Refinishing PW Alco Trucks

My personal opinion is that if you like it a bit shiny, then keep it that way.   After all, you are the one who has to look at it every day.

I too prefer my locomotives to have a nice gleam to them. If you look at a new locomotive that has come straight out of the paint shop, they normally have a beautiful gloss finish.

Yeh, I agree with Nicole.  Please yourself.  If you should decide to sell it (it is a valuable item) You could always try to recreate the original look at that time.  Since it's already been refinished, I shouldn't think the topcoat would decrease the value, IMHO.

The trucks were chemically blackened originally. WD40 and a Dremel with a wire brush attachment usually will bring them back close to new. If some of the blacking is lost you can touch it up with gun blue which seems to work pretty well on truck frames and couplers. Not so good on sheet steel. Painting with flat finish won't lower the value any more than you already have with paint but I doubt painting the trucks has had a significant effect on value anyway at this point in time.

Pete

Well as Rick Nelson said in the chores to Garden Party...

"But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself"

Do whatever looks good to you.

I think Rustoleum spray Satin Black looks the best on these.  Cleaning them or wire brushing them usually removes the original blackening and then you HAVE to do something.  

I agree -- with the single exception that I use a bronze wire hand brush, rather than a Dremel tool.  Afterward, clean and degrease, then apply cold bluing followed by a coating of thin oil.  Once the oil evaporates, it will match the original chemical blackening.

What I did with an Erie alco set was paint them testors flat black, then used a brass bristle brush to lightly brush them. It looked like the original finish and the guy I did it for never knew I had painted them.

Rob

I appreciate these suggestions.  I'm not really concerned with the value of the Alcos.  I'm just wondering what might look closest to original.  I just ordered some Krylon semi-flat black paint.  I'll test it on some left over freight trucks and see how that looks.

Alan