Should aluminum light fixtures from the streamline era have a brushed or polished finish? I'm working on some fluorescent fixtures and need to know whether I should restore a polished or brushed surface.

There were dozens of different models of light fixtures produced by Safety Car Heating and Lighting Co, and Luminator for pre-war and post-war lightweight cars. Your question is very general, but as a rule the aluminum almost always had a brushed finish. I have found the "maroon" color Scotchbrite pads work great for restoring a proper brushed finish.

The answer is a little complicated. If you have looked at a lot of those fixtures you will see that the finish was not "highly" polished...nor was it "brushed" but sort of a finish in between (polished, but not to the point iof being shiny). I have also seen some fixtures that had decorative streamlined ribs on them that were polished brighter then the surrounding fixture. Best example of this is the fixtures used to "modernize" heavyweight Pullman sleepers.

Also for some purposes the users painted the fixtures the same color as the ceilings. This happened in the heavyweight era too...study some builder's photos and you can see this.

T7

I can help a little bit. Checking on Pullman-Standard Specifications, obtained from the Illinois Railway Museum's Pullman Library, for NKP and PRR post-war sleeping cars, the spec kicked the can down the road to what is supplied by Luminator or the Electric Service Company. Maybe more information could be found in the literature of those companies.

G.F.Payne
B'more MD.

Ok, I was making sure the various scuff and brush marks in the lights I am working on were not from an overzealous cleaning staff. These are mirror lights from a Budd diner; I'm unsure of the manufacturer.

I'm thinking of polishing out any deeper scratches with a DA and polish/cutting compound to get a uniform base finish, and then finish off with long straight strokes with a maroon scotch brite pad or rotary wheel.

this may help, link with good pictures that show the finish

Parts needed for Coach-Diner GN 1146 - ERIX RailCar
http://www.erixrailcar.com › Lavatory mirror side lights
PDF
Bill of Materials p198. Need two pairs of these fluorescent mirror lights. Left-hand is ACF dwg. 3675380 – Safety Car Heating & Lighting Co. #89870. Right-hand ...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... p857V8FQxY

it looks like the company lighting division was sold to translite