I’m currently scratchbuilding a CPR two-stall enginehouse out of styrene (it’s what I had at the time) I’ve almost finished the interior wall framing and I need to know what’s a good color to paint the interior walls? Were they painted or left a natural wood and weathered over time? I’ll be painting the exterior in tuscan if that makes any difference.
Most of the ones I have seen photos or videos of within the U.S. were grungy black from locomotive smoke, and you couldn’t tell If the wood had ever been painted when it was new. In Germany and Japan, they wear white gloves to work on locomotives and rolling stock, and the interiors of their shops and engines houses are equally clean.
So I figure that painting the entire interior with say grimy black would be apropriate?
Might be a better idea to paint the inside a lighter color, so the interior won’t be so dark. Maybe a medium gray or green. Enginehouse interiors, no matter how grungy they may become, would have probably been painted at one time.
Bob Boudreau
I’ll go with Bob on this one. In an effort to see what they were doing, I would have thought the staff ordered the interior to be painted a light colour, probably even whitewash. If the electric lighting was poor, at least sunshine coming in from the doors, if they could be left open, would help. That said, cacole must be right about the inevitable soot and grunge within a few weeks at most. So, paint it white, or a pale green, and then weather it with a heavy wash…don’t forget the black streaking atop the doors for when the stacks passed under them.
Thanks for all the answers. I think I’ll start with a lighter grey color and then wash/ airbrush a grimy black onto it, darkening the top moe as I go… I’m almost to that piont as I have finished the interior framing today.
Have you decided on what type of interior lighting you’ll be installing?
I was thinking of a couple grain-of-wheat bulbs or LEDs with some home-made shades