Nineteenth Century Railroad Paint Color Research Compendium
A collaborative document
FOR INFORMATION ON PRIVATE CARS, CLICK HERE
UPDATE 10 October 2022: for ease of access, the data in this document is being migrated to PacificNG. This document will not be taken down, but the website will be the most up-to-date. https://www.pacificng.com/w/index.php?title=Historic_Railroad_Paint_Color_Index
Introduction
This document is a compilation of raw primary source documentation regarding the paint and lettering of North American railroads in the 19th Century. It is moderated to only include verifiable sources, so there is no hearsay, rumor, nor myth surrounding the information provided. It is provided publicly and free of charge to assist the historian, restorationist, or model railroader with determining accurate color and painting for railroad equipment in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Data is arranged alphabetically by railroad name.
Other 19th century railroad paint sources:
John Ott has compiled color lithographs of steam locomotives, in addition to his own illustrations of locomotive paint schemes based on modern research.
http://ottgalleries.com/FavoriteLinks.html
Pacificng.org has historic documents and paint samples as well as modern color cards and Andrew Brandon’s car illustrations: https://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/index.php
Stanford University possesses the Baldwin style books, which are examples painted using the factory’s real paint onto paper. While some are accurate depictions of specific railroads’ specifications, they are meant more to be guides for the striping and lettering, rather than for color. Colors for specific locomotives can only be determined through the Baldwin Order sheets.
Style book 1: https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/fb584yc9195?fbclid=IwAR0KWDCTISNBCZJQ1kuL3dOgmR8tv_gTwpGq5s6Xkvp-MUjEIkpPfZo3zos
Style book 2: https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/jw230zc7560?fbclid=IwAR3c8TdO2uvawr7zfAW9MZYxuN2EQqz8rObSTKw8S8YYC9n9TRprlmy9vVo
Southern Methodist University possesses the Baldwin order sheets, which when used in conjunction with the Baldwin style books can determine a given locomotive’s appearance. https://digitalcollections.smu.edu/digital/collection/rwy/id/32
They also have the William Halsey Locomotive Drawing Collection, which are contemporary paintings from the 1870s of locomotives from the Erie Railroad and Lehigh & Susquehanna.
https://digitalcollections.smu.edu/digital/collection/hal/search
Archive.org has digitized many paint manuals and catalogs that include actual paint samples, such as the following:
https://archive.org/details/MasuryLiquidHousePaint/page/n5/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/AverillChemicalPaintCompany/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/BinghamtonBestReadyMixedPaint/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/PicreMineralPaintReadyForUse/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/CombinationPaint/page/n1/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/AtlasReadyMixedPaintGenuineLinseedOilPaint/page/n1/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/H.W.JohnsLiquidAsbestosPaint/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/LiquidCottagePaints/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/ClevelandCottageColors/page/n3/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/paintersmixingma00darl/page/n16/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/CottageColors/page/n1/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/JohnLucasAndCompanyPaints/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/SenacaPaintAndColorCosPurePreparedPaints/page/n1/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/LongmanMartinezPurePaintsToBePreparedForImmediateUse/page/n3/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/WadsworthMartinezLongmanPurePaints/mode/2up
Many of these sources are referenced within the data of this document.
Rolling Stock Photograph Resources
While the emphasis of this document is the paint itself, rather than how the paint is applied, photographs are provided in some cases to illustrate the lettering styles.
Harrisburg Car Company Builder’s Photos:
https://library.artstor.org/#/search/artsubject:(Harrisburg%20Car%20Manufacturing%20Company)
Notes by Evan Abma on the Harrisburg Builder’s Photos:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fW24gKlhgGp0rq4R6gaOYNEVU6L3HsjbXpHtllBt6eQ/edit?usp=sharing
Jackson & Sharp Company Builder’s Photos:
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/search/searchterm/Jackson%20and%20Sharp%20Collection/field/collec/mode/exact/conn/and/order/nosort/ad/asc
Mineral and Metallic Paints (the Genesis of “Box Car Red”)
Two examples of “metallic paints,” both produced from iron ore, but each with its own unique color. The National Car Builder, October 1874.
Throughout this document, dozens of sources report on the use of “red,” “metallic” and “mineral” paints. For the most part, these words are interchangeable, referring to paints manufactured from iron oxides. In general, unless a specific shade such as “crimson,” “Tuscan” (Rio Grande Western passenger cars), “vermillion” (Red Line Fast Freight) or “brilliant” (Denver & Rio Grande cabooses) is specified, “red,” in the context of railroad pigments, often referred to what we may call brown or a brown-red. For examples of different reds used in railroad applications, see the color card from Pacificng.org (which includes Rawlins Red, the color of the Rawlins’ Metallic Paint advertised above): http://www.pacificng.com/ref/color/pdf/CC-Railroad-Red-Paints.pdf
While all of these paints are produced from iron ores, they come in a variety of shades and hues depending on the source of their ores and the baking process in refining the iron oxides. These ranged from dark yellow to orange to purple to deep brown to bright red. Unfortunately it is difficult to match precise colors to specific brands, but Prince’s Metallic (or Prince’s Mineral, depending on the time period) and Rawlins Red are both very well documented (see Denver & Rio Grande for a photograph of surviving Prince’s Metallic paint).
The rusting of iron and steel: how it may be prevented and how it is promoted, 1895 https://archive.org/details/rustingofironste00prin/page/12/mode/2up
Notes on interpreting written and visual documentation
It has been famously said that “the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.” As such, interpreting written color descriptions requires some understanding of 19th century cultural context as well as the condition of the paint industry at the time. For example, “metallic” and “mineral” are interchangeable as words but do not equate to the same hue. Both refer to paint manufactured from iron oxides, but the color of the paint is determined by the mine of origin and the manufacturer’s production processes. Mineral paints ranged from earthy oranges to rusty reds to deep browns. Today, “metallic” refers to flake paint that gives a reflective metal effect to the finish; in the 1800s, it meant paint made from oxidized metal (iron).
When used by 19th century observers, “yellow” can refer to the bold shades often used on passenger cars, such as “chrome yellow,” to the yellow ochre-based shades used on freight cars, such as buff. When a regular freight car (I.E. not in fast freight or line service) is described as being “yellow”, it is likely a shade ranging from a deep, earthy, yellow-ochre to a light buff. Of course, the shade of “yellow ochre” can vary widely; some varieties of yellow ochre are actually “yellow,” while others might best be described as light brown.
“Gold” and “Aluminum” can also cause some confusion. In general, such as with Baldwin spec sheets, “Gold” or “Aluminum” refers to metal leaf lettering, where very thin sheets of real metal were applied. However, “gold color” and “imitation gold” refers to a deep yellow pigment paint, rather than anything resembling gold metal itself. “Imitation aluminum” was usually a silvery-gray paint.
In addition, lithographs and color printed images must be taken carefully. Such images are limited by the ink pigments available to the process; unlike modern CMYK printing, 19th century color printing could not accurately replicate tone, shade and hue. Some illustrations may reflect the fancies or ignorance of the artist that prepared them and not the reality of their subjects. However, they are valuable to illustrate how the freight cars were imagined by the general public, and if prepared by a railroad, locomotive builder or car builder themselves can be trusted to provide at least a basic representation of the colors, if not something approaching the actual color value.
As such, the documentation is presented here without commentary except when necessary to contextualize the source. Some paint colors are well defined through historic swatches and surviving samples, but others may still be prone to subjective interpretation due to lack of information. Color samples are provided when named paint colors are identified; these are not to be taken as accurate, but rather as examples of how those color names were identified during the time period. Sources should be ranked in order of reliability as follows:
1. Official railroad painting diagrams and instruction sheets (most reliable)
2. Eyewitness accounts (newspapers, journals, etc. written in the moment)
3. Eyewitness paintings (works of art prepared by artists actually viewing the subject matter, such as plein aire paintings)
3. Secondary accounts (interviews, documents written retrospectively)
4. Lithographs and period printed illustrations (least reliable)
Contributor guidelines:
Formatting: Railroad title heading is 14 point bold. Secondary railroad titles (see the Blue Line/Fast Freight section as an example) are 11 point bold. Source citations are 11 point italic. If the source can be found online, please include a link to the entire document.
Photographs should only be included if they are certified to be in the public domain and/or a hyperlink is available to the source.
Contributors
Josh Bernhard, Evan Abma, Sam Anderson, Andrew Brandon
Index
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Americus, Preston & Lumpkin Railroad
1886: Passenger coach painted a “dark lake color.”
Americus Recorder (Americus, GA), 20 May 1886
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053201/1886-05-20/ed-1/seq-4/
1887: “Refreshment car” painted a “gorgeous yellow.”
Americus Recorder (Americus, GA), 7 May 1887
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053201/1887-05-07/ed-1/seq-3/
Macon & Brunswick Railroad
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Other 19th century railroad paint sources:
Americus, Preston & Lumpkin Railroad
Androscoggin Railroad
Ann Arbor Railroad
Atchison & Nebraska Railroad
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
Atlanta & LaGrange Railroad
Atlantic & Great Western Railroad
Atlantic & Gulf Railroad
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad
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Other 19th century railroad paint sources:
Americus, Preston & Lumpkin Railroad
Androscoggin Railroad
Ann Arbor Railroad
Atchison & Nebraska Railroad
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
Atlanta & LaGrange Railroad
Atlantic & Great Western Railroad
Atlantic & Gulf Railroad
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad
Androscoggin Railroad
1869: Passenger cars painted “elephant color.”
The Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, ME), 30 April 1869
https://books.google.ca/books?id=Y3AgAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false
Ann Arbor Railroad
1896: Boxcars in service painted red and have on their sides a “rectangle of black, bordered by a band of white,” which “forms a background for a large gold colored key. In the handle of the key is a white figure, upon which is a transverse key in black.”
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Atchison & Nebraska Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
Freight Cars
1881: AT&SF stock cars painted with “Winters Mineral Paint,” with lettering and numbering painted by brush.
The National Car Builder, November 1881, pg. 170
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1884: AT&SF fruit cars painted yellow.
The Denver Tribune (Denver, CO), 7 April 1884
1884: AT&SF boxcars and stock cars are painted brown. An unspecified AT&SF fast freight line has boxcars painted yellow.
Tulare Advance Register (Tulare, CA), 7 November 1884
1884: AT&SF Atlantic & Pacific fast freight boxcars bear a large cross of red and green on their doors.
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Other 19th century railroad paint sources:
Americus, Preston & Lumpkin Railroad
Androscoggin Railroad
Ann Arbor Railroad
Atchison & Nebraska Railroad
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
Atlanta & LaGrange Railroad
Atlantic & Great Western Railroad
Atlantic & Gulf Railroad
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad
The Topeka Daily Capital (Topeka, KS), 24 September 1884
1886: AT&SF refrigerator cars painted a “brilliant yellow with dark green doors.”
The Daily Tombstone (Tombstone, AZ), 13 February 1886
1890: AT&SF freight cars painted yellow.
The Albuquerque Morning Democrat (Albuquerque, NM), 25 February 1890
? to 1897: AT&SF ventilated and refrigerator cars painted white.
1897: AT&SF ventilated and refrigerator cars painted yellow, with black lettering and trimmings.
Topeka State Journal (Topeka, KS), 14 December 1897
1899: AT&SF boxcars painted mineral red.
The Globe-Republican (Dodge City, KS), 11 May 1899
Cabooses
1876: AT&SF cabooses painted red.
The Daily Commonwealth (Topeka, KS), 25 July 1876
1881: AT&SF way cars painted buff [just inside?], lettered in Tuscan red shaded with drab. Battens striped dark grey, deck painted two coats lead and one of engine vermilion. Roof painted with two coats of asbestos paint; platforms and steps given two coats of mineral paint. All outside ironwork, except trucks, painted lampblack.
The National Car Builder, November 1881, pg. 139
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1897: New standard of lettering adopted.
The Nickerson Argosy (Nickerson, KS), 25 February 1897
?-1899: AT&SF cabooses painted yellow.
1899-?: AT&SF cabooses painted mineral red.
The Globe-Republican (Dodge City, KS), 11 May 1899
The Wellington Journal (Wellington, KS), 1 July 1899
Passenger Cars
1859: First AT&SF coaches painted yellow.
The Globe-Republican (Dodge City, KS), 15 February 1900
See “1900” for the excerpt.
1879: AT&SF baggage cars painted bright yellow.
The Atchison Daily Patriot (Atchison, KS), 24 January 1879
1881: AT&SF baggage car roofs painted with asbestos paint, trucks painted one coat of mineral paint, two coats of drab, striped, and one coat of heavy varnish.
The National Car Builder, January 1881, pg. 6
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1882: AT&SF passenger cars painted light yellow.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 27 March 1882
1886: AT&SF passenger coaches painted canary.
The National Car Builder, December 1886, pg. 155
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286087860005961?lang=en
1890: AT&SF passenger cars begin to be painted maroon (Tuscan red).
Mesilla Valley Democrat (Las Cruces, NM), 15 July 1890
1891: AT&SF passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, June 1891, pg. 84
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055230005961?lang=en
1900: AT&SF passenger cars begin to be painted Pullman brown.
El Paso Daily Herald (El Paso, TX), 9 February 1900
The Globe-Republican (Dodge City, KS), 15 February 1900
The Daily Citizen (Albuquerque, NM), 14 May 1900
Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line Railway
1880: Passenger cars painted canary yellow.
Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 19 July 1880
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1880-07-19/ed-1/seq-1/
Atlanta & LaGrange Railroad
Freight Cars
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint, Chocolate color” used by the company. The testimonial does not explicitly state that the paint was used on cars.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Atlantic & Great Western Railroad
1860: Passenger cars painted Indian red.
The Cleveland Daily Leader (Cleveland, OH), 16 November 1860
? to 1862: Passenger cars painted brown.
1862: Passenger cars painted straw.
Jamestown Journal (Jamestown, NY), 17 October 1862
Atlantic & Gulf Railroad
1870: Passenger cars painted drab.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 2 April 1870
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1870-04-02/ed-1/seq-5/
1879: “Fast Mail” Postal cars painted buff and white, with “neat linings.” The car is lettered at the top, “U. S. Fast Mail,” in the centre, “Railway Mail Car,” and at the rear, “Atlantic and Gulf Railroad.”
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 21 July 1879
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1879-07-21/ed-1/seq-3/
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
1898: Passenger cars painted olive green “to correspond with the standard Pullman car colors.”
The Semi-Weekly Messenger (Wilmington, NC), 27 May 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1whaGqEuj4mj7Mji1HnnPpbO7ViX0qTod/view?usp=sharing
Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad
1872: Passenger cars painted bright red.
The Daily State Journal (Alexandria, VA), 25 January 1872
1876: Passenger coaches painted olive green, ornamented with gold leaf.
The Bristol News (Bristol, VA & TN), 16 May 1876
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026955/1876-05-16/ed-1/seq-4/
Augusta, Gibson & Sandersville Railroad
1887: Passenger cars painted brown with gold borders.
The Sandersville Herald (Sandersville, GA), 2 June 1887
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034106/1887-06-02/ed-1/seq-3/
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Freight Cars
1851: B&O used “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” since 1850. The testimonials indicate that “Black” and “Chocolate color” paints were used, but do not explicitly state that the paint was used on cars.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Blake’s Ohio Fire-Proof Paint, patented in 1848, was prepared from a “peculiar clay found in Sharon County, Ohio.”
The most commonly referenced colours of Blake’s paints are a dark chocolate colour and a dark slate colour that was nearly black.
The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil, 1855, pg. 236
The American Farmer’s Magazine, 1852, pg. 257
The Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser (Alexandria, VA), 10 May 1849
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85025007/1849-05-10/ed-1/seq-4/
There are two sources that describe the chemical composition of Blake’s paint. The first, from 1851, lists the paint pigment as being 54% silica, 24.2% alumina (aluminium oxide), 12.05% protoxide of iron (FeO2, iron peroxide), 2.31% lime, 2.42% magnesia (magnesium oxide), 1.5% carbon, 0.11% sulfur, 5% water, and 0.41% “loss.”
Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, 1851, pg. 1451
In 1852, the chemical composition was listed as 48.15% silica, 21% alumina (aluminium oxide), and 18.3% oxide of iron (FeO, iron monoxide).
The Loom and the Anvil, 1852, pg. 60
1853: B&O paint shop used “Ross’ Colchester Purple Metallic Paint” on cars (but not on wood parts). Ross’ paint was based in Truro, NS.
The Gazette (Montreal, QC), 13 July 1857
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17wKDozwTbcohlGayxp7sdsRd3_g-fuXH/view?usp=sharing
1874: B&O freight cars begin to be painted dark brown. Old Continental Line and Continental Line paint schemes to be removed.
The Sun (Baltimore, MD), 14 July 1874
1880: B&O 29’ refrigerator cars painted bright yellow with black edges. The cars also had a red diamond painted on each side, containing the letter “R” painted in black.
The National Car Builder, September 1881, pg. 144
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
American Railroad Journal 20 August 1880 p926.
1884: B&O Globe Line fast freight cars painted green and decorated with a large globe.
The Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA), 5 September 1884
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OT4eVkYLZUr8LDTXLXDVAZLU5V10-K3J/view?usp=sharing
1890: B&O fast freight boxcars painted green and marked with a “white shield.”
The Republican (Oakland, MD), 26 September 1890
1890: B&O Southwestern coal cars painted brown.
The Evening Capital (Annapolis, MD), 30 December 1890
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88065721/1890-12-30/ed-1/seq-3/
1892: B&O double-hopper gondola cars painted mineral brown. Ironwork and the underside of the cars painted with asphaltum. Lettering painted in white lead.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, September 1892, pg. 137
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055370005961?lang=en
1893: B&O lumber cars painted mineral brown. Ironwork and the underside of the cars painted with asphaltum or smoke-stack black.
Railroad Car Journal, February 1893, pg. 93
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286057710005961?lang=en
1896:
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
1897: B&O refrigerator cars begin to be painted white with black lettering.
The Boston Herald (Boston, MA), 28 September 1897
1900: B&O steel coal cars painted light brown.
The Sun (Baltimore, MD), 30 January 1900
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zOfweWJiG-O-rxEPFuoUP0_HpTo2wvWv/view?usp=sharing
1901: B&O boxcars and gondolas begin to be painted red.
The West Virginian Argus (Kingwood, WV), 21 March 1901
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092245/1901-03-21/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1777
Cabooses
? to 1901: Cabooses painted brown with white lettering.
1901: Cabooses begin to be painted scarlet, trimmings painted brown, ironwork and running gear painted black, and lettering in white.
The Daily Jeffersonian (Cambridge, OH), 18 November 1901
Passenger Cars
1830: B&O passenger car, “Columbus,” painted yellow. This was the first eight-wheeled passenger car.
Ross Winans vs. the Eastern Railroad Company, 1854, pg. 472
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433057112900?urlappend=%3Bseq=491
1856: B&O passenger cars painted vermillion red with blue and white striping. Running gear and ironwork painted black.
The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 17 September 1856
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1856-09-17/ed-1/seq-3/
1856: B&O passenger cars painted red.
The American Commercial Advertiser (Baltimore, MD), 17 November 1856
https://books.google.ca/books?id=w59BAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
1870: B&O passenger coaches painted orange.
The Wheeling Daily Register (Wheeling, WV), 18 January 1870
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026847/1870-01-18/ed-1/seq-3/
1870: B&O sleeping cars painted “green and gold.”
Wilmington Daily Council (Wilmington, DE), 12 August 1870
1871: B&O passenger cars “manufactured now are all painted one color.”
