cattle car wheathering help.


shawn63

tunnel rat
whats happining guys and gals? does anybody have some ideas for modaling 40 foot cattle cars I would like to make it look super weathered!! pictures would be good to see also thanks
 
When I seen this thread the first thing that came to mind, was not only the weathering aspect, but you could also include the "smell" factor...

:D
 
Actually stock cars were kept relatively clean if used in interchange service as they carried live meat for people to eat! They were normally cleaned after each delivery. The only "weathering" seen would be a whitish coating along the lower edges from lime used in the cleaning process. So it depends on what kind of stock car usage & era you're modeling.
 
thanks cajon my freind carry " cjcrescent" said the same thing white comming off the floor then some rust on the trucks and a good coating of dust and thats about it thanks for the help.:)
 
thanks cajon my freind carry " cjcrescent" said the same thing white comming off the floor then some rust on the trucks and a good coating of dust and thats about it thanks for the help.:)

Don't forget the couplers getting a good shot of rust. They NEVER looked new either! LOL
 
sounds basic but I forgot to weather any of my couplers !!!! thats what I love about these forums . thanks for taking the time cajun.:)
 
You can also look into dry brushing a gray over the paint to make it look like the paint is missing. These cars were typically steam cleaned after each use, which was hard on the paint! Soot on the roof is OK too. Shippers would refuse a dirty car...CJ was quite right!
 
Hi Shawn,
Although this scratch built std guage cattle car is a copy of a D&RGW narrow gauge car I tried to make it look somewhat weathered but I don't consider myself to be an expert about doing that and only used a regular brush in the process. Also this a 36' trussrod car so it may be a little earlier than your modeling of the 40' cars.

http://www.modelrailroadphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=4047&ppuser=3979


As some of the other guys pointed out lime was used on the inside of the side slats to prevent the cattle from chewing on the paint as I heard and it was my understanding it went up the sides about half way? Also I don't think in the earlier time period that there was any great care given to the insides of the cars other than possibly their being swept/shoveled out from time to time. That would be an interesting bit of info to look into.

I'm not sure, but would imagine in earlier times the floors would be covered with Hay and
Alfalfa to keep the cows feed on their jorney. So as Neo pointed out and I was also thinking the other day you could also model some cow flaps on the floor in with the hay on open door cars.

You'll also note that I too need to paint the trucks and wheels rusty, don't forget to even paint the backs of the wheels and axels rusty too, it just adds that much more realism.

I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to use to model cow flaps though?!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
While it may have been different in years back some of the things said I would not agree with.

Cattle would not have been fed during the trip. The feed would only add to the "waste" that the packers had to deal with. It would only enlarge the rumen and create more of a hassle when the cattle are processed. Also having feed on the floor would cause to cattle to ingest fecal matter from the other cows. The cattle would be packed in the car fairly tightly. This was (and still is with semis and trailer) done to not only increase the payload per trip but also cattle will not lay down when being hauled (typically). Therefore, decreasing the amount of space per cow makes it easier for the cow to not fall. If a bump occurs it won't move too far before finding another cow to brace it. The cow next to the side of the carrier (railcar, semi trailer, etc.) would use the side panel for bracing.

Alot of the "fairytale" scenes that many people think of, would not have happened for both $$$$ and ironically for the safety of the animals. A cow that falls and is stepped on can result in bruised meat which is not a desired product. :)


The reason for lime could be to deter chewing, but the first thing I would think of is Bio-security. While it was not called that years ago they knew that diseases could be transfered, mainly through fecal matter. Lime acts as a disinfectant and a moisture absorber. The less moisture present in the railcar the cleaner the cattle. The cleaner the cattle, the less mess at the plant.


One thing I have not seen is a wash facility for theses cars. I would imagine they would be plain looking from the outside, but you never know.
 
thanks brakeman, theres a nice looking picture if a scrathbuilt cattle car on the home page , I noticed its white looking wood , mine are tradithonal burnt orange in color . wonder if I should paint mine white ?
 
While it may have been different in years back some of the things said I would not agree with.

