Hello I have been working on my roundhouse and put in a wood floor not sure what color it should be ? I would think it would be black or a gray color ? I don’t wont it to dark so it looks like a cave but don’t wont the new floor look ether. Thanks Frank
You have that about right. It is here that you have to be the artist. The wood would be light grey, stained with what walked or sat on it. Around where they greased the locos, it would be a little messier. There would be a traffic patern a little darker from where the workers ussually walked.
I will be looking forward to a pic of your rendition.
When I was a regular visitor to the Sikorsky helicopter plant in Connecticut (in the early '90s), I noticed that much of the plant still had wood block floors (blocks of wood stood on end). This was a fairly common floor in places with heavy machinery in the early part of the 20th century. In most places at Sikorsky, the wood block floor was almost the color of fresh creoste, but there were areas that were a lighter gray. The end grain of the wood blocks would be much more easily penetrated by spilled oil and fluids, making it the dark color.
And yes, you are right, getting enough light (and rid of the heat) into these plants for the workers was always tough. Which is why the skylights, banks of windows, celestories with windows, etc., that are seen on older factories. And why round-the-clock shifts were not nearly as effective as in modern plants.
just my observations
Fred W
You might want to try this link. I find the information here invaluable for making plastic look like weathered wood. All you need is some wood flooring planks from plastruct and you are all set!
Since my article is indicated above, I should express an opinion. Most interior wood becomes a brown patina color almost chocolate. Wood only turns gray if it is exposed to water and sunlight.
Just a thought
Harold
Thanks for the heads up. Excellent work BTW.
Dark chocolate and black unless something has gouged into it to expose an older, lighter colour… but the older the floor the deeper the stain goes.
Elsewhere someone has ust suggested the use of graphite to me… I suspect that this could be useful for the much travelled areas… these tend to have a patina… whereas the bits next to them that can’t be walked on without knocking into things are much more “soggy” and dull… and you are likeley to have dust settling into the surface in corners that are completely untravelled…
1/87 spiders’ webs should be interesting…
[:-,]
Dont stress about the color.
Ive seen the B&O Museum in a NICE color of brown that is well kept. Then Ive seen the EBT roundhouse where there is like a inch of graphite, ash, coal dust and everything else before you reach the actual wood. It’s like a very dark brownish grey if such a description is possible.
Wood is whatever is most common for the area. Sometimes sparsely wooded aread of the USA gets wood shipped in from elsewhere for use in flooring.
Ditto on the spider webs.
That should not be too difficult. Just hunt down a web and snip peices off it. Just watch out for the horse killing hunter coming down the web for ya.
Hello Ok so if used some walnut stain for a base and keep it dark in the corners and out of the way places. And a little lighter in walk ways. It should be ok. Should use a gray wash in the walk ways or use some ash from the fire pit ? My art skills are not the best. If I see a spider in the house it gets smashed I don’t care if 1/87 or bigger if its out side it can go on its way. Thanks Frank
I did this floor with coffee stirrers. I used a white wood stain, and added a bit of India Ink. I did several batches to get a mixture of light to dark gray. I found that white glue worked very poorly, and ended up re-gluing most of it with CA.
The same roundhouse interior from above.
The interior cinder-block walls, incidentally, are a downloaded pattern that I printed on cardstock and cut to shape and size.
A wood block floor in a roundhouse would be a darker woood color, like a walnut stain. Engines, steam or diesel are very oily beasts and the oil and grease gets into everything. Then grind in cinders, dust, dirt, rust and scale. Any kind of dirty brown color would be good.
Dave H.
We had some wooden floor sections in the steam shed I worked in, as well as wooden pit boards. They were made from hardwood, and all were a dark to very dark grey, not brown.
Cheers,
Mark.
Hello well I got some work done on the floor here are some pics.
the stain was one coat I did a one more last night to make it darker I left the walk ways lighter.
Have a nice day Frank
That looks great!
I’m curious - why did you stop the stall tracks so far from the back wall? It looks like you’ve got at least another inch, maybe two, that you could have used. Your turntable appears to be large enough to support longer engines.
First understand a steam locomotive was a filthy beast and in turn the engine house/roundhouse floor would be filthy from grease,oil,coal dust,lime stains(from the water leaks) smoke stains and other crud.It was not a pleasant environment to work in.
Hello
MisterBeasley the tracks are short because the roundhouse does not go with the turntable my dad built it he has the same turntable you have and when he put the roundhouse up he said it took up to much room so he gave it to me. My turntable is a 90’ so it would not line up right so I cut the floor out and made it work. I have 2 4-6-2 and they hang out the front so I made it for the small steam. I though I would put a work bench and shelving and some misc stuff on the back wall.
Brakie I know it should be very dark and drab in there but did not want the cave look. I triad rubbing ash from the fire pit into the floor close to the track to give it that look. So far it does not look to bad. It will need done a few more times to get that grunge look.
Thanks Frank
Frank, any roundhouse I’ve ever been in, or photo I’ve seen, the floor, if wood, is black, or a very deep dark brown. The wood blocks, standing on end, absorb grease and grime very quickly (end grain is much more absorbent than side grain in wood). This is actually a safety feature, to prevent accidents from slipping on the grease-covered floor. And yes, the cave look is very prototypical. [:)]
Hi,
GMCRail is right on! I’ve been in several RR buildings, manufacturing plants, and other old commercial structures that got heavy use. Frankly, they were all dirty and dark and in some you would want to throw away your shoes after you left.
Railroading - especially in the days of steam - was a very dirty job, in a very dirty (and dangerous) environment. So, whatever shade of dark shade of black, brown, or mix would work, and no one can say you are out of line.
By the way, the dirtiest place to work is at the coke tower in any oil refinery!!!
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
Nice work 0-6-0. I like the round house…and the flooring.
I will however add my 2 cents regarding coloring. You mention a darker coloring in the corners and out of the way places, with a lighter gray in the traffic areas. Anything I have ever seen is just the opposite with the work area and the most traveled routes about the locos being the grimiest.
I will admit that I have only seen three round houses and all had concrete floors, but all three had pretty much varying shades of mottled BLACK on the floor with years of grease and grime.
Hello Well I have been working on the floor and now its a dark black/brown color. But I do have 3 more questions. What color would the rail be rusty/black ? and would there be any safety strips ? would there be any ballast in there ? Thanks for all the help Frank