Renumbering diesel engines and freight cars

[Anonymous]

Hey guys and gals,

Anyone have any suggestions for sources (web or otherwise) on how to do this? I have a huge fleet of same numbered engines in many different roads, and the same problem with freight cars. I have given each a unique weathered feel, now I am going for the unique individual status-changing car numbers and diesel engine numbers.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

-Wolv33

[dknelson]

MR has something on this at least once a year. Be wary of paint removers -- they take away too much. Someone suggested Pine Sol which has a mild solvent in it. I find it hard to remove JUST the lettering without also taking away the paint underneath.

[Anonymous]

I use the point of an x acto knife to remove numbers and letters on my duplicates. It takes some time but mt

[Anonymous]

I use the point of an x acto knife to remove numbers and letters on my duplicates. It takes some time but mt

[Anonymous]

I recall an MR article recommending the cleaner "Fantastik" (I think that's how its spelled). Bathing the locomotive shell in the solution supposedly softend the lettering but didn't harm the paint job underneath.
Ralph

[Anonymous]

A lot depends on the underlying surface. A little bit of Comet cleanser, a toothpick, and a little piece of moist paper towel will work. Gently scrub the numbers with the point of the toothpick (enclosed in the moist paper towel with some cleanser on it). Hope it makes sense. Several strings of Athearn cars have had numbers successfully removed without hurting the underlying paint. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

There was an article on this in the April 2001 MR, under the "Workin' on the Railroad" column. You might be able to find back issues at a hobby shop, used book store, or the shopping section of this site.

[Anonymous]

Wolverine,

Long time ...

I just scratch one number off with an Xacto and use a dry transfer to replace it. I do this infrequently when I like a certain car but there is only one produced. For example, I like RF&P which can be hard to find. So I buy two or three and renumber them as necessary. If you just change the last digit you don't run much risk of giving the car an illegal number. Sure don't want the RR Model Police breaking in your door. - Ed

[Anonymous]

Hey Ed,

Yes, long time....

My only problem with that is do you guys know how hard it is to find a matching BN cascade green paint??? Very! And, even if I had the correct matching paint for the road, not all diesels are painted in the same shade and some are weathered. My greatest problem with taking off numbers is having to redo the paint where the numbers were.

I just wish Athearn and every other company for that matter, would include decals with all cars and engines, print the Railroad's herald or scheme on the actual car, and leave the car's number and data for us to put on. Or, at the very least, leave the engine or car's number to be put on by the model assembler (us).

That would solve the problem of getting duplicate cars and engines and having to re-paint or re-number each one. The only down side to that though, would be HOW MANY companies would actually keep numbers accurate? I mean, if there never was an SD45 with the number 4219 on it, why have a decal for it? Right??

My main problem is getting the numbers off without taking the paint off. I have ATSF Blue and Yellow schemed, and green BN units that I need to fix numbers on. On cars, I have multitudes of many many roads, but I can live with adding a number or taking one off and replacing a number to keep each car unique.

Thanks for all the advice and techniques so far guys!

-Wolv33