Public Ledger (Memphis, TN), 23 August 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PtgFKMYR_3RFJcnOd5fA5-uF0gVFAIGZ/view?usp=sharing
1873: B&O passenger car painted a “delicate yellow color, with striping of red, green and brown.”
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 29 March 1873
1873: B&O postal cars painted yellow with gold striping and ornamented corners.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 2 July 1873
1876: B&O passenger coaches start to be painted wine.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 18 December 1876
The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, WV), 20 December 1876
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026844/1876-12-20/ed-1/seq-4/
? to 1879: B&O passenger coaches painted yellow.
1879: B&O passenger coaches start to be painted dark brown (described as black, plum, olive, etc.).
The West Virginia Argus (Kingwood, WV), 25 January 1879
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092245/1879-01-25/ed-1/seq-3/
Columbus Evening Dispatch (Columbus, OH), 12 February 1879
The Wheeling Register (Wheeling, WV), 21 March 1879
1880: B&O sleeping cars painted “in rich olive color, relieved by ornamental stripes and figures of oriental design.”
The Sun (Baltimore, MD), 14 September 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m0zkAo2tbIHzWXtAS72VzAz5XEtkJSQc/view?usp=sharing
Sleeping car “Mount Claire” painted “rich olive color” with gold leaf striping.
American Railroad Journal 13 November 1880 p1191.
1880: B&O sleeping cars painted “in brown and gold.”
The Cleveland Leader (Cleveland, OH), 16 October 1880
1880: B&O passenger cars painted a “rich olive color.” Relieved by gilt-panel striping and ornamental figures.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 1 November 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RauDyzhaZnDiwrpEjfw2eR7n57yZcn1M/view?usp=sharing
1881: B&O passenger coaches painted chocolate, the “standard color.”
The Sun (Baltimore, MD), 26 February 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mFsfIG2cVBmcmwuqEtyhMlwDkDeIN0Db/view?usp=sharing
1882: B&O passenger cars painted “chocolate color.” Ornamentation limited to “plain striping.”
The National Car Builder, January 1882, pg. 10
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1882: B&O passenger coaches painted chocolate with gold striping; B&O sleeping cars painted like passenger coaches, except the letter-board, which is painted black.
The National Car Builder, June 1882, pg. 62
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1882: B&O postal car painted white with ultramarine borders and gold lettering. Carriage and under-gear painted black and light brown.
The National Car Builder, August 1882, pg. 89
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1890: B&O “Royal Blue Line” passenger cars painted dark blue.
The Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE), 30 August 1890
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042354/1890-08-30/ed-1/seq-4/
1891: B&O passenger cars painted dark brown, the “standard color of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad.”
The Morning Herald (Baltimore, OH), 10 July 1891
https://books.google.ca/books?id=PktCAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
1892: B&O “Royal Blue Line” passenger cars painted the standard “Pullman color, an olive brown.”
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, January 1892, pg. 18
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055370005961?lang=en
1893: B&O passenger cars painted dark wine.
The Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, PA), 24 February 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lig1Cop92f8xWXbUY0oCPLeCUx_ap5tf/view?usp=sharing
1893: B&O “Royal Blue Line” cars painted dark blue.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, June 1893, pg. 98
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055510005961?lang=en
1895: B&O postal cars “painted in the Baltimore & Ohio standard colors, with silver lettering.”
The Minneapolis Journal (Minneapolis, MN), 9 October 1895
1882 to 1896: B&O passenger cars painted brown.
1896: All B&O passenger cars begin to be painted “royal blue,” with gold striping and black roofs. Platforms and trucks painted a “salmon shade.”
The Morning Herald (Baltimore, MD), 6 May 1896
Wheeling Register (Wheeling, WV), 8 May 1896
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18y_SjvzWFwLrwwJbNMtZr4koV-KVwW2G/view?usp=sharing
The Mansfield Daily Shield (Mansfield, OH), 3 April 1897
1898: B&OSW “Royal Blue Line” sleeping cars painted the “Pullman standard color.”
The Ohio Democrat (Canal Dover, OH), 1 December 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e0o5SgzNC6DFSqkritGXC3JLWrw66FQf/view?usp=sharing
1901: B&O passenger coaches painted a “brownish, black or drab color.”
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092245/1901-03-21/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1777
Bangor & Aroostook Railroad
Freight Cars
1894: Freight cars painted brown.
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 28 February 1894
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1894-02-28/ed-1/seq-6/
1898: Freight cars painted red, with the shade being not as dark as those used by the Boston & Maine and Maine Central.
The Republican Journal (Belfast, ME), 6 January 1898
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn78000873/1898-01-06/ed-1/seq-1/
Passenger Cars
1894: Passenger cars painted a deep India red, striped and lettered in gilt.
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 5 December 1894
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1894-12-05/ed-1/seq-8/
Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad
1881: Passenger cars painted straw and ornamented in black, maroon, green, and gilt. Lettering in gilt and shaded with green.
Bangor Daily Whig and Courier (Bangor, ME), 7 June 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VKPpUF1lDlbg6lu5YP-Vqf1Plyoc5m6l/view?usp=sharing
Bellaire & South Western Railway
1880: Mail car painted light brown.
The Spirit of Democracy (Woodsfield, OH), 11 May 1880
Blue Line (Fast Freight)
Blue Line cars were contributed by participating railroads, so there is a wide variety in paint and lettering styles. The most common variants were blue bodies with white lettering, blue bodies with yellow lettering, white bodies with blue lettering, and possibly yellow bodies with dark blue lettering, but with many variations depending on railroad and year. The dark blue was often described in newspapers as similar to blue jean cloth, as with this humorous entry:
The New North-West (Deer Lodge, MO), 8 September 1876
Other cars were painted white; if the standard practice continued through the entire life of the company, then the white cars were refrigerated.
Morris County Chronicle (Morristown, NJ), 20 February 1880 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85035816/1880-02-20/ed-1/seq-1/
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Blue Line Cars:
1867: Painted blue.
The Troy Reporter (Troy, KS), 7 March 1867
Chicago & Northwestern Railway:
1873: Painted blue.
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), 12 October 1873
Great Western Railway of Canada Blue Line Cars:
Central Pacific Railroad Museum http://cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/blue_line_waybill_1877.html
Lithograph circa 1867
https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/archive/C9EC8DE2-221B-49EA-9C37-823339403787
Note: It is uncertain whether the Great Western Railway had Blue Line cars lettered in yellow, given that all textual sources describe the lettering as being white.
1866: Painted blue with white lettering.
Ottawa Daily Citizen (Ottawa, ON), 16 November 1866
1873: Painted ultramarine with white lettering shaded with black.
1873 Great Western Railway of Canada freight car specifications, Library Archives of Canada
Full document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqX1lgRJTGV2uLjuKt2sX5JFtw344Ufh/view?usp=drivesdk
Masury’s coach colors (1877) Ultramarine Blue (note that color may have shifted due to chemical aging or reaction with the paper, so originally could have appeared more vibrant) from http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/masury/index.htm
Murphy Varnish Company’s Fine Carriage and Railway Varnishes. 1897
Housatonic Railroad Blue Line Cars:
Appears to have lettering with dark drop shadowing and black ironwork. The car’s construction bears some similarities with the original Blue Line standard.
Ph. Best & Co's South side Brewery, Stereograph
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-c0aa-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Michigan Central Blue Line Cars
1867: Cars painted blue; William W. Chandler (Chicago general agent for the Union Star Line” wrote in 1889 that the Blue Line opened “---with a splendid equipment of new cars painted blue.” (see Railroad History No.141, 1979)
“How to avoid delays and accidents,” Clay Cosack & Co. ca.1880, NYC&HRRR advertising lithograph https://www.justanswer.com/antiques/9puve-found-railroad-print-thats-says-avoid-accidents.html
Johns Hopkins University Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, 1867 https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/057/030
1867: Refrigerator cars had white bodies
Dodgeville Chronicle (Dodgeville, WI), 6 June 1867 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033019/1867-06-06/ed-1/seq-3/
Before 1869, Michigan Central’s billboard cars were lettered “From the Atlantic to the Mississippi,” and after an agreement with the California Fast Freight Line (Central Pacific, Union Pacific and Chicago & North-Western) was made in 1869, were lettered “From the Atlantic to the Pacific.”
Chicago Evening Post, (Chicago, IL), 20 July 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S0lJ04tTvvd2esim7-J8Z7iT4kgOjgid/view?usp=sharing
1869 was also the year that the MCRR Blue Line cars appear to have switched from wood-beam trucks to iron trucks, possibly marking the point at which a shared “Blue Line” car design between companies was abandoned.
Chicago Evening Post, (Chicago, IL), 20 July 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S0lJ04tTvvd2esim7-J8Z7iT4kgOjgid/view?usp=sharing
New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Blue Line Cars:
1867: Painted blue, with yellow lettering.
The Quebec Mercury (Quebec City, QC), 9 January 1867
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3678525
1876: Painted blue, with white lettering and blackened ironwork.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 May 1876
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_gZCDq_phN8ewR7R655iGw0t-u-3gNv/view?usp=sharing
Railway World Vol. 20, 1 July 1876 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021721769&view=1up&seq=455
NYC&HRRR Blue Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1874. Painted blue with black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/#/public/SS37537_37537_39179404
For more info on the Harrisburg Builders photos, see: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fW24gKlhgGp0rq4R6gaOYNEVU6L3HsjbXpHtllBt6eQ/edit?usp=sharing
NYC&HRRR Blue Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1876. Painted blue, with white lettering with black ironwork. This car was displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179374
1880: Roofs were brown and ironwork was black.
Railroad Gazette, 10 December 1880
“The Cost of Painting Freight Cars as Affected by their Color”
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=694
Philadelphia & Reading Blue Line Cars
1882: Painted blue.
Reading Times (Reading, PA), 30 October 1882
Portland & Ogdensburg Blue Line Cars
A photograph depicts a car with a dark body, white lettering, and black ironwork.
