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I grew up in the Los Angeles area and saw long strings of black single dome tank cars pulled by the Southern Pacific or Pacific Electric Railroads. Always liked the look of these trains. Well, going through old Lionel stuff to sell I was amazed how many old 40's Sunoco #2555 type tankers I had. They are about scale sized but most were in terrible shape. They tend to rust badly. I knew I couldn't sell them for much so decided to do a little refurbishing. First I stripped the tanks down to metal. Then a coat of flat black paint was air brushed on. After that dried I air brushing of high gloss finish where the decals were to be placed. That's for the decals to sit snuggly on the car. When that dries a little Micro Sol is brushed on and then the decals are slipped in place. As the decals dry I lightly brush more Micro Sol on top of the decals. This makes them lay flat and snug onto any rivets or uneven areas. You will have to do this step a number of times. If any bubbles are notices at this point, take a needle and poke a small hole in the decal where the bubble is. Then more Micro Sol to get under the decal. Let everything dry a day or two. I rinse the tank body off in cool water at this point to clean any residue of Micro Sol. Let dry. Next air brush a flat finish over the tank. After it's completely you can reassemble the car. It's an easy and fun project and a way to save a really nice old Lionel car. DonDSC_2673DSC_2675DSC_2680

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I'm not sure enough of this is done.. Plenty of U-tube videos on weathering, not sure of restoration.. I'm in the process of restoring (?) "beaters" with the idea of creating Woodson RR cars.. My screen name is Woodson, my Mother's maiden name.. Any of you Virginia folks are probably familiar with Woodson name.. My ancestors came to Jamestown in 1619.. The theme of my new layout is the transition era of N&W, Virginian, Southern etc.. Since N&W was the last Class 1 RR to convert to Diesel.. I have a lot of 'poetic license'.. Obviously, I have cars and sets that are special to me and I wouldn't touch them.. Sorry for the ramble, just my $.02.. BTW, I am distant cousins with Frank and Jesse Woodson James..

Clarence Siman posted:

Very nice indeed. I am trying to put together a WW2 Army troop/supply train. My question is, would this and other single dome early postwar tank cars be acceptable? Thanks.

These 8000 gallon tank cars were ubiquitous for much of the 20th century, and (at least the welded versions) could be found even into the 1980's. Early ones go back to the early part of the 20th century, so if prototypical operation is a consideration, that's no problem.

Incidentally, Lionel's 8000 gal. tank cars are scale size, for those operating scale trains, but of course work nicely for traditional-sized trains as well.

I have restored a bunch of these to represent all of Lionel's metal tanks. Its one of the few cars you can actually restore to original appearance (assuming you don't have a pad printer) since the original use decals for lettering. You can turn any of them into any other variation simply by adding or subtracting details like warning placards, trucks, and corner steps. example a 6555 into and a more desirable 2755 or 2855.

Pete

Last edited by Norton
colorado hirailer posted:

Since these are described above as "scale size", I need several, and the UTLX and GATX decals for black tankers.  Odd that these "plain" but ubiquitous cars aren't currently produced, while flamboyant livery that narrows their market is.

See, it's happening already, an increase in demand. So much for the under the table bins now!   So very true, if you can find the decals or make them yourself, the possibilities are endless. Well sort of.

Mike

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