Renumbering factory locos...any tips

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have two pair of Spectrum locos with identical numbers…one UP, one PRR, and one old Stewart pair.

I would like to renumber these with decals that I have bought for the purpose…just by removing the last number and adding another that the road had on its roster.

Any tips? I don’t think the factory numbers are decals are they? I am not a deft hand at painting and I don’t have an airbrush.

2

Search is your friend

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3

Break a pencil in half. Jamb the eraser end in a drill and chuck it down nice and tight. With just a little effort the factory number will come right off. Just take your time. No repainting or anything. This worked like a charm for me.

My 2 cents…

4

I’m going to try Joe’s decal remover… a thread I asked about it w/ a link

http://cs.trains.com/forums/1502991/ShowPost.aspx

I orderd it and hopefully it will be here in Saturday’s mail

ratled

5

Cisco Kid-

What type/kind of decals did you purchase. I too have a few Bachmann DCC locomotives that "d like to “massage.”

Thanks,

6

Hello,

great subject. Will have to do some of the same.

Frank

7

I have UP SD45s to renumber. I found the right decals at Champion Decals. Price is good. Service is good. For my purposes set BRH-25 is the correct one.

http://www.minot.com/champ/

Folks, thanks for all the tips/links to info on this topic.

BTW, I don’t know if the numbering on these Bachmann locos is paint or decals (one post said these are decals) but they are coming off nicely with just an ordinary pencil eraser.[:)] Who’dathunkit!

8

The pencil-eraser-in-electric-drill trick works. I use a draftman’s electric erasing machine to get the same effect. A good drafting supply house might still have the machines, or even better, the eraser stock they used. The eraser was all rubber, round, 1/4" and came in different grades, some just rubber for taking off pencil, some with some grit in them for taking off ink. With the rise of Autocad, the traditional draftman and his equipment is pretty much gone now, but you never know what might turn up.

A drop or two of Solvaset will soften the factory lettering so it comes off quicker.

I have also had good luck painting over the factory numbers and redecalling the entire number.