"old" tuscan red

[NW Mailing List]

Mark

I think you are misremembering what you read. Charlie Schlotthober wrote an article for the Arrow, with the documentation on the development of N&W tender lettering and reported that the passenger locomotives, prior to the 1941 arrival of the Class J, carried silver leaf or aluminum lettering.

Silver and gold leaf, although I’ve never done it myself, is pretty sensitive to environmental concerns. It would generally be coated with a varnish to help protect it and make it last longer. Both types are created with very thin sheets of hammered metal, silver or gold, which come in “books” or “leaf books”. I have a book of silver leaf, they are appoximately 3.375 inch x 43.375 inch sheets, its been forever since I looked at mine, but my recollection of the silver book is about 3/4 of an inch thick.

As you might imagine, gold is pretty expensive, as the higher karat gold weathers and ages better, I’m told. Each of the gold books normally has 25 sheets, which covers just short of 2 square feet. Each book of 24 karat goes for roughly $56.00, so the cost of lettering a car of locomotive can be pretty high. 

Silver leaf is about half the price. Of course, that is only part of the cost, it takes specialized tools and material to do this, not to mention, the specific skills. You can waste a lot of money if you don’t know what you are doing, which is why I never tried it. A pint of just one of the chemicals used is almost $300, so I’d say its not very likely that I’ll be trying to experiment!

The N&W got out of the gold leaf for the passenger cars after the new Arrow cars had arrived in late 1949. 

Best
Ken Miller

> On Feb 29, 2024, at 3:29 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> I thought I remember a discussion years ago where it was discovered that N&W used silver leaf for the lettering on passenger cars and that the leaf was sealed with a yellowish shellac which made it look like gold.  Or I may be more senile than I thought. 
> 
> Mark Lindsey
> Y3a at earthlink.net
> 571-352-6358(cell)
>