I am seeing many references to aluminum leaf as having been used for tender and cab lettering on steam locomotives before WWII. How was the aluminum leaf applied to the side of the loco. to create the letters and numbers? Were the letters already cut out of the leaf prior to application, or was it done some other way?

Has anyone done any true aluminum leaf lettering on tenders recently?

Hi Rick,

I did the aluminum leaf lettering on a Climax logging locomotive. Leaf is extremely thin an will blow away in the gentlest of breezes. What you do is create a pounce pattern of the lettering on paper to the size needed. Lay this onto the area where you want the lettering and then dad with the pounce bag till he little dots of pounce show up on the surface to be lettered. Then remove the template carefully to not disturb the pounce. Now you carefully paint sizing onto the surface using the pounce pattern as a guide. allow the sizing to dry until almost dry then the fun begins. Leaf usually comes in a book sandwiched between layer of tissue paper. Carefully tear out a page of the book with one layer of leaf and one layer of tissue. Turn this over carefully leaf side towards the tender and gently press into the sizing using a brush or cotton ball to rub against the tissue paper. peel away the tissue paper and repeat till all the sizing is covered. Now you can carefully rub with a brush or cotton ball th leaf to remove excess exposing the newly leafed letter or number. Once you have leafed all the lettering you need to coat the leaf with a clear coat or it will scratch very easily.

Thanks Chris. Now it makes sense.

Sounds similar to how I understand gold leaf is done.

Traditional "Leafing" is still used to decorate modern Fire Apparatus. Not as much as in the past but we still have requests for it and still employ artisans who can apply it. Gold, Silver, and Aluminum leaf are all the same process.

We had an order last year that the Lettering and Emblems were a mix of all 3 materials. Beautiful work but very, very expensive...

We even do a encapsulated leaf product which is actual gold-leaf applied to a vinyl material and then overlaid and sealed with another layer before it's applied to the apparatus.

Tim W.

Someone made the comment about over coating the leaf with clear coat, and for aluminum, it is likely a good idea, since the al will quickly dull and corrode. But I've seen advice both ways on gold leaf. Gold is so stable that the varnish coating will oxidize and dull before the gold will, and I've read that the gold will stay bright longer if left uncoated. The edges of the leaf still have to be sealed, to keep the sizing (also typically varnish) from deteriorating and letting go of the leaf. This is the purpose of the traditional 1/8" black pinstripe run half on and half off the leaf.

Check out my friend Peter Achorn's web site.
Peter did the gold leaf lettering on a 3/4" scale live steam Atlantic for me and it is beautiful! Mostly he does fire equipment...but he will do decorations on anything. Even a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ.
Keith

http://www.firegold.com/

I should point out your lettering job still looks mighty sharp about 20 years later.....

Since this discussion has faded, I will ask a general question: Did every American locomotive maker use Aluminum leaf lettering in the early 20th Century? Was aluminum leaf lettering the industry standard all the companies followed?

For discussion, here is a Vulcan Iron Works locomotive built in 1931 (operated today by Gramling Locomotive Works). Is that aluminum lettering, or is it impossible to tell? I also notice the striping looks darker -- why is that? Image hosted from the GLW website.

http://www.haveenginewilltravel.com/engines

It would seem to me that doing the leaf would be rather time consuming for a builder turning out a locomotive or two a day, and especially for railroads that have long names on big tenders. I have seen it mentioned enough times to make me think that it was pretty much a standard practice, but I too would like to know for sure.

Don't know if this information is useful to this discussion, but CNR specified the use of aluminum paint on the tires and running boards of passenger locomotives.

Paragraph 7 of Maintenance Regulation 76a, Painting Locomotives In Back Shops, states:

I would be very interested in knowing what clear engine finishing varnish was!

A few manufacturers sell "Non-yellowing varnish." It's what I always used on gold leaf. Although I have not tried it, automobile clear coat probably would work. I always extended the varnish about 1/8 inch beyond the edge of the leaf and the black surround if used.

A protective coating over metal leaf is an absolute necessity. Otherwise the metal leaf will come off if a brush is used in washing the vehicle. If you use patent gold rather than 24 karat gold leaf, it will tarnish when exposed to humid air.

I cheated when I did the lettering and striping on 1522. We had painted her with a US Paint catalyzed urethane. I masked off the striping with stencils in the corners of the fretwork and made stencils for the numbers/letters and put them on with double faced tape. The paint mfgr made a clear paint which you added their powder to for colors. I used their bronze gold powder in the clear and sprayed all of it. I think it turned out pretty well. Very time consuming.
Did the same thing on our aux water car and one of our support cars. The other two cars were lettered using vinyl and was a piece of cake compared to the engine.

I painted the Climax pictured above using Dupont centari paint and clear coat. I was very proud about how this paint job came out and am very pleased with how well it is lasting. When it was painted the decision was to try to simulate the effect of the original Russian iron. I came did a very un orthodox spraying method to achieve the effect that did stump some people who asked where we had found Russian iron.

I answer to your question Rick, the varnish / clearcoat depend on the effect you are trying to achieve as well as the color of the base coat that it is applied too. I once used epifanes varnish over the gold leaf and yellow paint on a 1902 streetcar. The biggest problem is over white paint. Most clear coat in the past had issues over white paint. I have not done this work in quite a while so have no experience with the newer paints out there. I would suggest you try some sample pieces to see what works best for your application.