At the Oden State Fish Hatchery near Petoskey, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources displays a re-created railcar, a tribute to the fish car that stocked Michigan’s lakes and streams from 1914 to 1935. After years of Northern Michigan weather, the railcar had rust, fading, and flaking paint. Our VBP North crew handled the railcar restoration and metal coating along with the exterior painting of the visitor center, including siding, trim, soffit, and fascia.
For the railcar, we sandblasted to bare metal and applied a zinc-rich primer the same day. The visitor center had a hard seasonal deadline. Both scopes were delivered on time with coatings built to hold up through Northern Michigan winters.
Same-Day Sandblasting & Priming
Once bare metal is exposed, every hour counts. Rain or even overnight air moisture can start the rusting process immediately. Our crew coordinated to be on-site the same day sandblasting completed, ensuring the zinc-rich primer was applied before the metal ever had a chance to oxidize.
Deadline-Driven Scheduling Across Two Scopes
The visitor center carried a 2-week timeline and the railcar a 4-to-6 week process. Our team mapped both from the start, built in weather contingencies, and kept production moving on both fronts without letting either fall behind.
Reproducing the original lettering and multi-tone striping required careful hand-masking and stencil work. Every line had to be sharp and true to the original on a surface thousands of visitors to the Oden State Fish Hatchery will examine up close.
Project Details
Oden, Michigan
Industrial Sandblasting
Industrial Exterior Coating
Multi-tone Striping
Exterior Trim
Soffit & Fascia
Not many painting projects connect you to over a century of Michigan history. This one did. The railcar at the Oden State Fish Hatchery has been part of this state’s conservation story since the early 1900s, and now it looks the part again.
