Unless your model railroad is at eye-level or higher, the first thing operators and visitors see when they look at your locomotives and freight cars is the roof (and on open-top cars, the interior). In recent years, some manufacturers have offered models with faded paint and light weathering. Other companies have released boxcars with paint overspray on the roof. However, instead of viewing these as finished models, look at them as starting points. In this article, we’ll explore rooftop weathering ideas for diesels, boxcars, and covered hoppers, as well as interiors on open-top cars.
Diesel locomotives
We’ll lead off our list of rooftop weathering ideas with diesel locomotives. When I photographed CIT Equipment Finance Corp. No. 1019 in July 2019, the General Electric AC4400CW had been in service for more than 18 years. The effects of ultraviolet light and exposure to the elements largely around the clock caused the once bright blue paint on top of the cab and long hood to fade. Soot stains from the exhaust had spread in both directions from the stack on top of the hood. Dirt, soot, and other grime turned the once white Global Positioning System dome on the cab roof a dull gray.
Looking for tips on making a CEFX diesel look like this? Check out Contributing Editor Pelle Søeborg’s article “How to weather a modern diesel” in the October 2016 issue of Model Railroader. In the how-to story, Pelle explains the techniques he used to make a factory-fresh Kato model of CEFX No. 1006 (just 13 digits off from the full-size engine shown above!) look like a lease unit that’s been on the road earning its keep.
Boxcars
The next stop on our tour of rooftop weathering ideas is boxcars. When I took the photo above, I was interested in getting an image of the freshly painted Laurinburg & Southern (LRS) boxcar. As I study the image today, I realize it does a good job of illustrating the many looks of galvanized steel boxcar roofs. The middle and right cars in the foreground both have sealant applied to the seams and along the edges. The roof on the CSX car to the left is completely painted (as opposed to overspray on the edges) with the same dark blue paint used on the sides and ends. The three cars in the background have unpainted roofs in various states of weathering.
For ideas on how to re-create similar weathering effects on your boxcars (and other models), check out Pelle Søeborg’s article “Weathering rooftops” in the November 2014 MR.
Covered hoppers
When viewed from ground level, Progress Rail Leasing 3,000-cubic-foot capacity two-bay covered hopper No. 84111 looks like a run-of-the-mill repainted lease car. When seen from above, the car has more visual interest. Most of the latitudinal and longitudinal running boards, made of galvanized steel, have rusted. However, a pair of the longitudinal boards on the left side of the car, and the latitudinal board on the A end, have been recently replaced.
In addition to running boards, hatch covers are another easy way to give covered hoppers a sense of history. An example of this is GE Rail Services three-bay covered hopper No. 19268. When I photographed the car in Sept. 2019, the 4,750-cubic-foot capacity car had just celebrated 40 years on the rails. The stencil to the right of the light weight said “New 8-79”, suggesting the car hadn’t been repainted since it rolled off the assembly line.
The weathering, metal patches, and scrapes on the exterior posts would certainly be fun to re-create. But take a look at the hatch covers on the roof. The second one from left looks to be original, but the other three are clearly replacements.
In my article “New life for an old covered hopper” from the June 2021 MR, I shared tips on weathering running boards, simulating replacement hatch covers, and much more. Though I used an HO scale Pullman-Standard 4,740-cubic-foot capacity three-bay covered hopper for the project, the techniques could easily be adapted to other covered hoppers and different modeling scales.
Open-top cars
For our final two examples, we’ll change our theme from rooftop weathering ideas to interior weathering ideas. First up is a Wisconsin Central gondola that I photographed on the Wisconsin & Southern at Ackerville, Wis. If you were railfanning from ground level, it would be difficult to tell the car was loaded unless you looked at the trucks (the springs would be compressed). From my vantage point on an overpass, I was able to see the car was loaded with scrap freight car wheels. In addition, the top-down view revealed various shades of rust on the gondola’s interior, as well as the dents and other battle scars from years of hard service.
For tips on weathering gondola interiors using Tamiya spray-paint, Testor’s Dullcote, and Monroe Models Quick Age Weathering Washes, read my article “Quick and easy gondola weathering” in the September 2022 MR.
In the January 2020 MR, I wrote “Weathering freight cars with decals.” In the story, I shared how I used an airbrush, acrylic hobby paint, and assorted decals to turn a bright yellow TTX Kato N scale Maxi-I five-unit articulated well car into a model that looked like it had been on the rails for a while. Standing trackside yielded plenty of ideas for weathering the exterior of each unit. Learning what the inside of full-size wells looked like required an overhead perch and some luck.
The majority of the intermodal trains I see pass through southeastern Wisconsin are loaded with containers, but I happened across a train that had several empty cars, possibly coming out of long-term storage. Similar to covered hoppers, the corrugated metal walkways were grimy and rusty. As expected, the flat surfaces were covered with road grime. What stood out, as you can see in the image above, is how the interior ends are substantially cleaner, but that makes sense – when loaded, the bottom of the intermodal containers absorb most of the dirt, dust, and grime.
For even more ideas on weathering, check out Jeff Wilson’s new book Weathering Models from Firecrown Media. You can purchase it online at shop.trains.com or from your favorite Firecrown Media retailer.
