The super grimy locomotive look

Seems like MR is starting a trend toward really really grimy locomotives. There was last month’s Cody Grivno cover photo of a Warbonnet diesel so weathered out that the red had gone to brown. There was the article this month on patching out a really grubby SP diesel.

I never saw real locomotives allowed to get that grubby, running on any rails around here. The older units might be a bit sun faded, but nothing like what MR has been showing last couple of months. Matter of fact, I can’t remember even seeing private automobiles (which get less maintenance than a locomotive) get that bad.

Are super grimy locomotives cool? or what?

David,

They’re not to my taste, but they are prototypical, at least the example Cody used. Locos are often on longterm lease. Paint usually holds up, but sometimes not. It’s really someone else’s loco again in a few years, so the economic decision of letting 'em run like that often wins over public image. I’ll try to find an example of another similar BNSF unit I caught in Abilene, Kansas a few years back when I was doing research at the Eisenhower Library.

Wiki seems to have a UP-Patched ex-Southern Pacific loco image, which IIRC is similar to what Cody was doing this issue.
Maybe not as grimy as the MR article, but fairly weathered (a hallmark of SP locomotives toward the end - not sure why the D&RGW’s didn’t fix up their SP-branded locos after they took over SP).

I remember SP locomotives looking simply awful just prior to their merge into the Union Pacific. Living near the transcon line of the BNSF in Fullerton, CA, I still see a few locos in the old Santa Fe warbonnet paint scheme but none have ever looked as bad as Cody’s model. Maybe the paint weathers a little better out here. In general though, photos of particularly grubby locos are rather easy to find. Trains Magazine has even shown photos of the same loco both freshly painted and looking as though headed for the scrap yard just a few years later.

Wish it were so. Problem is, when the Rio Grande bought SP, SP’s management took over and that was that.

SP units were nasty – or charming, YMMV[;)] – back to at least the 70s, not just before the UP merger – where SP management got its pink slips a few years later. From what I’ve seen, UP has been slipping in recent years, although nowhere near as bad as some other roads.

Don’t get me wrong. Despite being a Rio Grande fan, I actually kind of always liked SP, warts, wasted looking units, and all. In cintrast, I have no interest in UP. Too big and boring/uniform.

The “correct” paint scheme for the PRR was grimy black with three drops of PRR green with grease and oil spots along the walkway of the long hood.

Grimy engines did and still exists…

When I lived in southern Californ, 1980’s, I observed

Locomotives:

Southern Pacific - grubby looking but clean

Santa Fe - clean and well kept

Union Pacific - looked clean, but painted over dirt and grease

Track maintence equipment:

Southern Pacific - clean , but broken glass replaced with plywood

Santa Fe - very dirty, grease and oil stains

Union Pacific - very clean and well kept

Soo Line, CNW, Milwaukee Road in their last years or on branch lines often were allowed to get extremely weathered.

I’ve long thought most weathering projects are far too clean.

Southern Pacific had lots of horrific looking locomotives that ran through miles of snow sheds and tunnels. (Thus the reason for their cab forward steamers) THis would expose them to heavy doses of heat and exhaust smoke.

Before I knew that, I remember seeing a set of 4 running through Eugene, OR one day, I thought that they must have been exposed to a fire or something.

Of course, a little neglect goes a long way, too.

On some SP Diesels the “Southerm Pacific” on the side of the hood was red. They were not painted that way. The light grey letterning had worn off.

Clean/grubby, all in the eye of the beholder. Doesn’t matter if based in reality; or, just someone’s preference for how his railroad should look! It doen’t matter because it’s my railroad and I can do with it as I please!

I think there is a wide range of options open to us modelers in terms of how clean or how dirty/worn our locomotives can be. Brand new locomotives just off the assembly line or just emerging from the paint shop after a major repaint will in all probability look crisp and shiny. Other locomotives that have been in service a longtime and seen a lot of road miles and harsh weather conditions will more then likely be faded, dirty, splotchey and quite worn looking (even to the extreme like the Dash 8-40CW Cody did). Then you have everything in between the “show room floor” new and well aged and worn veteran. It all comes down to what the modeler wants his/her fleet to look like. Personally the extreme weathering cases (like the one Cody did) is not my cup of tea. But each to their own. That’s what’s great about this hobby.

Happy modeling!

Don.

Two words: Southern Pacific

I see Union Pacific, some patched SPs and an occasional NS or CP locomotives all throughout the day. The vast majority of them are really grimey, especially those yellow UP locos. I don’t know if they are burning bad fuel or what the issue is, but the whole top half is almost black on many of them. Some have even looked like they have caught fire at one point or another. The UP locos that I see that are fairly clean have to be relatively new in my opinion. As someone else mentioned, the track maintenance trucks, etc. are all sparkling white.

I believe that is the trend to make your fleet look old.

So everyone seeks out the worst looking engines and makes a whole Roster of them.

I studied my area that I model and took lots of PICs back in the '80s and NONE of the Engines looked the way most are trying to do currently.

ONE has to remember that the ERA of your Layout will determine how the engines should be weathered!

MY Layout - is a Corrail based one in the '75 to '85 time period and the CONRAIL engines were ALL FRESH PAINT JOBS as 1976 was the take over date.

SO - any Conrail engine - would be a NEW BLUE paint job!

The PC and xPRR paint out equipment - that would be a bit more weathered but how can one improve on dirty BLACK!

I know some would try!

BOB H - Clarion, PA

Reviewing proto photos of SP&S locos all I can say is that the SP&S units didn’t get super dirty, just some road dust on the trucks and pilot. That and they were always getting repainted, 4 or 5(maybe more) schemes in the amount of time it took to dieselize and merge into BN.

I model the Bangor & Aroostook in the 80’s because there were multiple periods of boom and bust during the decade. Fresh, clean, and shiny locos often ran MU’d to the oilyest, most grimy engines that you have ever seen. It gives me the choice of weathering at any level.

The most important part of weathering model railroad equipment is knowing when enough is enough. Of course there’s a different threshold for each modeler. Some folks like to replicate a clean orderly World and others revel in advanced states of dilapidation. The trick is to find the place on the spectrum that pleases you because, in the end, it’s your railroad and your equipment…

SP was required to use water based paint beginning in the early eighties due to Caifornia EPA mandates, can’t explain why SF and UP didn’t suffer paint breakdown in the manner of SP, perhaps they repainted their fleet elsewhere, lack of even basic cosmetic maintaince and operating conditions did the rest.

Anyone recall a certain tunnel motor that was worn down to the expertimental water based grey primer that eventually bleached to chalky white with no trace of the finish coat remaining? Must admit the scarlet ends held up well except for some bleed onto the white rendering those areas so effected a fetching shade of pink, that’s a extreme example.

Dave

Throughout many years the DM&IR was always proud of their fleet of engines. When they were leased to other roads the comment was how clean they were. One(s) in particular were the passenger engines. I have a headlamp from the 308/1308, and when I started to strip off the old paint I found the Pyle brass tag hidden under all that paint. When ever it even began to look shabby it was repainted. I would say the “worst” looking ones were the yard engines. When the road changed to diesel they still took the same pride and upkeep on them. That is until the CN bought them out. Now they look awful. It depended what the head office feels what’s important as to what their engines look like.