While I am a 3-rail Scale modeler, I still have an appreciation for tinplate, and restoring a tinplate train was on my bucket list. But my interest in the Milwaukee Road pulled on me a bit, and I decided to do a repaint in Hiawatha colors. A lot of my inspiration was Steve Vasche's custom tinplate Hiawatha work train that was pictured on the back cover of the July 2015 Train Collectors Quarterly. Steve did a Maroon, Orange, and Grey scheme, but I chose a brighter Maroon and Orange.
This was my first adventure in tinplate restoration, so I read a number of print and web articles and viewed some YouTube videos. The donor for the project was a 1932 Lionel 259 with a 259T tender that I picked up at Allentown. I really like this little engine because it has brass, copper and chrome. It was rusted and beat up, so I did not feel bad about repainting it. The only missing part was the smokestack. I was able to get a repro part at the Allentown show.
After mostly careful disassembly (I broke the coupler removing it), I stripped the paint by spraying with Easy Off oven cleaner and placing the parts in a zip lock bag for 10 hours. While I was waiting, I replaced all of the wiring and cleaned and lubed the motor.
After a second application of Easy Off and a little work with steel wool, it was clean. I tool a little time to straighten bent pieces and fix dents.
Brass, copper, and chrome pieces were polished with a Dremel, felt wheel, and polishing compound.
I was able to polish the Lionel Lines plates without removing the paint with a lighter touch with the Dremel. The steam and sand domes were pretty badly dented. I rounded the end of a 3/8" dowel and pounded them out on an anvil. While polishing the handrails, one of the little clips went flying into the oblivion, never to be found. I checked with several parts dealers, and no one had these. I ended up making a replacement out of a piece of sheet brass.
I primed the parts with Rustoleum Grey Auto Primer and baked them in my home-made oven for 30 minutes. Yes, that is a cardboard box, aluminum foil and two 60 watt light bulbs. Not being sure that this is fire-safe, I set a timer and did not walk away from my oven!
This was followed by 2 coats of paint. I used Charles Wood Train Enamel Maroon, and Rustoleum American Accents Gloss Real Orange, baking in the oven after each coat. Wheel spokes were brush painted with the maroon. I let the paint harden for a week then did the final assembly.
I still need a replacement coupler and plan to apply a Rustoleum enamel clear coat. It was a long, but fun project.
Bob Glorioso
