Hint: Making floors on freight cars look a little better

One thing I noticed when running my Boxcars with doors open, that awful shiny black plastic look in these empties as the run pass. Then there are the gondolas with flooring same color as car or black.

Solution: Taking boxcars screws from bottom off and dropping floor(s). Taking wheel sets off, washing floors with soapy water, rinse and dry.

On Gondolas, I just spray the floors with electronic cleaner rather then washing. Then tape inside walls and overlap with paper the sides.

Flat cars can also be done same way and using same technique.

I then use Rust Oleum  camo sand spray. After drying, a latex Brown thinned wash over boards, dry and a final wash of thinned black to bring out individual boards and grains.

One can further age boards with black, greys, etc. chalks. When satisfied, seal with a clear matte spray.

Hope this helps. It also in a small way, a start in weathering.