Weathering can make an old freight car seem new again

Sometimes a long neglected, ordinary looking freight car can seem like a new acquisition after a bit of weathering.  I purchased a set of 3 Delaware Valley cylindrical covered hoppers decorated for Union Pacific at a train show many years ago.  While they've had their share of running on Ntrak setups, they have been a bit neglected for the past 10 years or so on my current layout.  This first photo is an example is of one of these cars before any weathering.

And here is one side of one of these cars after a bit of weathering.  These cars are from the early 1960’s so by the time of my late 1970’s era on my layout they have been on the road for some time and I weathered this one to reflect that.  The techniques I used were detail washes, dry brushing, and weathering powders.  I added the data plaque in the lower right hand corner, and finished with a spray Dullcoat.

Here is the other side of the same car.  When I started this weathering project I attempted to fade the lettering using Micro-Sol and a pencil eraser as this had worked well on some other cars.  This time it was taking off the paint and not just the lettering’s so I stopped after doing a small test area.  Then I masked off the area where the paint was removed and sprayed on a gray color to represent an area where this cars has been repaired.  This can be seen in this photo at the top of the “P”.

Recently I have found an quicker and easier way to weather the trucks.  First I brush paint them with Vallejo gray primer.  After the primer has dried, I apply Vallejo flat brown again with a brush, then after that has dried, I apply black weathering powder.

Here are some side by side comparison shots of these cars weathered and un-weathered.

I have mostly been timid about weathering but have been happy with the results on the ones I have done.  As I am not buying many more freight cars these days, when I do weather a car it makes it seem like a new car again.