Alright, I’m to the point where I’m going to have to start buying duplicates of cars I already own and that means renumbering. All of my kits pretty much are Accurail as Athearn doesn’t put out a lot that I like, at least that I’ve seen. The last couple that I’ve bought have had some pieces that don’t fit together and as lead me to putting them aside so I don’t get to frustrated.
Here’s the point of this thread:
- How do you remove numbers from cars?
- Is there any rhyme or reason behind the way a car is numbered?
- Is it different for hoppers? boxcars? tankers? other cars?
- Where do you purchase other numbers for cars?
Thank you
The method to remove numbers depend on how they were done by the manufacturer. This can even vary for the “same” car depending on when it was made. (I found this with a MicroTrains reefer many years ago. The method that removed the lettering on one car removed the paint around the lettering and left the lettering on another car.)
I am sure there are others on the board that can advise you about the makes of cars you have.
The railroads usually number their cars in series. But each railroad has their own numbering system. Cars of the same type will be grouped together, however what constitutes the same or different type may not be obvious to the railfan. Nearly identical appearing boxcars for instance may be put in different series because they were built at a different time, or by a different company, or some were built or later rebuilt with special equipment. It might also appear that a particular railroad numbered all their box cars in a particular series , but there might be large gaps and they might fill those gaps with other car types.
There are many books and magazine articles with photos and specific information. A ORER (Official Railway Equipment Register) the period you are modeling will give you actual car numbering for all the common carrier railroads in the US, Canada ,and Mexico, although not the appearance of the cars since there are no photos or diagrams. A number of ORER’s are available on CD from Westerfield (they make high quality HO freight cars too) .
You do not need to change the entire number. Changing the last one or two digets will usually do.
Decals are made by a number of companies. Micro Scale is the best known and widely distributed.
Sometimes railroads need to renew (repaint) the number and other lettering, but don’t want to repaint the entire car. They do so by painting a over the lettering and restenciling. Often they will try to match the original car color but it may appear different be
If most of your cars are Accurail, they now include a coupon which along with $3.00 will get you a decal sheet with 12 new numbers for both the sides and ends. These decals are printed on the background color of the car, and all you have to do is slide the decal over the number you want to change. Don’t have to remove any lettering or worry about the paint coming off. I wish all the manufacturers would do this.
Bob Hayes
I like the idea of repainting over numbers. If I find some cool cars that are foreign roads I may have to paint over the numbers.
I’ll look into the Accurail thing. Is it just for that one car that you have to get the new numbers for, or can you do a couple cars with a sheet?
Bob, your right, I wish all manufacters would do that! I may have to get a few Accurail kits to try that out now!
Noah
Noah, my website might help you out with getting numbers. It is www.freewebs.com/railine . NOTICE: numbers are for modeling purposes only, if I find they are being used for other purposes, I will get the authoritys into it.
Here’s an even better idea. Issue a car of every series with the numbers left off and with a decal sheet of numbers in the box.
Bob DeWoody
It’s not repainting. These are decals that you just apply over the numbers on the cars you want to change. You will need to spray a clear coat after you have applied the decal to hid the decal film. You can do 12 cars per sheet, more if you edit the decals. An example: Accurail #42049 is a 6-pack of BNSF 3-bay covered hoppers numbered 424505, 424509, 424514, 424526, 424537, & 424543. The decal sheet contains numbers 424482, 424487, 424493, 424504, 424507, 424513, 424516, 424524, 424528, 424530, 424535, & a duplicate 424543 which would give you a total of 17 different numbered cars. There are several other kits for which the decal sheet is offered such as #3605, which is a UP 40’ dbl dr steel box, which would yield 13 cars. Check out their web site for a list of cars for which decals sheets are available.
Bob Hayes
I might have to do that and then just start buying large amounts of ACF hoppers. I’ll have to order a couple sheets.
When you order a sheet of numbers does it come with the letters of the railroad? Like BNSF or something, or do you just leave the numbers. I’m sure there will be a few cars where I wouldn’t mind changing everything and trying to weather it a bit.
When you clear coat do you have to clear coat the whole car or just where you put the numbers?
The decal sheets just have the numbers, nothing else, and I suspect all the sheets for each car have the same set of numbers. If you’re going to change everything, you might just as well start with an undecorated car, and use Microscale decals. Let me say it again; these decals are just numbers, not all the lettering.
You should clear coat the whole car. Otherwise you will be able to see where you stopped spraying, and since you will spray both sides and ends, there’s only the roof left.
Bob Hayes
Ok, now that brings up some more questions.
- What type of clear coat works best for model trains?
- If I start with an undecorated car and have a sheet of numbers, does the numbers have all the little details on a car? weight and what not stuff.
- When I reletter a car does it matter what style of letters they are in? Through reading the forums it seems it won’t matter.
Thanks, gotta get back to work, boss just yelled at me.
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Testors Dull coat is usually the prefered clear coat. The advantage to that one is it comes in a spray can, so you don’t have to fire up the airbrush. Really any flat finish clear coat will work.
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A sheet with just numbers will not have all of the little data on it.
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Not really, many railroads just slapped on whatever decal they had at the time, they didn’t want to spend the extra money ordering the right kind for just a few cars. It’s not a freight car, but take this photo of the Number Boards on one of the WSOR locomotives(note that I did not take this photo)
http://www.wsorrailroad.com/monroe/images/2989.jpg
Hope this is what you wanted Jim.
Noah
Ok, where do you get all the little data stuff then? Is that something you order through microscale?
I think I’ll just buy an undecorated hopper and try my hand at weathering and everything.
How do you figure out paint color for different roads?
