Making Custom Decals

 

Decals made with Inkscape, for Sandersville's discontinued 50' foot boxcars.

At the beginning, I bought a whole lot of rolling stock without really knowing what I was getting or why. The ten Lifelike coal hoppers and six 50' boxcars, all of fallen flags long gone, are a prime example of this. In my defense, they were like $6 each (which in US and UK terms is roughly $3.70 and £3 respectively) - so why wouldn't you?

But as time has gone on, I've found out about reporting marks and 'periods' of US RRs and realised that none of the Lifelike stuff would be considered prototypical for this SAN/NS MRR (don't get me wrong, if I see something I like, I'll probably buy it anyway.... oh, look, shiny!)

Had some old gondolas of various fallen flags which are a very close match to a couple of NS series cars, so they'll get stripped and get new decals.

With a resale value of close to nothing (not worth the time listing them for sale) and because they run OK, and because I've already weighted the boxcars to NMRA standards, I decided to make up some decals.

What could possibly go wrong?

I loved the old Atlas 41665 hopper for ECC but couldn't find any others.

So, this was a slow dawning, not a flash of insight. For weeks I'd go searching for Sandersville rolling stock and decals, and watch videos of rolling stock around SAN and found there wasn't much in n scale on the market. Then I remembered I'd got some decals made up locally a few years back, for some wargames figures.

Researching the ECC leased hoppers using RRPictures turned up a different paint scheme for the hoppers, to the one Atlas made. Also, using the photos, even though ECC is gone and the cars have been roughly painted over, I realised there were quite a few cars leased to and painted for ECC.

I went for it and didn't stop at the old SAN boxcars. 

I made decals for ECC hoppers and ordered the same model so that 41665 won't feel so lonely on the track. I made up some RBOX stencils and some more recent paint schemes for a run of random hoppers purchased recently.

Using RRPictures again turned up some recent paint schemes for the random hoppers I 've just bought.

What I didn't account for was the hours and hours of measuring, remeasuring, studying the prototype, and remeasuring again. And the fudging of different fonts that has had to happen because I don't have the right railroad fonts.

For the cars I already had, I was able to better gauge the dimensions of certain lettering. Some cars I just couldn't get a clear view of what the lettering said and I have had to fudge this too.

Speaking of fudging, the 'D' on the Sandersville boxcars had a square stencil in the middle, so I had to decide on the paint colour for the cars (Tamiya Dull Red) and use the swatch from the Internet of this colour to 'stencil' out the 'D'.  Also, I couldn't make half a circle as per the ECC globe so have gone with a full circle that will have to be cut out during decaling.

Various RBOX stenciling I could find from photos.

The other thing that became apparent while researching the photos and car models, was that the Lifelike cars weren't to any particular prototype model, so accuracy was never going to be a thing. The same could be said for the Atlas hopper, as its not the hopper model leased by ECC.

I guess 'close enough' is good enough for me. If this works, I'll have strings of custom rolling stock for the Sandersville MRR. If it doesn't, I'll just redo the measurements and try again.

And with nearly a full A4 page of decals, they've been sent to the printer. He requires SVG files that Inkscape can produce and will then take my stuff and redo it so it prints properly - including the white.

In the meantime, I've stripped the rolling stock using Isopropyl Alcohol at 91% IA/9% water, with good results - after 45 minutes, most of the paint just came right off and leaving some overnight for the more stubborn paint, did no damage to the plastics whatsoever.

A couple of the cars after stripping.

I guess, watch this space...

Atlas Master: Kaolin Tank Cars

N scale Kaolin Tank Cars from the Atlas Master Range.

After getting back into the Sandersville/Tennile MRR recently, the realisation came crashing down that I only had three pieces of rolling stock for the Sandersville industries I intended to model (some older Atlas, 4 - bay hoppers in ECC livery). Having sold some music gear recently, I decided to do a round of rolling stock purchasing using the proceeds.

My period is circa 1996(ish), when I first read about the SAN RR, to the present(ish). That's as accurate(ish) as I get and my approach to keeping to the 'mostly prototypical' aspect of my MRR is to allow for rolling stock and locos across this period. But really, if its a kaolin car of some description, it'll probably make on to the MRR.

But there's been a lot of change even during this period. Kaolin companies have been merged and sold off, old businesses have stopped being serviced by SAN and new ones have replaced them.

Recent Releases: a trio of SHPX - nice and industrial looking

I always envisioned long strings of white and black kaolin tank cars in the yards and kaolin plants on the MRR and found Atlas had just released a refreshed range of their Masters tank cars with suitably 'industrial' liveries (i.e. leasing companies in mostly white and black).

Recent Releases: can't get more industrial looking than ACFX

So, I ordered a few... well more than a few... from Atlas USA and they arrived promptly within a few weeks.

Recent Releases: Thiele tank cars for the intended Thiele plant, with Sandersville on them (bonus!)

These things are excellent. The molded detail is just amazing and the tiny, tiny, lettering is crisp and perfect on all nine of the cars I ordered.

Recent Releases: the detail is crisp and some parts are fairly delicate (so detailed my camera grains-up when getting close).

Recent Releases: the lettering is insanely crisp and clear. The lettering on the left is .42mm high. The lettering on the right is even smaller and just as crisp.

As for the weight, I didn't realise the cars came weighted and had spent hours on Mr Google trying to figure out how to weight N scale tank cars without destroying them in the process. Now I find that they are weighted and slightly heavier than NMRA standards (most of mine were between 1.1 and 1.2 oz.) 

This is good thing, for me, as I hate railcar wobble. There is nothing that breaks my suspension of belief on a model railroad more than seeing cars wobble over points or uneven track.

Set up correctly, these tank cars will not be prone to wobbling or derailing when under the push - their weight makes them as heavy as most of the 50' boxcars and hoppers I've weighted to NMRA standards.

Out of the box, all ran oh-so-smoothly.

I know people have their favourite manufacturers and there is often debate on FB and forums about which is best, but I'm just happy to have received excellent rolling stock from Atlas that is truly ready-to-run.

Older Releases: GK tank cars will be right at home on the Sandersville MRR

But, after ordering new, I did some eBay searching to try and find some older kaolin tank cars and found a couple of 'runner packs' made up by Costa's Train Connection. I got excellent service from this vendor as there was an eBay glitch with a payment and he was patient and understanding - highly recommended.

Older Releases: Today, ECC is long gone but their leased cars will still make a welcome addition, as will the older SHPX car.

Today I received my assortment of older Atlas tanks cars. The lettering and detail is just as good on these older models, and there were various couplers including Rapidos and Accumates.

Older Releases: Not sure if Engelhard or Fairport cars ever make it to Sandersville, but they're kaolin tank cars which is good enough for me, as is the additional Thiele car.

Anyhoo, as 'operations' on this MRR revolve around semi-permanent consists of 3 - 4 cars, this is great progress for making SAN MRR look like SAN RR and is pretty much my planned fleet of tank cars done. Loving this hobby!