It is disturbing to read that many people are getting the run around when it comes to sourcing linoleum for passenger car restorations. Linoleum is widely available through Armstrong,one of the largest suppliers of flooring materials in the world. Thier catalogue shows 5 "patterns" with over 78 individual colors available. Phone 1-877-276-7876 or on the web at www.commercial-floors.com. Commercial installed cost will range from $5.00 to $7.00 US depending on the intricacy of the work. The material can be cut into any shape or pattern and the common practice of some roads of using inlaid names in flooring can be easily duplicated.If you are working on a concrete floored car,the material can go down direct. If your car has a planked wood floor you will need plywood underlay. Todays linoleum is not as thick as the old stuff but it will last just as long. Our architectural firm has recently specified and had installed over 250,000 sq.ft. of linoleum in a hospital project and the result is truely stunning.
Another source is Forbo Resilients Inc. This is a European firm with representatives all over North America. They have similar products to Armstrong and market them under the Marmoleum brand name.Se them on the web at www.forbo-resilients.com
From looking at the colour samples of these companies and comparing them to original material in some cars at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park one should be able to match almost any car decor. In talking to the reps they are telling us that there is a resurgence of interest in the "traditional colors. In some areas you will find a resistance to linoleum as some floor layers are not familiar with the techniques required. I suggest dealing direct with the manufacturer and having him recommend a competent installer in you area. Also, the manufacturer may donate the material or sell it at his cost before the dealer mark-up is applied. You may also find a sympathetic installer as we did a few months ago for a car we just finished. He worked with a buddy for a tax receipt.
There are more of the traditional materials that were used on passenger cars that are still available today and I will try to dig up more material from our catalogue file for future postings.
I hope this helps all those working on passenger car restorations.


Armstrong
grantf@apexmail.com

> It is disturbing to read that many people
> are getting the run around when it comes to
> sourcing linoleum for passenger car
> restorations. Linoleum is widely available
> through Armstrong,one of the largest
> suppliers of flooring materials in the
> world. Thier catalogue shows 5
> "patterns" with over 78 individual
> colors available. Phone 1-877-276-7876 or on
> the web at www.commercial-floors.com.
> Commercial installed cost will range from
> $5.00 to $7.00 US depending on the intricacy
> of the work. The material can be cut into
> any shape or pattern and the common practice
> of some roads of using inlaid names in
> flooring can be easily duplicated.If you are
> working on a concrete floored car,the
> material can go down direct. If your car has
> a planked wood floor you will need plywood
> underlay. Todays linoleum is not as thick as
> the old stuff but it will last just as long.
> Our architectural firm has recently
> specified and had installed over 250,000
> sq.ft. of linoleum in a hospital project and
> the result is truely stunning.
> Another source is Forbo Resilients Inc. This
> is a European firm with representatives all
> over North America. They have similar
> products to Armstrong and market them under
> the Marmoleum brand name.Se them on the web
> at www.forbo-resilients.com
> From looking at the colour samples of these
> companies and comparing them to original
> material in some cars at the West Coast
> Railway Heritage Park one should be able to
> match almost any car decor. In talking to
> the reps they are telling us that there is a
> resurgence of interest in the
> "traditional colors. In some areas you
> will find a resistance to linoleum as some
> floor layers are not familiar with the
> techniques required. I suggest dealing
> direct with the manufacturer and having him
> recommend a competent installer in you area.
> Also, the manufacturer may donate the
> material or sell it at his cost before the
> dealer mark-up is applied. You may also find
> a sympathetic installer as we did a few
> months ago for a car we just finished. He
> worked with a buddy for a tax receipt.
> There are more of the traditional materials
> that were used on passenger cars that are
> still available today and I will try to dig
> up more material from our catalogue file for
> future postings.
> I hope this helps all those working on
> passenger car restorations.

Clarifying an item mentioned in the previous thread on linoleum, you can reach the RCA Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, makers of Transit-Flor, at 800-321-2340. Their web site is at rcarubber.com, although the Transit-Flor product line is not covered.

When installed, the stuff certainly looks allot like linoleum. The folks at RCA Rubber tell me that they've been making transit-Flor or its equivalent since 1931, and I've seen some passenger cars which appear to have a rubber flooring material instead of the linoleum. I'm not sure if it was sold under a different trade name, I've asked RCA Rubber if they have anything in their files on this, and will post same if they get back to me.

Also, on the subject of accurately matching linoleum patterns, while you may not have an original remnant that's good enough to use for guiding reproduction, the pattern books are sometimes still around. I was able to still get information from Armstrong on battleship linoleum patterns about ten years ago while doing some research for a trolley project.


Railway Preservation Resources
jsmatlak@earthlink.net

as a side note, if you do have traditional linoleum, DO NOT use ammonia to clean it. It will cause it to dry out and crack.

> It is disturbing to read that many people
> are getting the run around when it comes to
> sourcing linoleum for passenger car
> restorations. Linoleum is widely available
> through Armstrong,one of the largest
> suppliers of flooring materials in the
> world. Thier catalogue shows 5

I have heard in the past something about green cork, but never really paid attention because all of our cars are wood floor.

We recently acquired ex-El Paso Electric Railway No. 111 built in 1911 and I discovered something green and corky looking. As I recall, someone had some experience in the past dealing with a suitable replacement material for this product. Something about not being able to get the real thing because it causes lumps in lab animals and is no longer produced. Anybody got any info?

Andy Nold
tnold@bigfoot.com

tnold@bigfoot.com