Toledo, Canada Southern & Detroit Blue Line Cars
1879: Painted blue.
The Semi-Weekly New Era (Lancaster, PA), 3 May 1879
Boston & Albany Railroad
Freight Cars
1872: B&A grain cars painted a “flame-colored yellow or orange” with black lettering and ironwork.
The National Car Builder, May 1872, pg. 7
B&A grain car, circa 1890, in Holyoke, MA.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:1v53k839g
Passenger Cars
1872: B&A drawing-room car, “Massasoit,” painted “an olive brown color, richly decorated with gold leaf scroll work, the name “Massasoit” being surrounded by a perfect net-work of gilt tracery.”
The Springfield Daily Republican (Springfield, MA), 3 June 1872
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NBLlVc05jIw_4nurNUXbAjRxGRjWXlhA/view?usp=sharing
1873: B&A Wagner drawing-room car, “Shawmut,” painted a “rich olive, striped and ornamented in gold.” The name of the car is painted a gold-trimmed oval panel, and the titles, “Wagner’s drawing room car,” and, in smaller type, “Boston and Rochester through line,” are painted in black “at either end.”
The Springfield Daily Republican (Springfield, MA), 7 May 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YHm8QeBxvye_D7JB3uQ4zZQ1-CVM4tRA/view?usp=sharing
? to 1880: B&A passenger cars painted yellow
1880: B&A passenger cars begin to be painted “an olive color.”
The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 26 October 1886
1880: B&A directors’ car painted olive, with “little ornamentation save a gold stripe running around each panel, and the name of the road in plain letters on the letter-board.”
The National Car Builder, July 1880, pg. 123
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1880: B&A passenger cars painted a “dark olive brown color.”
The Railroad Gazette, 3 December 1880, pg. 647 https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=683
1880: B&A passenger cars on the “New York and Boston Express Line” train painted olive, embellished with crimson and gold. The names of the cars were inscribed on each side “in a bed of black.”
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), 6 December 1880
https://archive.org/details/LiquidCottagePaints/mode/2up
1882: B&A passenger cars painted an “olive shade.”
Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT), 26 June 1882
1882: B&A baggage, smoking, passenger, and drawing room cars painted a “pleasant shade of green.”
The Springfield Daily Republican (Springfield, MA), 24 June 1882
1882: B&A “New York and Boston Express Line” train painted olive, with markings in “plain buyt handsome letters.”
The National Car Builder, August 1882, pg. 85
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1888: B&A sleeping cars painted “in the standard dark brown.”
The Railroad Gazette, 13 July 1888, pg. 457
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053247?urlappend=%3Bseq=493
1888: B&A sleeping cars painted “in the standard Boston & Albany color - dark brown”, with very little ornamentation. (Likely referring to the cars described in the above excerpt).
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 17 July 1888
https://books.google.ca/books?id=Yns-AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1890: B&A combination cars painted the “B. & A. standard color, are severely plain, with no panels and no gilt ornamentation.”
The Boston Herald (Boston, MA), 12 March 1890
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ldsQk3W-r6cm7_076WGYHVjGKIQRqihq/view?usp=sharing
1895: Passenger cars of the B&A “New York and Boston Express Line” train painted “light olive color, and decorated in gold leaf with design of Pullman Car Company’s patterns.”
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 27 September 1895
https://books.google.ca/books?id=nq9AAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Boston & Lowell Railroad
1885: Parlor cars, “Winnipesaukee” and “Memphremagog,” painted maroon, with gold lettering and ornamentation. Car sides bear the letters “Northern Parlor Car Company.”
The Boston Herald (Boston, MA), 22 May 1885
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1REPhr2ePy6Xa-ts3bO8-fKQmcO1yvID_/view?usp=sharing
Boston & Maine Railroad
Freight Cars
? to 1897: Box cars painted a lead or slate colour with mineral brown roofs, blackened iron, and yellow block letters. Flat and coal cars painted mineral brown.
1897 to ?: Freight cars painted mineral brown (a shade darker than that previously used on roofs, flatcars, and coal cars) with white Roman letters.
Portland Daily Press, 29 July 1890 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1890-07-29/ed-1/seq-4/
Railroad Car Journal, December 1897
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1285783840005961?lang=en
H.W. John’s Roof, Railroad and Seaside Paints ca.1883 http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/hwjohns/index.htm
https://archive.org/details/WetherillsReadyMixedAtlasPaint/page/n3/mode/2up
Cleveland Oil and Paint Mfg. Co. ca.1890 https://archive.org/details/ClevelandCottageColors/page/n3/mode/2up
The carriage painters' illustrated manual, 1877 https://archive.org/details/carriagepainters00gard/page/28/mode/1up
B&M boxcar in Providence, RI, circa 1890. The car is painted slate with a mineral brown roof and yellow lettering.
1897: Outshopping stencil introduced. Letters are first three letters of the shop where work was performed (Lawrence, Salem, Somerville), center numeral is month of outshopping and lower is the year. Figure is six inches across. This was introduced to trace lettering errors to their source after “Maine” was accidentally spelled “Mitane” on a boxcar.
Railroad Car Journal June 1897
B&M boxcar in Cambridge, MA, circa 1900. Outshopping stencil dated to 1898. The car is painted mineral brown with white lettering.
https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/197662/
Passenger Cars
1871: B&M passenger car painted light straw, richly striped and ornamented.
The Boston Traveler (Boston, MA), 16 May 1871
1873: B&M parlor car painted wine, ornamented with gold-leaf.
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), 9 July 1873
Boston & Maine parlor car built by the Portland Company sometime in the 1870s.
https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/12088/zoom
1882: B&M parlor cars painted dark maroon.
The National Car Builder, August 1882, pg. 89
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1884: B&M parlor cars painted lake, with gold ornamentation.
The National Car Builder, July 1884, pg. 81
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1885: B&M passenger, “Magnolia,” running an old Eastern Railroad route, painted a deep crimson.
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 22 May 1885
https://books.google.ca/books?id=3UMzAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
1886: B&M parlor cars painted dark cherry with gold trimmings.
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), 3 June 1886
1886: B&M passenger and baggage cars painted a “light straw color.”
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 7 September 1886
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1886-09-07/ed-1/seq-1/
? to 1890: B&M passenger cars painted yellow.
? to 1885: B&M baggage cars painted a yellow-brown.
1885 to 1890: B&M baggage cars painted Tuscan red.
1890: B&M baggage cars painted yellow.
1891 to ?: B&M passenger cars painted “Pullman color.”
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 14 February 1885
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1885-02-14/ed-1/seq-4/
The Beverly Citizen (Beverly, MA), 22 November 1890
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 29 November 1890
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1890-11-29/ed-1/seq-4/
1891: B&M passenger cars of the eastern and western divisions begin to be painted dark olive green with gilt lettering. Passenger cars of the Lowell division already painted dark olive green with gilt lettering.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 26 November 1891
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1891-11-26/ed-1/seq-1/
1892: B&M passenger cars painted olive green with gilt stripes.
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 10 March 1892
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1892-03-10/ed-1/seq-2/
1893: B&M passenger cars painted white. [Dubious]
The Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, PA), 24 February 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lig1Cop92f8xWXbUY0oCPLeCUx_ap5tf/view?usp=sharing
1893: B&M Pullman coaches painted the “regulation Pullman color.”
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 14 September 1893
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1893-09-14/ed-1/seq-8/
1897: The last B&M yellow passenger is painted dark, completing the nearly 6-year-long process of repainting all of the company’s passenger cars.
The Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, ME), 2 October 1897
https://books.google.ca/books?id=wtAgAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
Boston & Providence Railroad
1871: Passenger cars painted red.
The Boston Daily Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 27 July 1871
https://books.google.ca/books?id=2OozAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
1873: Passenger cars painted chocolate brown and “elegantly ornamented.”
The Providence Morning Star (Providence, RI), 22 May 1873
Boston & Worcester Railroad
Freight Cars
Late-1830s?: Covered cars painted with “2 coats Slate Color.”
Specifications for Boston & Worcester Covered Car ca. 1835 to 1840, Baker Library Manuscript Division, Harvard School of Business Administration (ostensibly within the Boston & Albany Railroad company records), from White, The American Railroad Freight Car, 1993, pg. 165
Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad
Passenger Cars
1870: BC&M passenger car painted green and gold.
The National Car Builder, September 1870, pg. 4
1871: First-class passenger cars painted a “light buff color, and elaborately ornamented.”
The Independent Democrat (Concord, NH), 7 July 1870
1873: BC&M drawing-room car, “Mt. Washington,” painted a “dark wine color, with gilt lacings and filagree.”
Essex County Herald (Guildhall, VT), 2 August 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lieNiJmB2xkKOdo6kwdt9uVgHHfBstYj/view?usp=sharing
1879: BC&M summer passenger cars painted white.
Argus and Patriot (Montpelier, VT), 2 July 1879
Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad
1865: Passenger cars “handsomely painted with gold color and brilliant ornaments.”
The Hartford Weekly Times (Hartford, CT), 14 January 1865
https://books.google.ca/books?id=PrAyAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad
1885: Combination cars painted Indian red, with gold lettering and ornamentation.
The Boston Herald (Boston, MA), 9 June 1885
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jggMjDgxr63ojn9yO6BMJaPQbOMvMVl2/view?usp=sharing
Brattleboro & Whitehall Railroad
1881: Excursion cars painted bright yellow.
St. Albans Daily Messenger and Advertiser (St. Albans, VT), 16 August 1881
Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad
1907: Passenger cars painted dark green, with rigging painted brown and wheels painted red.
The Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 17 May 1907
Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad
1875: BNY&P passenger coaches painted “light colors.”
1878 to 1881: BNY&P passenger coaches painted “dark colors.”
The National Car Builder, June 1881, pg. 66
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1883: BNY&P baggage, express, and passenger cars are painted olive green.
