The Responsibility of Owning a Scratched Up Locomotive

I have used a black Sharpie to touch up steamers and tenders.  I have a whistle tender with 6 wheel trucks which is pink plastic painted black.  It had a lot of scratches which I touched up with the Sharpie, and it looks pretty good.  Much better than it did with the pink plastic showing.  

I have some colored Sharpies and I use them to touch up some of the other rolling stock that is not black.  One orange sharpie matches the red on the front of a War Bonnet Santa Fe F-3.  Is it perfect?  Not quite but it looks better than before the touch up.

Nothing last for ever, including you and me.   You are doing fine with the 700E.   I do a once a year cleaning or each engine/locomotive.  It is amazing to note just the missing parts.  Usually a small pile of pieces develops from the cleaning, that are hard to figure where they  originated.  

I have the same feeling about keeping the trains in as good a shape as possible.  As Mike said, nothing lasts forever and the trains will get scratched, pieces broken, etc, etc.  But I get additional enjoyment from keeping them spruced up and maintained.  It has more to do with pride than for any possible value down the road.  But then again, I am one of those loonies who think the car "runs" so much better when it is clean and shiny.

Ed

I like this topic and I have a mix of new and used.....but of course since I have run them all they are now technically used...right? I do enjoy finding those items that are a little rough and with the right attention to cleaning, etc. they seemingly come back to like. I do like and have done the Sharpie touch up idea but I have also found that a small bottle of semi or flat back touch up with either a toothpick or tiny brush does help fill in the divots in some bad chips. Otherwise run them then clean them then repeat!

I've never bought into the train collector "custodial" mentality whereby it is my obligation to lovingly preserve an engine or car in as close to original / unretouched condition as possible.  When I buy something it's mine to play with and modify as I see fit.  

When I die and my wife or sons sell off my trains for 10 - 25 cents on the dollar, it won't matter a bit what I did to them when they were mine.  The folks who purchase them will be far more interested in obtaining a bargain than if I touched up or weathered a piece.

Curt

IMHO that's called patina and my postwar units have plenty of it. In most cases I have seen where trying to touch up the paint makes the flaw stand out even more so I tend to leave it alone! 

juniata guy posted:

When I buy something it's mine to play with and modify as I see fit.

AMEN!

If it's a CSX loco, leave it alone and it will be prototypical.

It's great if you can keep it original but if it's roughed up, I like to show it some love. I've had my 2026 steamer since I was 6 and its banged up. A little sharpie and its back to looking pretty good. I let my toddler play with my post war stuff and always keep the sharpie handy.

Uh, you do know that these are just little machines and not someone's social responsibility? It's supposed to be model railroading, not model curating. When I buy something it's monetary "value" goes to zero.

Not that I care if you touch up your locomotives or not; why should I?  But, so long as you don't throw the darn thing at the cat or threaten your neighbor with it, there is no "responsibility" involved. 

BTW, anybody out these have a Vision Hudson all scratched up but mostly complete and mechanically sound, I'll buy it from you. At a discount, of course. After all, it's all scratched up. Weathering will take care of that.

D500, I understand what you mean. This is just an opinion I've had for awhile. It's kind of like if I don't give this train some care, who will? I'm glad to see many others do feel the same though.

I just ordered a replacement classification light from Lionel, since I was just very uncomfortable with the unfixable bent look on it. Fortunately, it's easy to remove and replace. Plus, just fixed up some extra touch ups with some nice black ink from Bombay. Really matches the paint well.

Most of my locomotives are 76-77 years old. I don't care about the scratches they may have. I hope I look as good (and run as good) when I am that age! 

Tom 

Thomas, I like the way you are focused on keeping your equipment in the best possible condition. Pride of ownership is a positive character trait!!! This is a hobby, do what makes you feel good!

I'd be interested to hear what color paints and other sources you use to perform your touch ups. Listed below are the options already mentioned.

1. Bombay black ink

2. Semi gloss or flat black paint

3. Sharpie black markers

If it really matters, I like using a black paint pen (like you find in Craft stores).  The ink is thick like paint and dries pretty hard.

I don't have regular inspections but I find very few new scratches or nicks.  I prefer my toys to look as nice as possible as well as the boxes.  I don't mind buying pieces with cosmetic blemishes as long as it is heavily reflected in the price.  I realize it is an important part of the hobby, but weathering any of them would put me in a grave.  

I don't mind a few scratches as I like some patina on an old train. But if the paint is really bad, I will repaint. I don't feel it's a responsibilty to repaint, just a personal choice.