Thoughts On Weathering Basic Gondolas

 Exactrail turned out some shorter 42'-6" gondolas with corrugated sides a few years back, These are faithful models of the Southern Pacific G-100-7 class, 900 were built by Gunderson starting in March of 1965. In or around 1984, SP started a rebuilding program on these cars, they became class G-100-7R, and many saw service into the 1990's.

 Of course, unless one is modeling a car fresh from the paint shop, a little grunge is in order. Gondolas are not immune to a filthy rusty lifestyle as they get all sorts of loads. Just using dusty shades of weathering powders add depth and thus realism to such equipment. Any model will benefit from such treatment, the plainer models most of all. Below is an as built G-100-7 from Exactrail in HO Scale. This model features some judicious applications of flat coat, weathering powders and pastels. This leads to a subtle 'used' look without things looking like they need an overhaul.

The same model type shown below, less the placards, demonstrates painting circa 1984, it's the G-100-7R class. They were assigned a different number class of SP 800000 after rebuilding. There is little to go on, but images taken in the early 1970's have no placards showing, so I doubt many had that feature by that time. Any info on this group of cars is most welcome. Reply below if you have anything worth sharing; that's how the hobby grows.

Gondolas are an incredibly versatile freight hauler; lumber of all types, scrap metal, rocks, canisters, rolls of wire fencing, pipe, large machine parts, coiled steel rolls, copper ingots; basically any commodity can ride in a gondola.

I'd be surprised to find any common carrier railroad that did not use gondolas in regular service. Here is another sample of a model made by Mark Ala, its from his favorite road, the Rio Grande.

The interior has been weathered along with the exterior, which makes for a good look, also the load is low enough to show off the work that has been done. Compare Mark's model to a photo of the same class car on the prototype, pretty decent I think. Subtle weathering is best.

I hope this tiny bit of rambling train chat was of some use to the readers. It's good to talk trains. It's also good to share them with our fellow modelers. So why not share on here as well? Just a thought.

Thanks for reading this far, write back if the mood strikes. Most of all, Enjoy Your Trains!

Best Wishes,

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR