Accurate late 1940s to early 50s road markings

[jwbrock]

So I'm trying to model a town (WIP) for my model railroad and I'm at the point I was trying to paint road lines. My "asphalt" is just craft foam from Michael's - cheap but I thought it looked decent enough. At any rate, I started trying to draw road lines with a white marker and a ruler and quickly realized I don't really know what I'm doing - irregular line thickness, spacing, etc - and I'm not really certain the lines are painted as they should be for the era. I was trying to go roughly based on a video I saw here -

. But I feel like they look pretty bad.

Question for those who have modeled roads, especially this era - How bad does it look? Can it be fixed or should I just pull the foam up and start over? Is there a better method (preferably that won't break the bank). Any guide or idea how I should be painting the lines based on this era? Is there a better method for painting consistent lines? Thanks for any insight in advance.

 

[Jim 68cuda]

I think your lines look fine. If you hadn't mentioned your specific dislikes, I wouldn't have noticed any irregularities.

But, if you aren't happy with the results, you could try the pre-cut self adhesive HO scale white stripes from Highways and Byways.

HO Scale White Road Stripes

Only Highways and Byways has more Road Stripes per sheet than other similar products available. These Road Stripes are cut to scale; short stripes for broken road stripes, long stripes for solid ce…

highwaysnbyways.net

I've used their yellow and white stripes, as well as "enter" and "exit" and RR crossing markings on several different surfaces.

In the photo below, Highways and Byways white markings are used for the parking lot in the foreground made from gray foam sheets from Hobby Lobby ( probably the same stuff you used). The road in this photo is Walthers Street System and also uses the Highways and Byways markings as does the pinewood sheet used for the car dealer parking lot across the street.

Another option for streets and parking lots are plastic "For Sale" or "Keep Off The Grass" signs from Lowes or Home Depot. Thats what I used for parking lots for a motel and for a drive in. I spray painted the blank side of the sign with light gray spray paint and then applied the markings from Highways and Byways. Again, the road in this photo is the plastic Walthers Street System, painted gray and it also uses the Highways and Byways markings. All these markings have been in place for years and have not peeled up.

This bank parking lot is made from a painted sheet of clear plexiglas and also features markings from Highways and Byways.

I used yellow Highways and Byways markings for the thin styrofoam sheet parking lot for this car dealer and body shop. RR Crossing markings from Highways and Byways can be seen used on the street.

I used a similar but different product for the crosswalks on this old part of my layout. I'm including the photo because it illustrates another suitable material for roads and parking lots. In this case, its illustration board from Hobby Lobby. Its rigid, but can form gentle slopes as seen here. Sidewalks on the left side are plastic sidewalks from Smalltown USA sitting on top of the painted illustration board. Sidewalks on the right corner are from the walthers Street System and butt up to the edge of the Illustration board. Sidewalks on the curve at the top of the hill are separate pieces of illustration board, painted and scored to match.

 

[trailrider]

Great-looking parking lot! Must be newly paved and striped.

 

[Marlin39]

I made a stencil using a 3x5 card, then used a sponge to dab the paint on. I didn't want "new", but rather a well defined worn & weathered look.

 

[santafewillie]

I use the road markings from Highways and Byways as well, on some of my roads. Good products. An observation based on my own experience. Normally around here, the center stripes do not extend across pedestrian crosswalks. It may be different in your part of the world and I see that they do in the video. It may just be the era and the striping practices at the time.

 

[jwbrock]

I use the road markings from Highways and Byways as well, on some of my roads. Good products. An observation based on my own experience. Normally around here, the center stripes do not extend across pedestrian crosswalks. It may be different in your part of the world and I see that they do in the video. It may just be the era and the striping practices at the time.

Yes, I found that odd too. I'm actually from the SE United States, but when I started doing reading and looking back on videos from the 40s and 50s I found out a lot was different from what I'm used to, lol. Yellow lines weren't common, especially in rural areas. Stop Signs were often black on yellow during this period, at least from what I'm reading. I have found conflicting information on how the lines were painted back then - single solid white lines, single dotted white line, double white line with patterns like we're used to now - conflicting information. Maybe part of the answer is that there was no unified standard yet, and paint was more expensive after WW2. I don't know anyone who lived back then that I can ask, so I'm just trying to figure it out based on what I'm reading online, archive footage, and what others have done. I'd like it to be as historically accurate as possible, but we'll see. I'm basing the layout around my Norfolk & Western J Class engine, so its become a bit of a research project as well.

 

[logandsawman]

Yes, I found that odd too. I'm actually from the SE United States, but when I started doing reading and looking back on videos from the 40s and 50s I found out a lot was different from what I'm used to, lol. Yellow lines weren't common, especially in rural areas. Stop Signs were often black on yellow during this period, at least from what I'm reading. I have found conflicting information on how the lines were painted back then - single solid white lines, single dotted white line, double white line with patterns like we're used to now - conflicting information. Maybe part of the answer is that there was no unified standard yet, and paint was more expensive after WW2. I don't know anyone who lived back then that I can ask, so I'm just trying to figure it out based on what I'm reading online, archive footage, and what others have done. I'd like it to be as historically accurate as possible, but we'll see. I'm basing the layout around my Norfolk & Western J Class engine, so its become a bit of a research project as well.

As a child (1960's) the color configuration here in MN was different, at some point in time I think they went to a federal standard.

Used to be Yellow (changed to white) fog lines and white (changed to yellow) no passing stripes.

 

[Jim 68cuda]

This might help. 1947 movie, "The Flame" on Youtube. Four minutes in, theres a city street scene with a police car pulling over a convertible. Its black and white movie, but we already know the road markings are white. In this scene, its clear that there is a single white line down the middle of the road, which stops at intersections. There are no other road markings, not even cross walks.

Then again, this video of driving through Washington DC in the late 30's or early 40's shows minimal road markings on some streets. Cross walks only at the widest and busiest of intersection. Center lines in some places. Solid lines between lanes on bridges, but no where else except at some intersections. Some of the road markings are a bit confusing like the lines on curves with arrows at each end.

 

[Iron Horseman]

Question for those who have modeled roads, especially this era - How bad does it look? Can it be fixed or should I just pull the foam up and start over? Is there a better method (preferably that won't break the bank). Any guide or idea how I should be painting the lines based on this era? Is there a better method for painting consistent lines? Thanks for any insight in advance.

I think they look good. Yellow lines were not commonly used until 1971.

The Uniform Traffic Code and later the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices contains the rules for the eras. Yours looks early 1940s so you would have to find the code from that time.