We all dread it, but its a simple fact of life...pieces get buffed. In this guide we want to outline the types of buffing being done, and what to do to avoid being buffed. We hope this is as acurate a guide as possible, but most of this information is gained from personal experience, so it might not always be 100% accurate.

THE RULES
All freight cars are required to bear certain information at all times. This information includes: Reporting marks (so the identity of a car is easily determined), Load Limit(LD LMT)/Light Weight(LT WT), Plates (to determine the rough demensions of the car), and others relating to the size/makeup of brake shoes, inspection/lube dates, and the date the car was built.
Tankers and any cars carying hazardous materials are required to bear a HAZMAT sign, indicating the type of chemical being transported, as well as the phone number/contact information for CHEMTREC, a 24hour hazmat info service. The information on Hazmat cars is very important, more so than any other car. The visibilty of certain marks could mean life or death in an accident.

THE MARKS
Reporting marks are the most important information on a car, these will always be repainted before any other information. Load limit and light weight are next in importance, although depending on the railroad they may not be re-painted right away, even if a car is getting its reporting marks re-painted. Lots of calculations are made when operating a train, mostly regarding drag and center of gravity, so the visibility of LD LMT/LT WT can be very important. Plates and Black boxes are the next most important piece of information. Plates (Plate C, Exceeds Plate F, etc.) are an indication of the general dimensions of a car. the AAR (American Association of Railroads) has a standard system of plates so that workers can determine if a car will clear an obsticle (in height or width) without difficulty. Black boxes will usually list the date a car was built (BLT 8-78 for example means it was built in August 1978) and the type of brake valve the car is equiped with (AB ABD or ABDW). Other misc. information may be stenciled into the box, or listed elswhere on the car, including stuff like the last time certain parts where lubed, or size/type of brake shoes, etc. Any info outside of the black box (except: reporting marks, ld lmt lt wt, and brake shoes) will be given last priority as far as repainting goes.

THE BUFFERS
The actual Buffing/Repainting of cars is handled by many different groups. Major railroads will usually have a system wide schedule for repainting cars, this is done bit by bit over years, and is done regardless of whether or not a car has graff on it. A good example is the railbox fleet. car by car, every car in the entire fleet is being given a fresh paintjob.
Cars that have too much information covered, or that have been flagged by workers or whoever, will often be stopped at a larger yard, where a worker will be dispatched to repaint certain information. it will be easy to tell if the work was done by a larger shop based on how cleanly the stencils were applied and how close the paint matches

this SLGG boxcar is a good example of a home shop buff job. the buff paint matches the original exactly, and all the numbers are clearly, and evenly stenciled on, with enough background to make them clearly visible.

this BN boxcar also looks like a home shop job. more than an adequate are has been buffed, yet it doesnt look like a blatant effort to buff the piece, just a to the letter paint job.

Despite the size, some railroads will do an amazingly sloppy job of stamping numbers. This could be because of a lack of time or simply because the railroad doesnt care about the car enough to give it a proper job. the bigest example of this is soo line, a division of CP. We at NBF often wonder if anybody in all of the division has a complete set of stencils...here's an example of a rush paint job over an aging crispo piece.


Smaller railroads will often have crews do a very rudimentary repainting job. These are often identifyable by the fact that the stencils may be mismatched, or uneven, with little or no buffing behind the stencils. When a stencil is done directly over a piece without a buff square people call it "buffing with love" but usually its the result of a lack of time or supplies.

this SLR boxcar has had its reporting mark numbers restenciled by workers without matching stencils. the ld lmt/lt wt have be restenciled "with love" and are bareley visible over the piece.

Large railroads will often hire firms like Procor, to maintain cars in a remote location of the railroad, or for financial/staffing reasons. these companies can operate out of a truck, and stamp/repaint cars anywhere they can get the truck. These firms are usually very zealous about making sure the marks are clearly readable, at the expense of some good pieces.

here a procor buff team has more of less completely buffed out this piece because it covered information. This crew may have be overly thorough out of a desire to deter painting, or simply to increase the pay by stretching the job out.

here's the same procor buffing team on a good day, buffing only enough room to stencil in the ld lmt/lt wt and brake shoe information, as well as buffing the defect card holder.

Lastly, cars will be repainted when any major servicing is being done by a private firm, or contractor for a railroad. These places will do a thorough job, but usually dont go out of the way to cover pieces.

this is a standard job by a private contractor. the stencils are grouped together and done clearly over a bright buff square. this also illustrates how any information on a car will be stamped sooner or later

THE EXCEPTIONS
No matter how logical somthing may seem theres always exceptions. Sometimes cars with the reporting marks covered run for years, sometimes the whole thing gets painted the next day. Depending on where in north america you are, some of these things may or may not apply. Buffing is a very unreliable regional thing. It also depends alot on what kind of cars you paint, some cars are in such high demand that the railroad can simply not afford to stop it long enough to service it. Others arent worth the cost of painting, and some are such visible "billboards" for the company that they will be kept spotless at any cost. The Tropicana reefers are a good example of that, they've gone as far as putting a "graffiti proof" paint coating on them to speed the cleaning process. Try to keep these things in mind while painting.

THE WAR
Regardless of how the average workers feels about graff, the railroads themselves are dead set against it, especially when its costing them time and money to repaint information. Some railroads will seek out specific cars, or types of cars to buff. often with the sole purpose of covering a piece, even if it hasnt gone over information.

This CP newsprint flat has the usual reporting marks, and other info on the RIGHT side of the door instead of the left so this buffing was obviously done to cover a piece, and for no other reason.

this is rare, as railroads are very profit driven companies nowadays. most major railroads are the result of a long string of mergers, which provide a very diverse mix of cars in operation. Its still not uncommon to see a boxcar bearing the logo of a company that has been out of existance for 10-20+ years.

this boxcar is currently owned by Union Pacific. It was painted for "The Rock" (Chicago Rock Island & Pacific) in the mid 70s as part of a new image by the railroad, it was sold to CNW (Chicago and Northwestern) after bankruptcy in the early 80s. It was stamped with CNW reporting marks and continued on until 1995 when the CNW and Union Pacific merged. This car is still in active service, and probably wont be repainted until its absolutely necassary. This is a prime example of cost cutting by a major railroad. since this car isnt in high profile service they dont care what it looks like so long as it runs. If you had pieced this in the mid 80s and gone around the numbers it would probably still be running.

In some areas workers who are upset with the surge in graff on cars have taken it upon themselves to diss pieces done in certain spots or by certain writers most of the vicitims we've seen through here are dissed in black and white paint, with a looping or hatched pattern. If anyone has any more information on who/where these are being done we'd like to know. Here are two unfortunate victims...Rove and High



If the freight graff trend continues along the path its currently taking, we could see ourselves at war with the railroads over buffing. If writers stay off numbers, railroads may be more lenient, since its not interfering with the operation of the railroad. its easy enough to do, take this jelo piece for example

all the info is visible, and since its on a freshpaint railbox theres no telling how long it will last.
There will always be writers out there who dont give a damn about the longevity of the freight scene, this cant be changed, but those of us who are commited, and want to see things continue as they have been in the past must try to avoid the numbers, understand why they are there, and try to co-exist with the railroads. If you have any information you feel should be added to this guide please send it to nothingbutfreights@hotmail.com feedback is also appriciated