Another DSP&P Litchfield Boxcar question; painted roof?

[jason midyette]

So as not to clutter the other thread on DSP&P 608, I will pose this question in this nice, shiny, new thread;

Were the roofs of the early DSP&P boxcars painted or left as bare wood?

Paint would seem to make sense as a way to help the roof boards last longer, though in some photos (such as the one in the earlier thread that shows the roofs of DSP&P 608 and the CC car on the ground in Sunset) the roof of the cars seems to be a different tone than the bodies. Intentionally bare wood? Different color paint? Bare wood due to years of neglect?


Thanks


Jason Midyette

[Dave Eggleston]

Roofs were painted almost universally by this time, and generally the same color as the sides and underframe. Paint is there to protect, so the structure would be painted. The roofwalks, that's a different thing. They were beaten to heck and easy to replace and paint was less important and possibly dangerous in terms of slips, though paint mixed with sand did get used for these on some railroads I believe.

All the cars on the ground at Sunset had seen tough service and neglect at high altitude for over a decade, all being somewhere around 15 years old by 1894. The UP was broke or close to it and the narrow gauges were being starved and neglected, especially the GSL&P. The ravages of freshets, snow, strong UV light at that altitude and just pure neglect, and paint that was hand-mixed, all contributed to a product that degenerated quicker than paints today. The roof paints fades more quickly than other parts of the body.

[Jeff Ramsey]

You know Jason when the UP renumbered its fleet in 1885 or shortly there after they added side grab irons and Westinghouse automatic air brakes, I think they the installed wider and thicker roof walks. Compare the roof walks in the photos below. Notice the roof walk of the Litchfield boxcar at Buena Vista in 1880 is narrower than of 24152 at sunset.

 


 
Obviously there are thirteen supports for the roof walk, 2 feet apart





Looks to me that the roof walk is also very thin, like 1" and does not extend past the roof edge.

[Robert McFarland]

I wish that Leadville Shops would produce a complete kit of 608 in On3 including the unique car siding it has and also the additional hardware for the Eames brake.I think that there are enough of us around that are interested in this car that it would be worth it.Maybe in Sn3 and HOn3 too.

[Robert McFarland]

Was it Simpson that produced a kit for this car? I seem to remember a photo of one that ran on George Sabastian-Coleman's layout.

[Lee Gustafson]

Was it possible that Coronado Scale Models, Stan &Sheldon Schwedler produced that kit?

Lee Gustafson