Josey - great point about priming. Craig and Philo - what do you prime with? I stopped at an Ace, but they only had 17027 and 17028, no 17029.
I don't believe the die-cast Gilbert steamers were primed originally (not 100% sure about that, but I see no evidence). I've not found a need for priming as long as the part is really clean and dry. Using too much paint tends to obscure detail, so the thinner the finish, the better. I have never had any sort of paint failure or chipping after a repaint. It's not as though these trains are going to be exposed to harsh weather. Of course, I don't beat mine up like I might have when I was a kid, but I'm not sure I'd go to the effort of doing a restoration for something that was going to be abused by a child anyway, so ...
Also, use of the lacquer I mentioned doesn't require or benefit from "baking", as it actually "dries" unlike most enamels. I've seen restoration articles in Classic Toy Trains magazine and they do sometimes use primer. Their results (to me, anyway) come out looking like "repainted trains". Your mileage may vary.