The Olean Democrat (Olean, NY), 23 October 1883
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway
Freight Cars
1899: BR&P freight and coal cars started to be painted bright yellow.
Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, PA), 31 July 1899
Passenger Cars
1899: BR&P passenger cars painted Pullman olive, striped and lettered in gold leaf.
The Buffalo Commercial (Buffalo, NY), 27 September 1899
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MglW8vao0SkJVb8dy87qeKO-rCe_iRMN/view?usp=sharing
Burlington & Lamoille Railroad
Freight Cars
1882: Refrigerator car painted white.
The Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), 3 April 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LaLi83YT2ekwmBj6FBEM9RnSMyjL8gIK/view?usp=sharing
Passenger Cars
1877: Second class passenger cars painted brown, picked out in red. The bodies of first class passenger cars feature gold leaf.
The Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT) 3 July 1877
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b5-Pwuo8w_7Wn_6Dlvw3RjrPT9WlOf2p/view?usp=sharing
1886: Passenger coach, “Vermont,” painted in “English roselake, the rich and luscious color of ripe cherries, and is ornamented with light blue stripes.”
St. Albans Daily Messenger and Advertiser (St. Albans, VT), 26 May 1886
1887: Passenger cars painted bright red.
News & Citizen (Morrisville, VT), 6 January 1887
St. Albans Weely Messenger and Advertiser (St. Albans, VT), 13 June 1887
Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway
1896: BA&P passenger cars started to be painted dark green.
The Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, MO) 11 May 1896
Camden & Amboy Railroad
Freight Cars
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” used on cars since 1849.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Canada Atlantic Railway
Passenger Cars
1891: First-class passenger coach bodies unpainted; finished in natural Canadian cherry wood, with ornamentation in gold leaf.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, July 1891, pg. 111
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055230005961?lang=en
1899: Passenger coach bodies unpainted; finished in natural cherry wood.
The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, ON), 13 April 1899
https://books.google.ca/books?id=qFMtAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false
Canada Southern Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
1882: Cattle car bodies, roofs, and trucks coated with mineral paint; ironwork painted gloss black. These specifications are identical between the NYC&HRRR, Michigan Central, LS&MS, and Canada Southern, given that all four are Vanderbilt lines.
The National Car Builder, February 1882, pg. 19
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1883: Dining cars, “Detroit” and “St. Thomas,” painted light yellow, and upon the upper edge of their sides in metal letters are the words “Michigan - C. S. Div. Central.” Centre panels on the sides bear the cars’ respective names.
American Railroad Journal, 31 March 1883, pg. 7
https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Railway_Locomotives_and_Cars/w2NCAQAAMAAJ?hl=en
Canadian Pacific Railway
Freight Cars
Early-1880s: freight cars were painted buff (yellow ochre + white lead) with blackened ironwork. Photographs generally show buff-coloured cars with end sheathing and roofs painted mineral brown or oxide red.
Specification of 33-foot Box Car
https://archive.org/details/cihm_34536/page/n21/mode/2up
Specification of 33-foot Cattle Car
https://archive.org/details/cihm_37323/page/n17/mode/2up
CPR boxcar painted buff at Guilford, ME, sometime in the 1880s or early 1890s.
https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/33768/zoom
CPR boxcar in the Selkirk Mountains, BC, sometime in the 1890s.
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/c-p-r-work-train-boarding-cars-in-selkirk-mountains
1898: CPR trucks painted black.
The Lethbridge News (Lethbridge, AB), 22 June 1898
https://books.google.ca/books?id=iwIJAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA6#v=onepage&q&f=false
Passenger Cars
Early-1880s?: CPR passenger cars painted yellow.
1883: CPR parlour car bodies unpainted, high polished mahogany, with gilt ornamentations.
The National Car Builder, March 1883, pg. 25
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
1883: CPR sleeping cars painted in the company’s standard colour, richly ornamented in maroon and gold.
The National Car Builder, June 1883, pg. 65
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
1891: CPR parlour car, “Penobscot,” exterior body a “rich reddish brown,” with gilt lettering.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 12 August 1891
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1891-08-12/ed-1/seq-4/
1891: CPR palace car “Jeannette” was painted dark green, detailed with gold leaf, and had platforms with bronze railings.
The Gazette (Montreal, QC), 19 August 1891
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZwPvpFAuFMJpGTKIPLwFL4WtoQuXoerj/view?usp=sharing
1893: CPR passenger cars “varnished but not painted,” with the colour being dark red. Lettering in gold, edged in black.
The Railway Engineer, May 1893, pg. 138
1893: CPR sleeping car body unpainted; finished in Honduras mahogany.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, June 1893, pg. 87
1898: CPR trucks painted black.
The Lethbridge News (Lethbridge, AB), 22 June 1898
https://books.google.ca/books?id=iwIJAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA6#v=onepage&q&f=false
Carolina Central Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Carson & Colorado Railroad
Passenger Cars
1881: Passenger cars painted cherry red.
Lyon County Times (Yerington, NV), 12 February 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UNdu2a9B30KMiXLEw3XUwtOZO64_8aXX/view?usp=sharing
Cayuga Lake Railroad
1873: Passenger, mail, and baggage cars painted light yellow, with “tasteful lettering and ornamental work.
The National Car Builder, June 1873, pg. 133
Central Pacific Railroad
Freight Cars
See Andrew Brandon’s research and illustrations here: https://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/index.php&pg=contemporary
Cabooses
1871: Central Pacific cabooses painted “the same color as the Company’s passenger coaches.”
The San Francisco Bulletin (San Francisco, CA), 21 January 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16fdRmH0w24fYWeYy0ypBsptU0UFxWbxR/view?usp=sharing
1883: Central Pacific cabooses begin to be painted bright red.
The Kern County Californian (Bakersfield, CA), 10 November 1888
https://books.google.ca/books?id=fpZhAAAAIBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Passenger Cars
Central Pacific “Silver Palace” sleeping car built by the Jackson & Sharp Company, circa 1869.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/1758/rec/1
1872: Central Pacific passenger cars painted yellow.
Central Pacific palace car painted yellow, ornaments given a silver finish, and renditions of Yosemite Valley and Lake Tahoe painted on each side of the car.
The Daily Bee (Sacramento, CA), 27 April 1872
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FlmJvcRBDjGtXfbillfrmpSnM94yG9py/view?usp=sharing
1876: Central Pacific passenger cars painted bright yellow.
Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, PA), 8 June 1876
? to 1883: Central Pacific passenger cars painted yellow.
1883: Central Pacific passenger cars begin to be painted a pale green or dark brown (“Pullman color”), depending on the newspaper.
1883: Central Pacific emigrant cars begin to be painted bright red.
The Silver State (Unionville, NV), 17 October 1883
The Kern County Californian (Bakersfield, CA), 10 November 1888
https://books.google.ca/books?id=fpZhAAAAIBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
1884: Central Pacific “Crystal Palace” sleeping cars painted “Pullman color, a dark plum” and striped and finished with gold leaf.
The National Car Builder, July 1884, pg. 81. See New York, New Haven & Hartford for color samples.
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056520005961?lang=en
1886: Central Pacific “Silver Palace” sleeping cars, previously painted yellow, turned into passenger coaches (painted dark olive?).
Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA), 9 November 1886
1889: Central Pacific “tourists’ cars” painted a “dull lead color.”
The Daily Optic (Las Vegas, NM), 25 February 1889
Central Railroad of Georgia
Freight Cars
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” used by the company since 1847. The testimonial does not explicitly state that the paint was used on cars.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96 [The date, “1861,” is in error. It was likely supposed to be “1851.”]
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
1888: Flag trademark consisting of a “white field with blue bar running from each of the four corners across the flag,” bearing the letters “C. R. R. of Ga.,” begins to be painted on the sides of all boxcars.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 5 September 1888
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86063034/1888-09-05/ed-1/seq-8/
Passenger Cars
1883: Sleeping cars painted “Pullman color.”
The National Car Builder, October 1883, pg. 110
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
1884: Roadmaster’s cars painted “the usual” dark olive green, and lettered, in gold and crimson, “Roadmaster’s Car, Central Railroad.”
Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, GA), 22 August 1884
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84024798/1884-08-22/ed-1/seq-1/
1887: Passenger cars begin to be painted Tuscan red.
Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 16 March 1887
1887: Passenger cars painted wine.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 20 June 1887
1889: Sleeping car, “Coosada,” painted olive, with gilt trimmings.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 5 February 1889
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86063034/1889-02-05/ed-1/seq-2/
1892: Passenger cars on the fast train, “Nancy Hanks,” painted bright vermilion red, with lettering in light gold.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 9 October 1892
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86063034/1892-10-09/ed-1/seq-8/
1893: Passenger cars on the fast train, “Nancy Hanks,” painted blue.
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) 17 February 1893
1887 to 1909: Passenger coaches painted Tuscan red.
1909: Passenger coaches begin to be painted “Pullman green.”
The Carroll Free Press (Carrollton, GA), 16 December 1909
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053126/1909-12-16/ed-1/seq-4/
Central Railroad of New Jersey
Freight Cars
1879: CNJ coal cars painted dark brown.
The Semi-Weekly New Era (Lancaster, PA), 3 May, 1879
1889: CNJ boxcars painted buff with brown trimming (roofs?) and black lettering.
Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, PA), 17 April 1889
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qizh2nLLOehTuqqOyI-LSjbe9o3OhYxs/view?usp=sharing
? to 1892: Freight cars painted yellow (just boxcars?).
1892 to ?: Freight cars painted dark brown.
The Courier-News (Bridgewater, NJ), 14 December 1893
1896: An observer most likely referring to older freight cars. The company’s roundel is most likely bright red surrounded by white (with pink being a faded red).
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
1899: CNJ gondolas painted a “coal black.”
The Scranton Tribune (Scranton, PA), 13 May 1899
Passenger Cars
1888: CNJ passenger coaches painted yellow.
1888: CNJ parlor cars painted black and gold.
