Should we be concerned about lead paint in model railroad equipment considering so many are made in china??
Only if you are in the habit of chewing on them.
Most of my rolling stock is Bachmann Silver Series. It’s all made in China. Am I concerned about the paint having lead in it? No. I’m not in the habit of putting my models in my mouth.
Is it common to include model train equipment in your diet? ?
[(-D]Now that’s funny![(-D]
Lead paint should not be a concern unless you’re in the habit of grnding up pieces of rolling stock and mixing it into your cereal.
Would it impact on the car’s conformance to NMRA length/weight ratio code? [%-)]
I suspect that back in the day, Floquil and others paints also contained lead-based pigments. I don’t know for certain, but lead was fairly common in many colors of paint. I haven’t heard of any epidemic of old model railroaders dropping dead of lead poisoning, just the usual infirmities of old age.
Then there are all the lead weights people used – and still use, as well as many of the older cast metal kits. These are much more likely a cause for concern. Lead or alloys including lead should be handled carefully, you should avoid grinding it, not smoke or eat when handling it, and wash up well afterwards.
Since most of the models that might be affected in recent news on Chinese imports are sold as ready-to-run, versus kits, this lowers the likelihood of issues with them in normal use. If you do start bashing on them, remember the basic safety rules I just mentioned apply, too. The issue may be greater if kit production shifts to China, but this is a shrinking part of the market, for better or worse, and I don’t see that as a big factor. Mmost kits require little in the way of cutting and grinding these days, with drilling being the most frequent source of dust-generating activity.
With a few common sense [recautions, for model railroaders lead should be largely a non-issue. The concerns over lead apply to children’s toys, which have to be safer, because unlike model-railroaders, kids do chew on their toys. Efforts to reduce lead exposure are important and valuable, but we also shouldn’t let lead cause us undue concern.
If you are concerned about lead, the potential of problems from paint would be a low priority compared to lead weights / detail parts / figures, and lead spatter from soldering. As mlehan said, don’t snack or smoke while working with products containing lead and wash your hands thouroghly after handling lead. I use Go-Jo, a hand cleaner with citrus and abrasive particles in it, you can get it at auto supply stores, hardware stores, etc. My other hobby is making stained glass which involes a lot of lead soldering. Lead is one of those toxic heavy metals that accumulates in your body instead of being eliminated; a little time washing will do a lot to reduce your exposure.
I would be more concerned with any imported seafood you eat or pet food you feed your pets. If your that worried about your trains, seal them with dull coat.
I heard the expression liking something so much you could eat it. I don’t think anyone has gone that far in this Hobby. Lead in paint is last thing I’m worried about. As long as you use your common sense. I’m more worried about, getting killed by other poorly made chinease stuff. And other foreign imports.
I can understand why folks are concerned about lead in paint but its no good getting paranoid, next thing we will be wearing radiation suits to Dullcote our models.
My other hobby is collecting and shooting antique firearms. Having messed with several tons of the stuff over the last odd 50 years (I used to run a small business custom casting bullets for these old pieces) I can’t resist getting my 2 cents worth in.
While I’d agree that using common sense around an hazardous substance is a given, the dangers of lead of been pretty grossly exagerated. Yes, it’s a good idea to not eat drink or smoke while handling lead to prevent ingesting it, and you ought to wash your hands after handling it, but plain soap and water will do the job.
Lead is most dangerous in it’s oxided form, which is what is in paint, and what was also in auto exhaust from the old leaded gasolines. The lead from gasoline was the most dangerous because it got into the food chain, and made it possible to ingest lead from sources like lettuce.
Absent eating the stuff, lead poisoning is pretty hard to get. Many years ago the NRA tried to find cases of lead poisoning caused by bullet casting. They did find one: a guy working for a major police department who cast several million bullets a year in an unventilated room in the armory. (bet he ate his lunch in there too!) The weirdest case of it I ever heard about was an electrican who posioned himself by chewing on bits of insulation which had been colored with lead based pigments! Absent that type of behavior you ought to be ok.
Like most things in life a little common sense prevents the problem. Lead is still the best material for things like weights, solder alloys, and low cost casting alloys for small parts. I wouldn’t lose any sleep in using them for model railroading.
JBB
PS: In case your wondering, I have been tested for lead levels and passed with flying colors. Considering that I started casting lead soldiers at the tender age or 6 (and believe me, my friends and I were about as careful about washing
I don’t know about y’all, but I like to have a steady diet of model trains!
Based on this photo, we should take the railroads’ advice and eat our Athearn models:
Considering the amount of tin/lead solder used in this hobby, plus the fact that most of us stop chewing on rolling stock about the time we outgrow pacifiers, in the realm of things to worry about, lead paint on models is a non-starter.
I’ve owned several items which were recalled on safety grounds, probably because some technologically challenged user in (fillintheblank) wasn’t smart enough to read the instructions before using the product. All of them were perfectly serviceable and presented no obvious hazard to this former aircraft quality control inspector, but the letters I got were insistent.
As for the other foreign imports, they don’t worry me. It’s their American drivers, sailing down the road with a cell phone in one hand and a sandwich in the other, that concern me.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hahahahaha!!![(-D] [(-D] [(-D] [(-D] [(-D] [(-D]
I can tell you that the Athearn pickle car is mighty tasty. I love crunchy pickle…cars.
Dave Nelson
Ha Very Clever 
It doesn’t matter what you think of the rules or how much lead you’ve proudly ingested in your lifetime. Most of the products produced for American companies use lead-free paint simply because it’s not worth the risk of getting hit with a lawsuit or recall. Note that the toymakers are setting aside millions of dollars to handle claims, refunds, lawsuits, etc. This kind of money would bankrupt most model railroad companies.
You should also remember that most of the manufacturing done in China is on contract basis; XYZ Model Railroad Co. doesn’t have a plant in Guangdong Province, they buy the tooling and have the production done on a project-by-project basis. These plants, which can be huge, are also often engaged in production of things like toys, cereal premiums or Happy Meal prizes, things which must have certified lead-free paint by conditions of the contract. In fact, it’s fair to say the majority of their production is usually toys and premiums which are purchased in far larger quantities than model railroad products. To give you an idea of how big the gap it, I know of one company that does a couple million dollars a year in model railroad accessories. The same company does over $100 million a year in fast-food toys. With that in mind, there is little point in specifically buying paint containing lead for use on hobby products, which might be permissible, and risk a surprise inspection by Mattel or McDonalds who would promptly cancel their contracts and probably sue you into oblivion.
For the life of me, I can’t imagine why the owner of Lee Dur, the Chinese company identified by Mattel as the source of the lead paint, would risk so much to shave a couple of bucks. I don’t think he killed himself because of fear of the death penalty, as some have suggested. I think he killed himself because he knew he was ruined financially. The guy the Chinese executed was a goverment official who had accepted nearly a million dollars in bribes to a