So where do you get decals?

[SpaceMouse]

I ended up buying a lot of unmarked freight cars because I could not find any with the SP markings. I can figure out the painting, but where do I get the decals to add the lettering?

I saw a decal kit in Walthers that you can design your decals then print them on decal material. Anyone use this technique?

[ClinchValleySD40]

For SP decals? Check Mircoscale. Google search the name.

[SpaceMouse]

Thanks,

They only go back as far as the 1930's for small Steam Engines, but...After I get my engine, I'll check the fonts. Might be you can't tell 1880 from 1930.

[Anonymous]

You might also check Champ Decals, the owner died but they have enogh decals to fill orders for three years.

Here is another sight to search for many different makers of decals http://www.greatdecals.com/

Rick

[Anonymous]

The Southern Pacific Company wasn't created until 1884, so you are going back to the very earliest period of SP operation. Decals for that time period have always been tough to get as so few models were available and sales would probably have been slow for the decal companies. Champ and Microscale certainly are the places to look for something that will work. One package of decals from Microscale should do several cars.

Early SP lettering is somewhat ornate compared to the more standardized Harriman era lettering that prevailed from the late 1890's onward.

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by murrieta

The Southern Pacific Company wasn't created until 1884, so you are going back to the very earliest period of SP operation. Decals for that time period have always been tough to get as so few models were available and sales would probably have been slow for the decal companies. Champ and Microscale certainly are the places to look for something that will work. One package of decals from Microscale should do several cars.

Early SP lettering is somewhat ornate compared to the more standardized Harriman era lettering that prevailed from the late 1890's onward.

That explains why there are no freight cars of any kind for the SP line.

[orsonroy]

Head on over to www.greatdecals.com and start looking through their links for virtually every model RR decal manufacturer in existance. Microscale is there, as is Champ and Oddball Decals (the big three, such as it is), and there are lot of great but virtually unknown decal manufacturers as well. Probably my favorite is Art Griffith, who makes 1850-1900 decal sets for freight cars and wagons, right from period photos!

[Fergmiester]

If you check page two of my Railimage.com gallery you'll see preliminary pics of my new decals. These were created by GMCgraphics.com . The prices are good and Gary will use your graphics if you supply them. There were a few misunderstandings during the design and layout process But Gary wa really good in correcting them and making things right. I landed up with five seperate pages by the time I was finished.

Fergie

[Anonymous]

The Southern Pacific was created out of the Central Pacific. It's not quite that simple but in generalities that is what happened. The Central Pacific Railroad that was created to build a railroad from Sacramento to meet with the Union Pacific to form the first transcontinental railroad later became the Southern Pacific. Many engines and cars on the Southern Pacific were still lettered for the Central Pacific after the establishment of the SP. Having CP rolling stock and engines on the early SP would be quite appropriate.

[Jetrock]

SpaceMouse: Look for the CENTRAL PACIFIC. The CP was the company that eventually became the Southern Pacific.

*NO* freight cars lettered for SP? I suppose it's a regional thing--hobby shops tend to carry equipment lettered for railroads that ran nearby, as the folks in the neighborhood are more likely to be fans of that line. Here in Sacramento, you can get hatfuls of SP, Western Pacific, UP (since UP took over WP), with a lesser proportion of AT&SF and BN (and BNSF). But you don't find much PRR, NYC or other Eastern lines, and not that much Midwestern.

In Chicago I noticed a preponderance of Midwestern lines--CB&Q, BN, as well as SP (Chicago was the other end of SP) and UP. I *did* find some West Coast equipment in the "clearance sale" shelves at various Chicago hobbyshops--just as one tends to find East Coast or Midwest stuff in the clearance bin in California.

BUT....If you're still dead-set on modeling the northcoast mountains of California, I should remind you again that neither Southern Pacific nor Central Pacific ran there in the 1880's. Look for Northwestern Pacific.

There are decals out there for railroads that have never been offered in an off-the-shelf car. Microscale and others have vast, vast catalogs.

Oh, one final point: NOT ALL OF YOUR FREIGHT CARS ARE GOING TO BE SP!! Take a look at the next passing train--you'll see cars from many different companies. Railroads interchanged freight equipment and sometimes even passenger cars--so you don't need to have it all be from one railroad.

[DSchmitt]

Try Clover House, P.O. Box 62, Sebastopol, CA 95472

Russ has a line of dry transfers (not water slide decals) that includes many pre 1900 subjects. The biggest selection is HO scale, but there are also smome N scale and O scale.

He sells mainly direct to customers but does not have a web site.

[Jetrock]

Actually, SpaceMouse: I have a bunch of old Southern Pacific decals (admittedly, from 20th Century prototypes rather than 19th) that I am almost certainly never going to use--if you don't mind a kind-of oddball assortment of decals, I'd be happy to throw some in an envelope for you. Send me your snail-mail address via email if you'd be interested.