I'm working on restoring a set of 2440 and 2441 passenger cars. I have one 2440 with good quality stamping - I can't tell if it is rubber stamped or heat stamped. Any good way of knowing for sure? My guess is heat stamped since I can feel texture as I run my finger across the lettering.
I have 2 others (2440 & 2441) have a sticker on them for Pullman and Observation and nothing for numbers. I'm pretty sure one of them is heat stamped as I can see the lettering indented in the car. So here is the big question - if I restored as original - I'd use heat stamping. No idea how to even begin that. Rubber stamping would be the next best I would guess. Stickers would be the last resort. I have to believe there is a big trade off with cost between the three options - which is likely why there are stickers on my two recent acquisitions. What are the pro and cons of each option and what do people typically do? Where do I get the materials to do the stamping - specifically for my 2440 and 2441 - and in general?
Any and all help is greatly appreciated!
John
The 1946 cars were rubber stamped, whereas tne 1947 cars were heat stamped. You probably have a mix of both years. The tooling for heat stamps isn't available for the common person to replicate. Heat stamping was only done at the factory. That leaves you only the rubber stamp option. Of course there is another option of find the correct "font" & type size in "Dry Tranfers". (Woodland Scenics), and do that. Either available option is very tricky to get them Done straigh. Good luck.
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