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), 26 August 1888
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1888-08-26/ed-1/seq-11/#date1=1777
1892: CNJ starts to paint passenger cars in “the Reading’s” brown, with gold trimmings.
The Philadelphia Record (Philadelphia, PA), 28 June 1892
1893: CNJ standard passenger cars painted “Pullman color.”
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, June 1893, pg. 90
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055510005961?lang=en
Central Transportation Company
1867: “Silver Palace” car painted dark brown.
The Fort Wayne Daily Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), 19 July 1867
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JeIa2nKQ7M8E-EnyLVwlRDrVk8gFv6vI/view?usp=sharing
Central Transportation Company “Silver Palace” sleeping car built by the Jackson & Sharp Company, circa 1869.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/1759
1869: Sleeping cars, “City of Knoxville” and “City of Lynchburg,” painted a “light straw color.”
The Daily Morning Chronicle (Washington, DC), 15 June 1869
Central Vermont Railroad
Includes “Vermont Central Railroad”. For information on the CV’s Southern Division, see “New London Northern Railroad.”
Freight Cars
1886: CV butter cars painted “a very delicate shade of pink.”
The Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), 2 April 1886
1889: CV coal cars marked “George Hall Lake and Rail Line” painted black with white lettering.
Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), 29 November 1889
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86072143/1889-11-29/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1777
Cabooses
1882: CV saloon cars begin to be painted vermilion red.
St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 11 July 1882
St. Albans Weekly Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 28 July 1882
Passenger Cars
1864: Vermont Central “ladies car” painted in imitation of rosewood with gilt trimmings and paintings on the panels (portraits of railroad company trustees).
Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT) 19 March 1864
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B0z0ENKl25DQpJxYyk8rgh12-hv9y8DQ/view?usp=sharing
1870: Vermont Central passenger coach painted yellow, with corners and window-casings painted a “deep orange color,” outside molding and window-caps painted bronze green, and striping in blue and black.
The St. Albans Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 24 June 1870
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1duMYPa54zwy0yQJ2W87bXmKrU880r-I-/view?usp=sharing
1870: Vermont Central sleeping car “St. Albans” painted yellow, with “caps and corners of bronze green and orange color, and stripings of lavender, white, carmine, green, black and gold.”
The St. Albans Weekly (St. Albans, VT), 7 October 1870
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zgKPAtfrdU8kjOSxoR0AoEFymSTxc0Dw/view?usp=sharing
1871: Vermont Central Pullman sleeping cars, “Saint Albans” (a different car than the one described in 1870), “Montpelier,” “Concord,” and “Nashua,” painted a “very dark, almost black color; and the striping and ornamenting, which is very profuse, being almost wholly gold, with a little red and green interspersed.”
St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 16 July 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FZiPCLpTF1ILlhHVbShXYdmVgXuPhD8P/view?usp=sharing
1877: CV Wagner sleeping car painted dark olive with striping and ornamentation in gold leaf, green, carmine lake, and vermillion. Panel mouldings in drop black, edged in bronze green. Lettering in gold, shaded with carmine lake, vermillion, and black. Trucks painted Indian red, striped with pale green.
The Burlington Weekly Free Press (Burlington, VT), 25 May 1877
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86072143/1877-05-25/ed-1/seq-3/
1881: CV Pullman palace cars painted dark olive green, richly ornamented in “gold and colors.”
Argus and Patriot (Montpelier, VT), 31 January 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_OczSWLLc4ZfxXs5SgHBiCHVqv8aWMCb/view?usp=sharing
Pre-1881: Most CV passenger cars painted bright straw yellow.
1881-?: Newly painted passenger cars are painted a “rich olive brown.”
Swanton Courier (Swanton, VT), 5 February 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RMP2mSRKY7vbTxtAyHZrbcNaC4AP9jbL/view?usp=sharing
St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 6 April 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1syGuMaB8lYmmxT_eZ6-5z_d7TkibhUJn/view?usp=sharing
1881: Passenger cars on CV train, the “New York & White Mountains,” painted dark, lettered with gold leaf.
The Vermont Watchman and State Journal, 29 June 1881
1881: CV baggage car painted the “olive shade now used on all the company’s cars.”
St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 8 November 1881
1882: CV passenger cars on the “Boston & Montreal Express” are painted olive and old gold.
St. Albans Daily Messenger and Advertiser (St. Albans, VT), 27 April 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P0DKmH_ABgaDuO9SVN4KxRfp7cXeW_u_/view?usp=sharing
1887: CV passenger coaches, baggage car, and mail car painted “Pullman brown, to be uniform with all the cars to be used on this line.”
St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 7 April 1887
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KWsGTeVHDTCaPhHO0Y19qFSFYXn3CUKq/view?usp=sharing
1888: CV baggage and express car painted “the ‘Pullman’ color,” with trimmings in gold leaf. Lettering in a new style.
Rutland Weekly Herald (Rutland, VT), 7 June 1888
1896: CV passenger cars painted “a very pretty shade of red.”
The Vermont Phœnix (Brattleboro, VT), 13 March 1896
1900: CV passenger cars and baggage car painted bottle green.
Barre Evening Telegram (Barre, VT), 18 August 1900
Chattaroi Railway
1882: Combination car painted dark green.
The Daily Republican (Wilmington, DE), 15 July 1882
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038114/1882-07-15/ed-1/seq-1/
Cherokee Iron Company
1882: Passenger coach painted a “beautiful lake color.”
Cedartown Advertiser (Cedartown, GA), 13 July 1882
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn88054032/1882-07-13/ed-1/seq-3/
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway
Freight Cars
? to ?: C&O freight cars painted yellow.
1900: C&O boxcars painted mineral brown with white lettering.
1900: C&O coal cars painted black with white lettering.
The Times (Richmond, VA), 14 August 1900
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Cn3Yx7UtUkUh61SQ3LwU4Zu5FFO0ZOMq/view?usp=sharing
Passenger Cars
1880: C&O passenger coaches painted a “dark green color,” striped in Eastlake patterns of gold and drab.
The Daily Republican (Wilmington, DE), 1 April 1880
1879 to 1882: C&O passenger cars painted “Pullman color.”
1882: C&O passenger cars revert to being painted orange.
The National Car Builder, March 1882, pg. 26
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1889: C&O passenger equipment changed to being painted yellow.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 20 March 1889
1894: C&O Pullman cars begin to be painted a bright yellow.
Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE), 16 April 1894
Evening Bulletin (Maysville, KY), 23 April 1894
1898: Pullman Palace car servicing the C&O was painted orange.
Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE), 23 March 1898
1900: C&O considers abandoning its passenger car orange.
The Times (Richmond, VA), 14 August 1900
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Cn3Yx7UtUkUh61SQ3LwU4Zu5FFO0ZOMq/view?usp=sharing
1900: C&O continues to paint its passenger cars orange.
Daily Public Ledger (Maysville, KY), 4 September 1900
Cheshire Railroad
Freight Cars
1889: Freight cars start to be painted bright vermilion, with white lettering.
The New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, NH), 27 March 1889
1890: Cheshire platform cars begin to be painted slate.
The New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, NH), 12 November 1890
Passenger Cars
1887: Cheshire passenger cars painted a “reddish-brown color adopted by the Cheshire road,” lettered and striped in gilt.
The New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, NH), 8 June 1887
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vz1gxOOA5-x94FhxZq3fAuj9SWXUk4t0/view?usp=sharing
1890: Cheshire passenger cars painted “the standard Fitchburg color,” and cars “lettered ‘Cheshire Railroad’ are getting to be pretty scarce and will soon disappear entirely from the passenger service.”
The New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, NH), 22 October 1890
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1haciRIYLFLk_KBBKkQLSCqJFdna4D0W2/view?usp=sharing
Chicago & Alton Railroad
1863: Sleeping cars “handsomely painted,” with “a noticeable part of the ornamentation being an oil painting near each of the four corners.”
The Missouri Republican (St. Louis, MO), 20 July 1863
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DmWkv2JqslnP2D5oQdC0paqzhvvAg27p/view?usp=sharing
1881: Day passenger coaches painted dark brown, relieved by gilt ornamentation, the “standard style for the road.”
The National Car Builder, December 1881, pg. 150
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1882: Standard passenger car bodies, roofs, and trucks painted dark brown; ironwork painted black.
The National Car Builder, June 1882, pg. 66 to 67
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1905: Passenger coaches painted brown.
The Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 5 March 1905
1908: The “Hummer” and “Alton Limited” trains painted red.
The Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 22 March 1908
Chicago & Atlantic Railway
Cabooses
1886: Cabooses painted white.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, October 1886, pg. 130
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286087860005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1883: Passenger coach painted light yellow, relieved by ornamental striping. Platform steps faced with embossed brass plates.
The National Car Builder, July 1883, pg. 80
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad
1895: Boxcars reportedly painted with Prince’s Metallic (brown). See Denver & Rio Grande for more information on Prince’s Metallic.
The rusting of iron and steel: how it may be prevented and how it is promoted, 1895 https://archive.org/details/rustingofironste00prin/page/12/mode/2up
Chicago & Lake Huron Railroad
1876: Passenger car painted dark wine, with stripes of crimson and gold. Along “the top edge in large letters are the words, ‘Chicago, Port Huron and Canada.’”
Detroit Tribune (Detroit, MI), 4 December 1876
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eNacJ9MO1C6p1Ye6nI5O4wdEwZ1zPlJW/view?usp=sharing
Chicago & North-Western Railway
Freight Cars
1898: C&NW special stock cars painted white.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 29 June 1898
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1898-06-29/ed-1/seq-7/
? to 1903: “Several colors” used for painting C&NW freight cars.
1903: C&NW freight cars begin to be uniformly painted “a red color.”
Wood County Reporter (Grand Rapids, WI), 31 July 1903
Cabooses
1881: C&NW cabooses painted bright vermillion.
