We'll be working on 494's tank this winter. Repairs will include cutting out corrosion and replacing with new steel on the tank sides (right at eye level). The splicing, welding, grinding and bondoing(?) won't be hard, but my concern is the difference in appearance between the old remaining steel and the new. I think this will show up like a sore thumb when the gloss black goes on. How can I minimize this contrast? Sandblast the new to blend in with the old?

wrj494@aol.com

Take a look at POR15 ... others on this board have used it. It should act as a rust preventative and fill in the pits in the old metal.

http://www.porstore.com/
lamontdc@adelphia.net

Or you can recycle old metal with equally pitted surfaces but internal structural integrity for your replacement material.

Is there a historical imperative to try to make it look smoother than it would have if the repairs had been made to railroad standards in service?

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

I have seen the topic of tender repair come up every now and then and was wondering, after all of the repairs are made to the tank, do you coat the inside of the tank with some sort of coating to prohibit rust from the inside? Do the coatings (if used) affect water quality?

Thanks!

NFDRwy@Cox.net

> Or you can recycle old metal with equally
> pitted surfaces but internal structural
> integrity for your replacement material.

> Is there a historical imperative to try to
> make it look smoother than it would have if
> the repairs had been made to railroad
> standards in service?

> Dave

That raises a very interesting question. An in service repair to a tender of this age might have been a welded patch or more likely a riveted one. Rough and ready to say the least. Is that kind of repair preferable to one more cosmetically pleasing? Strictly speaking, the repair is a 21st century "event". Should it look like one or pretend to be an early 20th or late 19th?


wrj494@aol.com

the repair is a 21st century
> "event". Should it look like one
> or pretend to be an early 20th or late 19th?

I ask myself questions like this frequently. Never get answers that compeltely satisfy.

Is the locomotive being restored to its appearance at a specific time frame in its operating career? If so, what would the appropriate technique have been?

Would making the tender tank look like new contrast with the patina of the remaining fabric?

Are there existing repairs which could guide the technique to be used?

Just a few considerations you might want to bear in mind. C of G / W&T 223 has some old riveted patches and later shortline era welded patches on its tank. That was followed by display in Columbus, GA era rusting of great gaps between the old patches. If a restoration is ever done to this locomotive, what approach would hold water?

Dave



irondave@bellsouth.net

Lake Shore Electric #167 was involved in several mishaps during it's operating career (1915-1938).
One involved the wire coming down, grounding on the front marker light bracket burning a hole thru the body metal and flash melting the window glass. The window glass is still flashed and Lake Shore placed a metal patch over the hole fastened with wood screws. In another "kiss" the front dasher was caved in in Detroit. DUR shops handled the rebuild and replaced the original rivets with stove bolts .. the slots puttied over to look like rivets. When we replaced the dashers we also used stovebolts for a truly historic repair!

lamontdc@adelphia.net

> the repair is a 21st century

> I ask myself questions like this frequently.
> Never get answers that compeltely satisfy.

> Is the locomotive being restored to its
> appearance at a specific time frame in its
> operating career? If so, what would the
> appropriate technique have been?

> Would making the tender tank look like new
> contrast with the patina of the remaining
> fabric?

> Are there existing repairs which could guide
> the technique to be used?

> Just a few considerations you might want to
> bear in mind. C of G / W&T 223 has some
> old riveted patches and later shortline era
> welded patches on its tank. That was
> followed by display in Columbus, GA era
> rusting of great gaps between the old
> patches. If a restoration is ever done to
> this locomotive, what approach would hold
> water?

> Dave

Since 494 was totally restored to its "as built" appearance in 1939 for display at the World's Fair in New York and since our efforts are to reproduce that restoration as closely as possible, I plan to opt for the "slick" look. In some ways, the opposite approach could produce some very interesting results.


wrj494@aol.com

> We'll be working on 494's tank this winter.
> Repairs will include cutting out corrosion
> and replacing with new steel on the tank
> sides (right at eye level). The splicing,
> welding, grinding and bondoing(?) won't be
> hard, but my concern is the difference in
> appearance between the old remaining steel
> and the new. I think this will show up like
> a sore thumb when the gloss black goes on.
> How can I minimize this contrast? Sandblast
> the new to blend in with the old?
David
You said that all the repairs were at eye level. You might think about making a line at the top of the tallest repair and then finishing the steel the same from end to end.
And this is "restoration" work It should look as it did the day it rolled out of the builders shop
Dave

davewolven@msn.com