Engine Upgrades

I've never been real happy with the look of my Bachmann Porter 0-4-0, which came painted and lettered for Pennsylvania. Nothing against the Pennsy, but the bright red window sash and gold plated bell and other trim just didn't look right for a little industrial engine like this.

But a little paint, some decals, a a couple other things and this went from my least favorite engine to ... if not my favorite, at least a respectable-looking member of the family:

I don't think I ever took a picture of this engine in factory-new condition; I think I stripped the lettering immediately. Here's a stock photo from Bachmann:

And here it is, sans lettering:

In a lull in activity after finishing the trestle, I got a wild hair, popped off the cab and removed the window glazing, and painted those red window sashes brown. Looks better already. 

If it's not too cold tomorrow, I may fire up the airbrush and hit the cab sides with some gloss black so I can apply decal lettering. Then it'll get an overall coat of clear flat, followed by a light misting of dilute grimy black and some light dirt on the frame and running gear.

While I'm at it, I should also put initials and numbers on my other Porters. I expect they will all be the same, with probably 1/8 inch Railroad Roman numbers on the cab and the initials "L&SE" on the side of the saddle tank in smaller letters. I have white decal alphabets in appropriate sizes for Number 1 and Number 6, but Number 18 is going to look best with gold lettering, which I will have to order. After lettering, they'll all get a light weathering spray.

Some time back I bought a 3D printed whaleback tender from Cumberland Shops. I've never done anything with it, but I think it might look pretty darn good with the weathered and lettered locomotive. So I may look at ordering some parts for that. At the same time, I may look for some other detail parts for the engine, including a nicer bell and whistle.

12/23/24: I sprayed the cab side with gloss black. I'll give that at least a day to dry, then decal. I also brush-painted the bell hanger with black, leaving the bell itself gold. It's too shiny, but I'll be giving the locomotive a coat of flat finish and a light weathering spray of dilute grimy black, so that will kill the shine.

12/24/24: Here it is with decals added. The 6 on the cab side looks a little funky, the way it wraps over the horizontal bar. I'll probably try to fix it, maybe by placing a smaller number on the upper recessed panel. But I'm also thinking now about substituting a different cab. 

I painted over the number (1) on the front number plate, but now I'm thinking it might look better black instead of red. Either way, when I get those gold decals, I'll add the number 6.

12/25/24: Fixed the wonky number on this side (the other one's not so bad), painted the center of the number plate black, and added a bell cord made from a strand of copper wire.

12/26/24: Today I applied a coat of clear flat, a light overall spray of dilute Badger Grimy Black, and a light dusting of Badger Earth along the running gear. One advantage of this treatment is that the locomotive doesn't become a black hole in photos. The picture below is lit with a photoflood about four feet above and to the right, basically the same lighting as the shot above. In less intense light, it looks more black but details still don't get lost.

So this one is done at least for now. I have gold decals on order to add a number on the front number plate, and after New Year's I'll be ordering some detail parts for the whaleback tender, and maybe a couple of goodies for the locomotive.

I also added initials to the side of Number 1, followed by a clear flat spray. It previously got the weathering treatment.