The National Car Builder, July 1881, pg. 78
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1881: C&NW palace dining cars painted a “dark wine color relieved with gilt tracery and ornamental designs representing storks, passion-flowers, cornucopias, etc.”
The National Car Builder, July 1881, pg. 84
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1883: C&NW passenger coaches painted bright yellow or “lemon color” with ultramarine blue letter-board and [number boards?] under each window. Lettering in gold, shaded with red.
The National Car Builder January 1883 pg. 6
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
Heath & Milligan Manufacturing Co. advertisement, The Official Railway List, 1892
1902: C&NW passenger coaches painted yellow.
The Frontier (O’Neill, NE), 18 December 1902
Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad
Freight Cars
1888: Boxcars begin to have a “wheel of fortune, six feet in diameter, painted on it, the wheel being white on a chocolate ground.”
The Boston Journal (Boston, MA), 19 June 1888
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
Freight Cars
1875: Ten CB&Q cars are repainted for the Hoosac Tunnel through line. They are painted “coffee brown” with white lettering.
American Railroad Journal 17 April 1875 p508.
1896: “Old” car of the CB&Q painted a “dull-slate color.” The 1896 article recalls an accident that occured in 1887.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 26 April 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063034/1896-04-26/ed-1/seq-13/
1880: CB&Q grain and merchandise cars painted with either Parker’s cement or Prince’s Metallic mineral paint (brown).
The National Car Builder, April 1880, pg. 63
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1881: CB&Q stock cars painted with either Parker’s cement or Prince’s Metallic mineral paint. Ironwork and roof edges blackened. Trucks covered in lamp black on the outside, mineral paint on the inside.
The National Car Builder, September 1881, pg. 109
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1881: Prince’s Metallic (brown) was also used on some building types. See Denver & Rio Grande for more information on Prince’s Metallic.
The rusting of iron and steel: how it may be prevented and how it is promoted, 1895 https://archive.org/details/rustingofironste00prin/page/12/mode/2up
1883: CB&Q boxcars painted with either Parker’s cement or Prince’s Metallic mineral paint. Ironwork and roof edges blackened. Trucks covered in lamp black on the outside, mineral paint on the inside.
The National Car Builder, October 1883 pg. 117
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
1885: CB&Q had “air-brake” fast freight cars with yellow doors, on which was a vertical green bar in the centre.
1885: CB&Q had “air-brake” fast freight cars painted yellow with black doors. On each door was a cross of red and white bars.
The Inter Ocean (Chicago, IL), 7 April 1885
1888: “Of late,” CB&Q freight car ironwork painted mineral brown, instead of lamp black.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, October 1888, pg. 151
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286054690005961?lang=en
Cabooses
1881: CB&Q way cars painted orange, clear story painted English vermillion, ladders and door-steps painted Tuscan red, and ironwork painted gloss black.
The National Car Builder, September 1881, pg. 102
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
? to 1893: CB&Q way cars painted yellow.
Heath & Milligan Manufacturing Co. advertisement, The Official Railway List, 1892
1893 to ?: CB&Q way cars painted red.
The Aurora Daily Express(Aurora, IL), 21 August 1893
https://books.google.ca/books?id=obMoAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
Passenger Cars
1877: CB&Q passenger cars painted an orange tint with red, green, and lead striping. Roofs painted sky blue.
The Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, IL), 8 March 1877
1882: CB&Q passenger coaches painted canary yellow.
The National Car Builder, August 1882, pg. 86
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Masury liquid house paint (ready to use) also railroad paints, 1927 https://archive.org/details/MasuryLiquidHousePaint/page/n9/mode/2up
Kellog Paint, Oil & Varnish Co. ca. 1885 https://archive.org/details/LiquidCottagePaints/mode/2up
Cleveland Oil and Paint Mfg. Co. ca.1890 https://archive.org/details/ClevelandCottageColors/page/n3/mode/2up
1888: CB&Q passenger cars “of a new standard” painted Tuscan red.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, October 1888, pg. 147
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286054690005961?lang=en
1889: CB&Q passenger cars painted a “deep red.”
The Saint Paul Daily Globe (St. Paul, MN), 16 March 1889
1893: CB&Q passenger cars painted yellow.
The Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, PA), 24 February 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lig1Cop92f8xWXbUY0oCPLeCUx_ap5tf/view?usp=sharing
1895: CB&Q passenger coaches painted yellow, with trucks painted mineral brown.
Locomotive Engineering, 1895, pg. 763
https://archive.org/details/locomotiveengine08hill/page/763/mode/2up
1899: CB&Q passenger cars on the train between Denver and Chicago painted an “olive green color.”
The Daily News (Denver, CO), 4 May 1899
1899: All CB&Q passenger cars begin to be painted in the “dark olive green, popularly known as the Pullman color, save for the mail car.” CB&Q postal cars “will later be painted in the darker color.”
The Daily News (Denver, CO), 8 May 1899
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1se8oSFS1alvjhwM6cDLalYI4Mbmacfx2/view?usp=sharing
1904: CB&Q passenger cars painted the “standard Pullman color,” with a broad gold stripe along the bottom of the car body and small lettering in gold. There “is no fancy gold scroll work of any description on the outside.”
The Ottumwa Courier (Ottumwa, IA), 27 December 1904
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eWmaHJweR43aOvo9_dRCWhMQA-faQO8H/view?usp=sharing
Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound
1909: Passenger coaches painted bright yellow.
1909: Rumour of a train, “The White Flyer,” composed of passenger coaches painted white with gilt lettering.
The Roundup Record (Roundup, MT), 26 February 1909
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19wbrQiuo-yI-S6rcw3Jlxm54HaTJHpnn/view?usp=sharing
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1871: CM&StP passenger coaches painted golden ochre, striped in red and blue, with the borders of the panelling being “defined by a line of black, broader than the striping of the body.” Car numbers painted within an “oval tablet, painted in crimson” on each side of the car bodies, the number occupying “the centre of a wreath of gilt scroll work” inside of the oval. Window sashes painted “in imitation of rose wood.” Trucks painted “in a color several shades darker than the coach,” relieved by striping in blue and yellow. Corners of the car and doorposts are rounded uprights, ending at the top with a “carved corbel, the latter grained in imitation of rose wood.” The car lettering is “Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway.”
The Goodhue County Republican (Red Wing, MN), 30 November 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dnXmEzukOPMAkxb_pIovS36bWAHq_MqC/view?usp=sharing
1880: CM&StP sleeping cars painted buff, striped and ornamented in eastlake designs.
The Daily Republican (Wilmington, DE), 22 June 1880
1881: CM&StP passenger cars painted a “dark orange color with gilt ornamentation.”
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 6 June 1881
1881: CM&StP considered changing the paint used on passenger cars from ochre to “some darker color.”
The National Car Builder, November 1881, pg 130
1883: CM&StP parlor car, “Aberdeen,” and dining car both painted maroon.
The National Car Builder, July 1883, p.80
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
1890: CM&StP sleeping, dining, and parlor cars painted “Pullman color.”
1890: CM&StP passenger, baggage, and “other cars” painted yellow.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, October 1890, pg. 147
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055090005961?lang=en
1898: CM&StP passenger cars running “The Pioneer Limited” were painted “a deep rich yellow in different shades, and finished in gold.”
Manitoba Morning Free Press (Winnipeg, MB), 17 May 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14zp46jPEH04tzZpWLkNM68PZRWbQNSRb/view?usp=sharing
Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis
1894: Sleeping cars, “Peoria” and “St. Louis,” painted a “rich wine color.”
The Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 6 August 1894
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway
Freight Cars
1879: CRI&P refrigerator cars painted bright yellow and “handsomely lettered.”
The Daily Nonpareil (Council Bluffs, IA), 3 June 1879
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17HoOJIg3vy4H0EagobKILSKBwJh9H6aJ/view?usp=sharing
1894: CRI&P refrigerator fruit cars painted orange.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 7 February 1894
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1894-02-07/ed-1/seq-6/
1895: CRI&P ventilator and refrigerator cars painted bright yellow with black, red, and blue lettering.
The Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, IL) 25 January 1895
https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=RIA18950126.1.5&srpos=16&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN
1905: CRI&P refrigerator cars painted white with black stencilling.
The Goodland Republic (Goodland, KS), 24 March 1905
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85030821/1905-03-24/ed-1/seq-4/
Passenger Cars
? to 1872: Passenger cars painted buff.
1872: Passenger cars begin to be painted a “darker shade.”
The Daily Argus (Rock Island, IL) 6 February 1872
1880: Passenger car paint was a mix of golden ochre, drop black and tuscan red.
The National Car Builder, November 1880
1888: CRI&P passenger cars, including Pullman cars, are painted olive and gold.
Horton Daily Headlight (Horton, KS) 16 May 1888
Chicago, St. Louis & New Orleans Railroad
1882: Passenger coaches painted yellow with a gold stripe shaded with brown.
The National Car Builder, April 1882, pg. 38
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railway
1889: Officers’ car painted Tuscan red, the “standard color.”
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, November 1889, pg. 161
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286054950005961?lang=en
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
1897: Buffet parlor cars on the “North-Western Line” train, “Minneapolis” and “St. Paul,” painted dark green, with gold trimmings.
Griggs County Courier (Cooperstown, ND), 10 September 1897
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jlcW675DKaHqWi-pZxA8S6nHd7mOY8-n/view?usp=sharing
Cincinnati & Northwestern Fast Freight Line
1857: Freight cars painted blue.
Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL) 22 June 1857
https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=SJO18570622.1.4&
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/chi.17768562?urlappend=%3Bseq=442
Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway
Passenger Cars
1883: Postal cars painted yellow, the “C. I., St. L. standard color.”
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 25 April 1883
1889: Passenger cars painted yellow.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 20 March 1889
Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad
“A few years before 1897” to ?: Passenger cars painted a dark brown, “something like the Pullman cars.”
1897: Passenger cars painted the PRR standard Tuscan red, and “all new coaches ordered for that road are lettered in the initials or name of the Pennsylvania Company.”
