Thanks Larry.
I was fooled on the first car I did awhile back thinking I just needed to add some stain. The Lionel wood deck
has some continuous patterns with grain that runs every which way. Unfortunately the grain doesn’t run straight across each single plank like real boards but over many other areas in any direction. Not as simple as just staining.
The Balsa wood (?) doesn’t accept or highlight stain evenly like pine or oak would do. So I attempted a new option this time.
Going over each groove with a sharp black pencil 
and a wood block guide also helps define the lines for the cross pattern.
S.
