Seaboard Coast Line lettering

Using accurate decals is a true joy in the hobby, and all the better when there are sets to accurately capture the dimensional data. When decaling the SCL K-19 gondola project, there were no less than 6 sets used to accurately capture the data.

Mircoscale has long been a staple of accurate decals for many railroads, and ACL, SAL, and SCL are largely in that category. Moreover, the Seaboard Coast Line General Freight set (87-006) is useful, although it contains no dimensional data to fully decal a piece of equipment. The additional sets which include SCL Gondolas and Woodchip hoppers also provided some data, however, it contains minimal data yet again. The data sets 87-462 and 87-463 were used in large part due to the sheer volume of data, however, to accurately capture the look of the prototype, many instances of letter by letter application was needed.

This lead to me review my 1972 SCL Freight Car Stenciling Guide and it proved extremely useful to determine which size lettering is to be applied. This lead me down the path of what could be - Accurate and useful data decal sets for Seaboard Coast Line.

Ideally, SCL data set to include dimensional data of use (boxcar, gondola, flatcar, pulpwood cars, open and covered hoppers) in yellow, black, white and red. Additionally, some of the more common stenciling such as, 2" High Friction Composite Shoes, and reweigh locations such as Hamlet, Tampa, Rocky Mount, Waycross, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Collier would be a plus too. The reweigh dates should also be categorized by month and year (SCL was formed in 1967 and merged again in 1983), so this is a completely encompassing set of dates. These too should printed in yellow, black, white and red. 

The majority of the set would include number prefixes and numerals logically oriented so that triple splicing of decals would not be necessary. Former ACL equipment typically was numbered in 2XX, 4XX, 6XX series, while former SAL equipment was numbered in the 5XX, 7XX, 8XX, and Maintenance of Way was lettered in the 77X and 99X series. The other needed data are the varying sizes of SCL's unique parallelogram and the different sizes of reporting marks. The variations are significant and unique to each type of car type.

If you are a decal designer, please contact me so I can share my resources with you to prepare accurate SCL decal sets.