Model Railroading > Two Cars That Have No Business On My Layout.

These two cars shouldn't be on the layout from a purest standpoint. I tend to model 1990-1996 and both cars sandwiched that era, one by a long ways, but here we are because I like them both. The Golden West Genesis PC&F, is patched and faded to far along to fit my period, but at least hasn't received conspicuality stripping yet so it's not to far out.

The GN glacier green Moloco combo door box is waaay out of place with its roof walks and high mount brake wheel but was an impulse buy simply because I liked it. Oh well. What are you going to do. Weather them of course and stick them on the layout. I run a museum aspect anyway so can get away with older stuff to some degree. Both cars have great detail, the Moloco car knocked it out of the park. 

Both cars received Tamaya flat clear followed by powder, airbrush and pencil treatment in the weathering shop.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/26 14:59 by ChrisCampi.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/26 13:54 by ChrisCampi.

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I like the weathering. Sounds like you put the weatheing on after you paint on the clear flat. Do you put a protective clear flat over the weathering too?

Victor Baird

ChrisCampi Wrote:
>
> Both cars received Tamara flat clear followed by
> powder, airbrush and pencil treatment in the
> weathering shop.

i couldn't resist those Moloco GN box cars but I stick to caboose era so nothing really beyond the mid-1980's

GN and not NP?

march_hare Wrote:
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> GN and not NP?

Thanks. Brain fart, corrected,

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> I like the weathering. Sounds like you put the
> weatheing on after you paint on the clear flat. Do
> you put a protective clear flat over the
> weathering too?
>
> Victor Baird
>
> ChrisCampi Wrote:
> >
> > Both cars received Tamara flat clear followed
> by
> > powder, airbrush and pencil treatment in the
> > weathering shop.

I like to spray the flat clear or dull coat first although sometimes I use panel liner first as it runs better. For me the flat clear really tones down the car and gives a bit of fade that I find easier to work with as a starting point. I seldom spray as a finish coat as the weathering powders stick pretty well especially when rubbed into the flat clear. Not the only way to do it but one I'm comfortable with.

I saw a GN Glacier Green boxcar around 1999, but wasn't in a position to get a photo. Granted it was a 60' Hi-Cube boxcar. But the Big Sky Blue boxcars lasted well into the 2000's. I even caught a BSB woodchip gon and two boxcars all together on a train in 2001. It was surprising how long some of the pre-BN cars lasted into the BNSF era. You can see the end of the other GN car at far left in the image below.
BN purged a lot of it's older 50' boxcars in the mid-80's when it was able to purchase fleets of the Per Diem boxcars built in the 70's on the cheap due to a major downturn in the lumber market. That is when many of the 50's and early 60's built cars went away, some fell into MOW service.
The Golden West Service car is a bit more of a stretch. Most of the those were refurbished in the 1991-1993 timeframe, so they would still be decent by 1996. They didn't get patched back to the original owners until 2001-2003, when the original Gunderson-SP agreement spelled out that  A light amount of weathering on the GWS equipment is all that is needed. 

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/26 07:26 by funnelfan.

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Thanks Chris.

Victor Baird

We all probably have something that doesn't fit our era Chris, part of what makes our hobby fun.

Nathan

Extremely nice weathering!
I love the Golden West box car scheme and have several, yours looks fantastic!

....would love to see the Kadee trip pins cut off though....I finally cut all mine and I like the way the couplers look now without....