# Wooden running boards - painted or not?



## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

I've heard that wooden running boards were never painted, because the paint would make them slick, and thus too dangerous to walk on. Sounds reasonable, but the photos I've seen sure seem to show painted running boards. I'm trying to figure out whether to paint mine with the car, or try to make them look like wood (or just replace them with real wood). At the moment, I'm most interested in 1940s era standard gauge practices.

Anybody know for sure what the common practice was at the time?


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Check out *this topic*. There are three very good photos of boxcars from that era.


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

Thanks, Dwight. That's the thread that really got me thinking about the subject. Before looking at those photos, I thought running boards were always bare wood, but those don't look it. Is there any truth to the "bare wood" thing?


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm not sure to be honest. Most plastic models of wooden freight car have either black or painted underframes when in truth they were usually bare wood. I suspect it may have varied from road to road, but that's just a guess. Certainly it would have been easier (read cheaper) to simply paint everything on the roof, and the paint would have extended the wood's life to a degree. Once economics became the main force, I would think whatever was easiest and least expensive and/or reduced maintenance would have been the rule. Locomotives became all black, pin striping and polished brass were painted over, etc.


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