Q: What website is best for finding prototype photos of freight cars to help with realistic weathering? — Jim Veronico
A: Though some websites are certainly better than others, I’m reluctant to declare a single website as the “best” for finding prototype freight car photos. Over the years, I’ve found that using multiple sites helps give me a more complete understanding of freight cars. Here are some of my favorite sites with freight car photos that have helpful images for weathering models:
RailCar Photos. The site has nearly 125,000 images and a variety of search options, allowing users to look for images by road name, road number or number series, equipment type, and much more. The roster-type color images on the site are well lit and well composed, and the prototype information is valuable if you’re trying to track down build dates, equipment lineage, and other prototype information.
Canadian Freight Railcar Gallery. Don’t let the website’s name fool you. The page features equipment from railroads in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. There are also sections on the site dedicated to intermodal containers and builders logos. Though the images are largely in color, some photos are in black and white.
RR Picture Archives. This website contains a variety of railroad photos, not just freight cars. When I use it to research freight cars, I do the initial search by railroad. Then I look at the rolling stock roster. The equipment is listed in numerical order. However, you can also search by car type, Association of American Railroads type, and number range.
In addition, non-railroad photo-sharing websites like Flickr can be used to search for rolling stock images. On self-indexed sites, you may have to try various search terms to find the photos you’re looking for.
And don’t forget railroad historical societies as well. Some groups have prototype images and diagrams that are handy for building accurate models.
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