Rust always contains dampness, and will feed on itself, extending
underneath and destroying solidly painted surfaces. It is, therefore,
necessary, in order to secure good results, that the rust should be
killed before priming, or that the priming be so mixed that it will
assimilate with the rust and prevent spreading.
Steel tanks will not rust as rapidly as iron, but the scale is more apt
to flake off by the expansion and contraction of the metal, taking the
paint with it.
Heated oil, or heated oil priming, will dry faster and be more
penetrating than cold. I consider heated "boiled oil" and red lead the
best primer for iron.
In regard to ornamentation, my _taste_ is governed by the fact that I
work "by contract," and get no more for a highly ornate locomotive than
I do for a plain one, therefore I like the _plain ones best_, and I
hope that our "good brother Burch's" prophecy, that "the days of 'fancy
locomotives' will return," will never be fulfilled until after I go out
of the business. There is a happy medium between a hearse and a
circus wagon, and the locomotive painter, when not tied down by
"specifications," can produce a neat and handsomely painted engine
without the "spread eagle" or "star spangled banner.
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