK on roller bearing trucks, definitely not OK on plain
bearing trucks).
Richard,

Great point, one that I've overlooked on many of my models. One question I
have is in regard to the brine mixture used in iced reefers, wouldn't that
contribute a rusty shade to those cars? I know of that the brine contributed
to the corrosion of structural components of the cars, and led to more
prominent extensions of the drain chutes in later year of the ice cooled cars.

Tom C

On Thu, August 11, 2005 11:35 pm, tyesac@... wrote:

Great point, one that I've overlooked on many of my models. One question
I
have is in regard to the brine mixture used in iced reefers, wouldn't
that contribute a rusty shade to those cars? I know of that the brine
contributed
to the corrosion of structural components of the cars, and led to more
prominent extensions of the drain chutes in later year of the ice cooled
cars.

Given the general oilyness of the trucks and underbody, and having looked
at more than a few photos, I would say that rust was not the most common
color... Rather, I usually dry brush some white around the drains, and
onto that end of the truck to represent the dried salt left by
evaporation. I also add some "salt" residue around the bunker doors.

Regards
Bruce

Bruce Smith
Auburn, AL