Black Cat decals

[mecgp7]

I was going to order some of the Black Cat N decals for CP passenger cars, but the pictures don't load. I contacted by them, but they are away. Is there another site that shows them?

[Angus Shops]

I don't know of another site that shows them, but I can attest to their superb quality. They are super thin with really sharp graphics and the lettering style is correct, especially for the long extended 'CANADIAN PACFIC' that some of the others don't seem to get quite right. Black Cat offers "CP numbered" and "CP named" in both gold leaf and imitation gold as well as all the sets sets you might need for The Canadian (Chateau and Manor sleepers, dining cars, etc.) If you can't make contact with Black Cat directly, I'm pretty sure that Central Hobbies in Vancouver will have selection in stock.
Geoff

[thomasjmdavis]

I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but Central Hobbies also has lettering diagrams for many of the sets displayed on their website (although as with Microscale, many of the diagrams will have "HO" or "-87" on the drawing, even though the decals are N scale)-
http://www.central-hobbies.com/products/bcdecals.html#CPR-N

[Angus Shops]

Black Cat is at the Vancouver Train Expo show this weekend, and I had a chat with Al, so he's around. He suggested that you contact him through the website (blackcatdecals.com).
Geoff

[mecgp7]

I did contact him through the site. Central Hoobies' diagrams will have to do. Wish I could see pics though as I am not sure if I need imitatuon gold or gold leaf.

[thomasjmdavis]

I did contact him through the site. Central Hoobies' diagrams will have to do. Wish I could see pics though as I am not sure if I need imitatuon gold or gold leaf.

Is this for a particular car on a particular date, or are you looking more generally, as in "dulux gold lettering introduced in 19__?"

[mecgp7]

Here's the deal. I picked up three heavyweight passenger cars (Rivarossi) because they had MTL heavyweight trucks/couplers and they sold for less than the price of the trucks themselves. The pics in the eBay listing were terrible. When I got them, they were custom painted and detailed for CPR including diaphragms, roof details, vents, etc. The decals were poor, but other than that they made three pretty nice cars. I just need to replace the long "Canadian Pacific" above the windows. I guess the type of gold isn't that important, but I figure if I am going to buy them then I might as well get the right ones.

[Angus Shops]

Almost certain you'll want the imitation gold (CP called it 'delux gold'); it replaced golf leaf pretty early in the century. Either the named or numbered passenger car sets will work if you only need the CANADIAN PACIFIC, but the named sets will provide you with a good variety of names for heavyweight cars. Aside from coaches and baggage/mail/express cars, which were numbered, all the rest were named.
Geoff

[peteski]

Almost certain you'll want the imitation gold (CP called it 'delux gold'); it replaced golf leaf pretty early in the century. Either the named or numbered passenger car sets will work if you only need the CANADIAN PACIFIC, but the named sets will provide you with a good variety of names for heavyweight cars. Aside from coaches and baggage/mail/express cars, which were numbered, all the rest were named.
Geoff

Dulux or imitation gold (this is the first time I have seen it called delux) had basically the same golden yellow hue as the equivalent gold-leaf or metallic gold paint, but it was just a plain non-metallic paint. It was made to look like gold (thus the name "imitation gold).

[Angus Shops]

You're right; dulux, not delux. My mistake. Was 'gold leaf' ever actually gold leaf? I've always assumed it something other, but still more expensive and time consuming to apply than a paint colour. Or was it a gold coloured paint?
G

[peteski]

You're right; dulux, not delux. My mistake. Was 'gold leaf' ever actually gold leaf? I've always assumed it something other, but still more expensive and time consuming to apply than a paint colour. Or was it a gold coloured paint?
G

I have no expertise in this subject but just judging by the very fancy paint jobs on the late 19th and early 20th Century locomotives and passenger cars, I suspect that the lettering and striping was originally real gold leaf (or whatever gold-color metal was used for this task)applied by highly-skilled craftsman.  I suspect that then they slowly moved to metallic gold paint, then to the imitation gold.  Just like everything else around us, things seem to get cheaper and simpler.  Like how nobody builds ornate Victorian style houses (and not just huge mansions, but even smaller dwellings) have now been replaced by simple utilitarian vinyl-clad dwelling, or in the upper end, by McMansions with their ersatz pretend-fancy plastic appearance.  The high level craftsmanship is pretty much gone.  Nobody has time for that.

[thomasjmdavis]

World War I and the Depression also had something to do with the changeover.  Pullman and many roads used real gold leaf, which is made of real gold. During the war governments had better uses for the gold (both as currency and a material) than gold leaf for decoration- and people tended to hoard it. I think most roads changed over to either bronzing powders or paints by the 1920s. Great Depression pretty much ended the use of gold leaf on railroads- with railroads going bankrupt, it was an unaffordable luxury.
Many initially went to gold colored bronzing powders- which are powdered metal of various sorts that can be mixed together to get a variety of colors, and are mixed with lacquer or varnish.
What we have come to know as Dulux gold (Dulux being a Dupont paint formulation- Dulux is still used as a brand name in Europe) is any one of a number of yellow-amber-light orange hues mixed up to railroad specs.  Modelflex makes B&O Dulux Gold, Soo Line Deluxe Gold, and New Haven Imitation Gold- and judging by the color chart, they are very similar colors (I don't have samples of any of these on hand to double check, have to admit I find online color charts even less reliable than the old printed charts).

[Angus Shops]

I did a little quick research and found that many of the really classic all wood cars (pre 1910 on the CP)  were "varnished mahogany with real gold leaf letting" to quote one source. They must have been beautiful. The varnished mahogany was replaced with paint to 'match', which became "CPR Tuscan", and, as discussed, the gold leaf was replaced by Dulux Gold.
 G

[nkalanaga]

Gold leaf uses very little gold, and isn't really that expensive.  The expense is in the application.  It has to be "glued" on, where paint can be brushed or sprayed over a stencil.  Even freehand painting lettering is much less time consuming than applying gold leaf.  I imagine the labor costs, and finding the skilled people to do it, had as much influence on the switch to paint as the cost of gold.

[CNR5529]

I did a little quick research and found that many of the really classic all wood cars (pre 1910 on the CP)  were "varnished mahogany with real gold leaf letting" to quote one source. They must have been beautiful. The varnished mahogany was replaced with paint to 'match', which became "CPR Tuscan", and, as discussed, the gold leaf was replaced by Dulux Gold.

I have been wondering about how to paint your wood coach, combine/smoker and baggage-express kits to simulate this varnished mahogany look. Would look stunning.