Saved Standard Gauge trains

Fishing for complements, are you?

Ok, I'll bite.  How did you clean up the rust, did you disassemble completely and did you repaint via rattle can or airbrush?

NNJ Railfan,

Just sharing and trying to encourage others to save the derelict trains in the under table "junk" boxes at shows.

Yes, I completely disassembled, and then stripped off all paint via a soak in hot water and powdered Tide laundry detergent. Rust was mostly on the interior parts (seat and window inserts). It appears that Lionel used bare metal for these parts, not tinplated as well as the body parts, if at all.

Trim parts, couplers and wheels were polished with a soft wire wheel in my Dremel.

Rattle can spray, when dry to the touch baked at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes. I found that this settles the paint down to a nice shiny, hard, finish. Primer was used first.

I printed the decals on the passenger cars. The decals on old # 33 were purchased on ebay.

Rattle can,huh, they look great...

Thanks Love Trains

The paints used on the passenger set were purchased from Lowes or Home Depot (I forget which).  Just fyi, the grey is Valspar's Rugged Suede and the maroon is Rust-oleum's Burgundy.

Got a few I've done myself:

Really rough when I got them, so I figured no harm in refurbishing them. ModelMaster olive drab and dry transfers, clear gloss lacquer overspray, reused the window inserts.

PD

pd posted:

Got a few I've done myself:

Really rough when I got them, so I figured no harm in refurbishing them. ModelMaster olive drab and dry transfers, reused the window inserts.

PD

Very cool, PD, me like!

Thanks for sharing

Those are ALL very nice items... 

Mark in Oregon

Real nice work !

Thanks Mark and Choo-Choo Mike.

Anybody else save Standard gauge from "junk" boxes?  I'd love to see more pics, I'm guessing that PD would too.

I saved this one from a bad brush paint job. The brush paint was blue, and I liked the color. I chose Rustoleum Royal Blue gloss, which did not come in a rattle can. So, I had to use my airbrush on this. 

The frame was not repainted. I just used some Goof Off to remove blue paint slop from the prior hand paint job.

Someone asked about removing rust. I use EvapoRust, which I buy by the gallon at Harbor Freight. 

George

They all look awesome, gots me thinkin' I'll be huntin' for somethin' new at the next Greenberg show...

Lionelski, do you bake the primer on too or just sand it down before applying the topcoat?

One of my favorites that I did, do not call it restored but I call it a Fantasy Lionel Standard gauge # 8 and how Lionel should of made them.

Here are some others, the middle one was rebuilt by Pete from Kansas and the #10 is original.

Love it Ron H.

An inspiration for me to make something like it. 

I dabbled in SG once upon a time, and those trains still draw me.  I just don't have the room, money, or time for another interest.  But I really believe that SG are the epitome of miniature trains.  If I weren't so invested in the trains of my youth . . . .

it is definitely worth it to spend time going thru the junk boxes. Many pieces of my stuff came from there because I'm the guy sitting on the floor digging for treasure....