I have two questions here. I recently bought numerous Proto 2000 '50 ton emergency war hopper' kits for the L&N railroad. I want to gently and carefully remove the L&N and put another name on the cars. 1) What is the best way to get rid of the L&N without damaging the reporting marks or sides of the hopper? These cars were made of wood with outside braced steel supports. 2) What is the best way to realistically weather the sides and steel? Should the wood be a gray tone and steel rusty? I suspect the cars will be used for either stone or coal loads.

Thanks for your comments.
Eric

Is then L&N lettering a decal or is it painted on?

Tyson,

The L&N is painted on.

Eric

Hi Eric,

Hope things are well on the Algoma & Rideau. Take a look for doctorwayne's work. He has relettered numerous cars for his 1930s era layout. While the war emergency hoppers would have taken a beating and maybe not been as well kept in the 1940s, you can still use his techniques.

If memory serves, he has used decal solution to soften paint before removing with an eraser. He has sanded (superfine wet sanding), and sometimes simply painted over and redecalled.

I know that doesn't give you much in the way of specifics, but I hope it helps.

Andrew

Nice to hear from you Andrew. I see your dad regularly. I will check out docwaynes info...thx for the tip.

Eric

Hi Eric. I was hunting for the thread concerning the cars which I did (a very generous gift from a friend) because I couldn't remember how I'd removed the lettering.

You can check it out HERE

These cars were a pre-war design, but the majority of them (I think) were built during WWII, as a measure to save steel for the war effort. Many were rebuilt afterwards with steel sides replacing the wood (similar to some pre-war versions of the car, which were built new with the outside bracing, but steel sides). Here's an example:



The outside of wood cars seemed to last fairly well if they were regularly maintained, but coal hoppers, steel or wood, took a beating internally, both from the abrasive action of the coal and from its acidic nature, too.

If you model the cars with stone loads, about half-full would be appropriate - crushed stone is much denser than coal.
From trackside, they appear to be empty:



...but you can't fool Barney Secord
:



Wayne

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for chiming in on the thread!

Andrew

Thanks so much for the pics and car info. They look great and can only hope mine come out half as good.

Eric