Ha! A rare Klingon reefer -- with live cargo no less!!

Best laugh in a long time. Thank you.

OK, I've read the article and watched the video, and didn't find the term "repainted" anywhere. Rather, the spokesman was discussing "reassembling" the car by replacing missing parts such as underframe components, and he specifically mentioned the car was going to a private storage location to keep it out of the weather.

Hopefully this means the car's existing paint will be conserved and kept out of the weather.

Steve Hunter

It says it twice.

"The car will need repainting and new brakes, couplings and an undercarriage. But museum volunteers were surprised to find the car, built in 1910, in such good shape."

Last line of the article:

"It's going to take time and money to make everything fit," he said. "But it will get repainted, I'm sure. It will look exactly like it did when it was in service."

Besides twice stating an intent to repaint the car in the article, he also says in the video that they will be able to make the car look like it is new. But he also says it was astounding to find the car in original paint.

My sense is that they intend to repaint the car, including the re-application of the graphics in new paint.

I think this is the essence of the concern raised in this thread. The choice of whether to make the car look like it looked when in service (new); or to preserve the aged patina that exists today. It would be interesting to ask the museum if they have considered the latter option.

Why does everything need to be reconstructed or restored?

The discussion with this car reminds me of discussion on a vintage RyPN thread on the topic of an interurban body used as a home in Michigan. In that case I suggested preserving and exhibiting the car as a house. In a similar fashion the box car under discussion presents an opportunity to exhibit as-is and tell an interesting story. Two of the cars on display at NCTM-MD are both in shabby chic condition and draw the greatest interest from our patrons.

Wesley

Washington Railway & Electric Co. 650

Aw, fer cripe's sake.

USE YOUR HEADS, folks.

Repaint the side of the car that will face the public and most visitors. Leave original the side that will face the archivist's office and the few folks that will endeavor to do chemical, biological, graphic, and historical analysis on the original material.

Next question?

Yeah, simple. SHE cuts the remaining cake in two, and HE gets first pick of the two pieces, or vice versa........ NEXT?!?

Very interesting find. My uncle worked at the Kingan plant in Storm Lake, Iowa. Kingan was absorbed by Hygrade which was absorbed by IBP which was absorbed by Tyson. (Sounds like what happened to many of our favorite railroads, doesn't it?)

Reading between the lines of the article, I sense that they intend to repaint the car while saving or reapplying all of the text graphics. I don’t think they intend to preserve the present aged patina. So, when finished, the car will look like it did when it was originally painted and lettered with the paint job that it wears today. How would a person go about preserving the graphics during a full repaint?

Incidentally, I suspect there may be another historical paint job hiding under what we see today. I recall hearing that the car was given today’s paint job in 1916, but was originally built in 1898. Assuming that the car will be stripped for repainting, maybe it would be worthwhile to uncover and document the earlier paint job(s) in the process. Since refrigerator cars were known for elaborate paint schemes, would it not be worthwhile to go after that buried treasure with this car just to preserve the history?

An exhibit about the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company's cars at the Train Collectors' Ass'n. Convention in Cherry Hill, N.J has photos showing A & P's Fernwood, Pa. warehouse under construction in Dec., 1954 and completed later with a ?erx refer inside with a large Oscar Meyer emblem on the side. A 1926 photo shows an American Refrigerator Transit Co. refer with a billboard design for A & P eggs, but that might be a stationary publicity paint job, as there is no car number on the side.

Perhaps the thing to do is wait. Don't rush into a repaint. If it is to be stored indoors, it is protected and shouldn't degrade further. Now it real and original and tells a story. As soon as you repaint it, that is lost forever. It is presentable at least, and the public will appreciate it for what it is even if a docent must explain it to them. There must be other equipment in the collection that is more in need of attention, (there always is). Consult other museums dealing with historical objects, not necessarily railroad. I suspect they will advise caution and restraint.

A museum run by professionals in conservation would never allow the original paint to be covered with "better looking, modern stuff"! Like my sister-in-law who had the maple dinner table cut up for firewood and replaced it with a nice chrome and plastic, easy to clean one, from Kmart!