Removing passenger silhouettes

If they are Lionel cars I have successfully scraped (gently!) the images off of the frosted plastic.

Gallon milk jugs.

I think I read that it is illegal to remove them.

I removed some silhouettes from the frosted plastic many years ago, using, I think, acetone. Left the frosted "glass" intact. (Worth an experiment on a small section. My memory may be spotty on this.) No making/cutting/fitting. Just put it back where it came from.

Actually, I usually have replaced the frosted glass (how often do you see this in real life...?), figures and all, with clear plastic. Even if the car has no interior detail, it can still look better than those foggy windows. I often disconnect the lighting, too - especially the older, big-bulb variety - as it is always daylight on my layout. My passenger business is minimal.   

Thanks everyone!

           I rip them out. Cars look much better empty. Use clear styrene sheets instead. I hate those toy things.

Replace them with clear, then use something to make some shades. They'll help hide a little of the emptiness inside. 

I used some cheap lace.

Same reason you can't take the tag off of pillows. People are in prisone right now for that. I think some even went to the chair for it. Don 

Generic Lectric Shave and chunks of Magic Eraser should take the silhouettes off the plastic with no problem...

Mitch

I don’t condone altering any old Lionel items, but the  non-scale CNJ cars hold no value today. It was either sell the remaining cars as I did prior or make them acceptable to play nice with the others. They even look more realistic without the silly opening spring doors  that no one ever needed.

It’s legal in my world. 

@GVDobler posted:

I think I read that it is illegal to remove them.

If you own it, you can do anything you want to with them. You can paint them, you can cut them in two, you can mount the trucks on the roofs and run them upside do. There is nothing in the patent laws that prevent an owner of a device modifying it.

I vote for any flat finish. Milk jugs are a good alternative although the polyethylene would be harder to glue in place. You can buy frosted styrene which is easy to cut (score and snap) and comes in sizes that would allow using a single piece for the whole side.

Doesn't anyone get a joke around here, jeeeeze.

Pete

If you're replacing the windows, another good place to go is your local office supply store.  there's lots of options from vellum sheets to various thin plastics.

For some of my passenger trains I have been taking out the images and putting in clear window plastic from any plastic packaging. You can get some cheaper sets of passengers try Railking or Sunset 3rd rail/Golden Gate. For seats I use the plastic 8 foot white right angle that you can buy from your hardware store that is used for protective corners on your painted drywall. It is thin white plastic, many with double sided tape (where the passengers sit)  about a half inch which is the perfect size for making seats. Just cut it to seat width and I stick them on with double sided foam tape depending on your passenger train size you may need 1-3 layers of the foam tape. Makes for a very quick and cheap interior. The seats look about right looks much better with passengers in your train. Can also use them for making diners seating and tape together 2 sets of the corner plastic to make a I shaped table. 

Silhouettecide!

@GVDobler posted:

I think I read that it is illegal to remove them.

It's pretty funny how many people replied to this as though it was serious. Do train guys, engineers typically, have an underdeveloped sense of humor? 

As for the original post, I never liked these silhouettes either. I replace them with frosted drafting mylar or vellum (I happen to have on hand) I also put it in villas, stations, power houses and all the prewar tinplate on my layout. Gives them a nice glow.

Will

I was also surprised.

@Will posted:

It's pretty funny how many people replied to this as though it was serious. Do train guys, engineers typically, have underdeveloped sense of humor? 

As for the original post, I never liked these silhouettes either. I replace them with frosted drafting mylar or vellum (I happen to have on hand) I also put it in villas, stations, power houses and all the prewar tinplate on my layout. Gives them a nice glow.

Nope, totally real. The vellum matrix used as plasticisers in the 40s through 60s are so toxic that any handling without explicit EPA approval is a class 2 misdemeanor.

I suggest any of you guys on here bragging about casually releasing toxic elements into the environment delete your posts and pray that you're not reported.

Source: I've removed silhouettes and had cops break down my door the next day. 0/10 would not recommend. 

@Jeff_the_Coaster_Guy posted:

Nope, totally real. The vellum matrix used as plasticisers in the 40s through 60s are so toxic that any handling without explicit EPA approval is a class 2 misdemeanor.

I suggest any of you guys on here bragging about casually releasing toxic elements into the environment delete your posts and pray that you're not reported.

Source: I've removed silhouettes and had cops break down my door the next day. 0/10 would not recommend. 

Yes, but those silhouettes are far too close together for proper social distancing. So they have to go. Now you COULD draw little india ink masks on each one, but personally, I don't have time for that. So remove them and have prototypically correct consists.

@kj356 posted:

For some of my passenger trains I have been taking out the images and putting in clear window plastic from any plastic packaging. You can get some cheaper sets of passengers try Railking or Sunset 3rd rail/Golden Gate. For seats I use the plastic 8 foot white right angle that you can buy from your hardware store that is used for protective corners on your painted drywall. It is thin white plastic, many with double sided tape (where the passengers sit)  about a half inch which is the perfect size for making seats. Just cut it to seat width and I stick them on with double sided foam tape depending on your passenger train size you may need 1-3 layers of the foam tape. Makes for a very quick and cheap interior. The seats look about right looks much better with passengers in your train. Can also use them for making diners seating and tape together 2 sets of the corner plastic to make a I shaped table. 

I've always disliked the silhouettes in the passenger cars.  One of the things that turned me off O Gauge as a kid in the 1970s (I was into HO, my cousin was into Lionel O).  Other than some of the fantasy models such as the Polar Express, etc, I don't buy them.  Not a fan of leaving the windows frosted and blank either.  Always wanted to rip them off, but it would show the guts of the lighting works in the interior.  Now that I'm learning how to detail interiors and with methods such as your own, maybe down the road be I will redo all of my PE cars, and do the same when I buy the Harry Potter set. 

Get clear plastic from toy or other packaging or new shirt collar packaging and rub it with very fine steel wool, the kind used in furniture finishing, to make it frosty.

Charlie

@Jeff_the_Coaster_Guy posted:

Nope, totally real. The vellum matrix used as plasticisers in the 40s through 60s are so toxic that any handling without explicit EPA approval is a class 2 misdemeanor.

I suggest any of you guys on here bragging about casually releasing toxic elements into the environment delete your posts and pray that you're not reported.

Source: I've removed silhouettes and had cops break down my door the next day. 0/10 would not recommend. 

I started releasing toxic elements into the environment about an hour after lunch. 

Part deux:

This is a modern-era aluminum Lionel NYC Pullman that I re-named "Mobile Bay" - yes, there was one, part of the NYC's "Bay" series.

I replaced the frosted plastic/figures with plain plastic from some packaging. This plastic happened to have a slight "smoked" tint, which looks good, I think. An interior would be nice, but I still prefer this look to the silhouettes. I think I removed the bulbs. TMCC/18 volts/2 big bulbs - not a good look.

Get the clear plastic sheets that are used for cheap poster frames. (Walmart, Hobby lobby)

Or....Shop Goodwill stores for cheap poster frames and the clear plastic in them. Buy a can of Krylon "clear frosted"  spray paint and lightly spray the plastic sheet. Let it dry it "frosts" as it drys. then cut your strips to fit. I've had good success cutting 1/4" strips of double faced tape. ( put the double face tape on the unpainted side), ( just like the green plastic replacement window strips Lionel sells). Like others have said..remove a few bulbs.

Another thing that I have done is to use masking tape to cover part of all of a window, gives the look that someone had closed the shade or partially closed it.

Also, I've used window blinds from City Classics when I do HO. Someday I will have to try these and see if they work in O gauge.

RAY