Cattle would not have been fed during the trip. The feed would only add to the "waste" that the packers had to deal with.
Alot of the "fairytale" scenes that many people think of, would not have happened for both $$$$ and ironically for the safety of the animals. A cow that falls and is stepped on can result in bruised meat which is not a desired product. :)

The reason for lime could be to deter chewing, but the first thing I would think of is Bio-security. While it was not called that years ago they knew that diseases could be transfered, mainly through fecal matter. Lime acts as a disinfectant and a moisture absorber. The less moisture present in the railcar the cleaner the cattle. The cleaner the cattle, the less mess at the plant.

One thing I have not seen is a wash facility for theses cars. I would imagine they would be plain looking from the outside, but you never know.

Agreed. Cattle had to be watered and excercised at set intervals during the journey, and the railroads were responsible for weight loss according to some books I have read. They didn't want them overly stressed.

As for washing facilites, a cleanout track would probably work, similar to what was used for refrigerator cars. Hay and excrement would be raked out, the car steam cleaned, and truned around for the next use. If I were modeling this, I'd check photos of the larger packing plants. I'll bet there were facilities for this on the premesis.
 
thanks brakeman, theres a nice looking picture if a scrathbuilt cattle car on the home page , I noticed its white looking wood , mine are tradithonal burnt orange in color . wonder if I should paint mine white ?


Hi Shawn,
I imagine that would be my scratch built Cattle car your refering to, thanks for the compliment! These cars were more properly named Stock Cars as some could be fitted to carry sheep & Hogs by adding either a double deck. I'm modeling a late 1800's theme to about 1920's as well as my a rural area in my time period so possibly, depending on the time period your modeling, some info may not be relevent.

I intentionally stained the wood with Floquils' thinned Driftwood [light Grey] to give it a very weatrhered look and also should use some thined white to simulate the lime on the inside boards part way up for added detail.

Also I'm sure in earlier times, and probably up until at least the mid 50's, when cows got smarter, the floors of the cattle cars would have been quite a mess as I'm sure the cows were eating and craping considerably during the journey as well as peeing a lot too, not to mentioning what was tracked in from the stock yards when they were loaded.
I'm not sure if they ever learned not to crap in the cars or on one another especially in the tight quarters?
From the 1880's on a new design of stock car was built which incorporated both watering trowths and feeding stalls and each car had a Drover to take care of the animals during their journey to market and hence the need for the Drovers Caboose to house these guys.

The cattle or other animals could only be in transit for 28 hours and then had to be given 5 hours of rest was one of the new humane rules that also came from around that time too.

Another interesting thing, but again from ther earlier 1800's the stock were hauled in open top cars buy even after the roofs were put on the cars the rain could still b blown into the cars too as they were totally open to the elements. A person also has to realize that cattle grazing on the range or in most stock yards were out in the open an being rained on without any real cover and they are used to that.

**The above information was obtained from Wikapedia.

So again, modeling the newer 40' cattle/stock cars things improved a bit more but were still fairly much the same

I was just thinking that possibly candel dripings might make decent cow flaps.
I don't know about being able to paint it though to look correct. Maybe a dark green candel could be used. Of course you could always use bits of melted choclate and have a snack now and then too. That should gross some of the guest out for sure!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Interesting, I pulled that picture into my photoediting program and sharpened it a couple of times and adjusted the contrast and I still couldn't make out what is sticking out of the door slats?

When the car is lightened a bit you can certainly see all the stains the cows cause on the outside from pee running down the slats and more. It really looks pretty well abused!
 
whats happining guys and gals? does anybody have some ideas for modaling 40 foot cattle cars I would like to make it look super weathered!! pictures would be good to see also thanks

A friend of mine put these Westerfield kits together for me and painted them. He said he got blasted once when he was a kid when a cow put its ass up against the boards and let it go. This inspired him to weather these stock cars with some fecal stains.
 
thanks zoegraf, those are some great looking cattle cars, a freind of mine suggested that since they hace that much detail why not stick a little dung in the car for the smell effect !! maybe not shawn
 
thanks zoegraf, those are some great looking cattle cars, a freind of mine suggested that since they hace that much detail why not stick a little dung in the car for the smell effect !! maybe not shawn

Your welcome.

Here is a larger shot (Sorry about the curving caused by the lens in macro mode on a point and shot digital camera) plus a weather accurail box car with the moulded on details removed and replaced with brass wire.

Cheers.
 
Last edited by a moderator:



Back
Top