The Cleveland Leader (Cleveland, OH), 28 April 1897
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CrOgYlXNo_8KYhMaVOQ7QlXzFx7ttytU/view?usp=sharing
Cincinnati Southern Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
1884: Cincinnati Southern ventilated fruit cars painted green with white lettering.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 7 November 1884
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1884-11-07/ed-1/seq-7/
Passenger Cars
1881: Cincinnati Southern superintendent’s car painted bright cherry red.
Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, TN) 20 October 1881
1891: Cincinnati Southern passenger cars on the “Cincinnati and Florida Limited” train painted the “standard Pullman color.”
The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 7 December 1891
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HKQw0NJApAQdSKKLE4WI71CsA6_J6fIV/view?usp=sharing
Cincinnati, Van Wert & Michigan Railroad
1883: Passenger day-coach painted Tuscan red.
The National Car Builder July 1883 p.80
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
Cleveland, Akron, & Columbus Railroad
1882: Passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
The Daily Republican (Wilmington, DE), 15 July 1882
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038114/1882-07-15/ed-1/seq-1/
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (Big Four)
Freight Cars
1891: Big Four’s first scale test car was painted yellow.
The Salt Lake Times (Salt Lake City Utah), 26 August 1891
https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6wq4580/13255910
1894: Big Four freight cars begin to be painted metallic brown, with the road’s emblem painted on the car sides in “the Vanderbilt’s color, a deep orange.”
The Evening Bulletin (Maysville, KY), 15 February 1894
1896: An observer notes the Big Four’s freight cars being painted red, with “a maltese cross on the side of old gold, in the center of which is a black circle with a large figure 4 in gold, and the name of the railroad around the figure.”
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Cleveland Oil and Paint Mfg. Co. ca.1890 https://archive.org/details/ClevelandCottageColors/page/n3/mode/2up
Passenger Cars
1889 to 1903: Big Four passenger cars painted cadmium yellow.
1903: Big Four dining cars painted “the color of Pullman sleepers and the Lake Shore rolling stock.”
The Elkhart Truth (Elkhart, IN), 1 August 1903
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NpX3ZtVhfrBtCiN94MUQ4AW6nxopcJSP/view?usp=sharing
1904: Big Four passenger coaches begin to be painted an “extremely dark green.”
The Elkhart Truth (Elkhart, IN), 20 December 1904
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
Passenger Cars
1883: Woodruff sleeping cars repainted Tuscan red, the “standard color of the cars.”
The National Car Builder, October 1883, pg. 110
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus Railroad
1872: Passenger coaches painted a “dark red color.”
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), 8 November 1872
Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Delaware Railroad
1873: CMV&D cabooses painted Indian red.
The Summit County Beacon (Akron, OH), 15 October 1873
Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railway
Freight Cars
1876: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1876 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars). CTV&W was the successor company of the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railway, who had been a listed user of the paint between 1872 and 1875.
Poor’s Manual of Railroads, 1876/1877
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015020063288?urlappend=%3Bseq=1088
Columbus, Sandusky & Hocking Railroad
Freight Cars
1898: CS&H refrigerator cars painted olive green, the “standard color of the road.”
Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH), 6 August 1898
1898: CS&H boxcars painted olive green and coal cars painted black.
The Times Recorder (Zanesville, OH), 3 September 1898
Passenger Cars
1898: Passenger coach and combination car painted olive green.
1898: Mail and baggage car and passenger coach to be painted the “olive blue coloring.” [meant green?]
Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH), 6 August 1898
Concord Railroad
1872: Passenger cars painted straw, trimmed with “light and dark shades of drab.”
The Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics (Portsmouth, NH), 15 June 1872
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W2hHTbRK29-6q2xSdAtItbBvJogTDO4Z/view?usp=sharing
1886: Passenger coach painted light straw.
People and New Hampshire Patriot (Concord, NH), 22 July 1886
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JWgF2eL2pejU3EWbXb-ZkZE0CUeMAFMO/view?usp=sharing
Connecticut River Railroad
1887: Passenger coach body, platforms, and trucks painted in a “mottled and speckled appearance produced by painting the car a light color and covering it with aluminum leaf in an irregular manner before varnishing, which gives the car a light, cool appearance.”
The Springfield Daily Republican (Springfield, MA), 20 June 1887
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11LDoULdE5WjkvylLKgMKo7dkrEOXUdnb/view?usp=sharing
Connecticut Western Railroad
1872: Passenger coaches and smoking cars painted a “rich claret color.”
The Hartford Weekly Times (Hartford, CT), 27 April 1872
https://books.google.ca/books?id=YcEyAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
Connotton Valley Railroad
1880: Passenger cars painted a “rich red color.”
The Canton Daily Repository (Canton, OH), 15 July 1880
Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley Railroad
1895: Passenger coaches painted Tuscan red, “handsomely striped and lettered.”
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, July 1895, pg. 99
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055650005961?lang=en
Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad
1872: Passenger cars painted bright yellow.
The Frostburg Mining Journal (Frostburg, MD), 6 July 1872
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vXdJF-O9BxKbqRDCF5hcM-6fuiZ6Swss/view?usp=sharing
1879: Passenger cars begin to be painted dark brown, with gold stripes and lettering.
The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, WV), 27 February 1879
Cumberland Valley Railroad
1876: Passenger cars painted red, relieved by gilt lettering.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 31 January 1876
1882: Passenger coaches painted a “new color similar to those on the Pennsylvania railroad” (Tuscan red).
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 March 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MzjriWf3GQki4pkSIku4cxqItzKTZeqy/view?usp=sharing
Dakota Southern Railroad
1878: Passenger car and mail/baggage car painted dark brown, with yellow borders. Trucks painted light brown, with wheels painted green.
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 16 April 1878
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014805/1878-04-16/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1777
Delaware & Hudson
1875: Delaware & Hudson Canal Company passenger cars painted orange.
Albany Journal (Albany, NY), 3 July 1875
1885: Delaware & Hudson Canal Company passenger coaches painted yellow, with trucks painted olive green, picked out with black and white.
The National Car Builder, May 1885, pg. 57
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056660005961?lang=en
1900: Delaware & Hudson Railroad passenger coaches begin to be painted olive green with lettering in silver leaf.
The Scranton Tribune (Scranton, PA), 11 January 1900
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Passenger Cars
1874: DL&W passenger cars painted a “very light color.”
Daily State Gazette (Trenton, NJ), 28 April 1874
1876: DL&W passenger and baggage cars painted “in light colors.”
Daily Record of the Times (Wilkes-Barre, PA), 20 April 1876
DL&W passenger car built by the Jackson & Sharp Company, circa 1875.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/2831
1890: DL&W parlor cars painted dark green, the “standard color.”
1890: DL&W baggage cars painted dark green, with gilt scroll work.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, September 1890, pg. 129
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055090005961?lang=en
1900: DL&W passenger cars painted dark olive green.
Wilkes-Barre Weekly Times (Wilkes-Barre, PA), 24 February 1900
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13mhPAB4de4tTCegs_l2_UqoSYMtJdGyx/view?usp=sharing
Delaware Railroad
1874: “Maryland & Delaware” freight express cars painted a “brownish color,” with “Maryland & Delaware” lettered in red and white. Painted on the car sides is also a “red diamond,” denoting the cars’ “exclusive use for this line.
Wilmington Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), 23 September 1874
Delaware Western Railroad
? to 1882: Passenger cars painted dark red.
1882: Passenger coach and combination car painted dark brown, “after the style of the B. & O. rolling stock,” with striping in gold bronze.
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 23 December 1882
Denver & Rio Grande
See also Rio Grande Western
Freight cars: Prince’s Metallic with black ironwork and white lead lettering. See Andrew Brandon’s illustration: http://www.pacificng.com/roads/co/drg/DRG-Stock-Car-5500-ca-1904.pdf
Denver Public Library Collection
Surviving sample of Prince’s Metallic, from a standard gauge 34-foot wood boxcar turned into a camp car and later abandoned at Cisco, Utah. Car was demolished in 2020. Photograph has been edited for pure white and black values on the card. Taken by Josh Bernhard.
Information about the black paint used by the D&RG on ironwork
Railroad Car Journal, August 1896
Cabooses: before 1916, painted brilliant red with tuscan red windows, Prince’s Metallic floors, steps and platforms, and black ironwork. Lettered in imitation gold. See the Colorado Railroad Museum’s restoration report for D&RG 49: https://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/equipment-data-sheet-no-1-web-optimized-2.pdf
Caboose 49 as restored by the Colorado Railroad Museum, photograph by Josh Bernhard
“Denver & Rio Grande Railway
“Burnham, May 24, 1916
“Gentleman [sic]:
“Effective on receipt of these instructions, we will discontinue the use of brilliant red on caboose cars and paint such cars the same as other freight equipment.
“Acknowledge receipt and advise if understood.
“Respectfully, J. F. Enright”
https://archive.org/details/superfinecolorsg00wads/mode/2up
EXCEPTIONS: one series of standard gauge side door cabooses was delivered painted white.
The Car-Builder’s Dictionary, 1895
Passenger Cars There is a split between standard gauge and narrow gauge cars. Pre-World War I, narrow gauge cars painted tuscan red with black ironwork. See Andrew Brandon’s drawing: http://www.pacificng.com/roads/co/drg/DRG-Coach-292-ca-1906.pdf
1871: Narrow-gauge passenger cars painted a “brown or cinnamon color,” relieved with gilt.
The St. Joseph Weekly Gazette (St. Joseph, MO), 17 August 1871
https://books.google.ca/books?id=7IRbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
1878: Parlor cars painted “chocolate color,” striped and ornamented in gold.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 21 June 1878
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WizuhXCLftk67hDMOEk2mPgGX1YfAWjP/view?usp=sharing
Murphy Varnish Company’s Fine Carriage and Railway Varnishes. 1897
Complete Palette of Car Body and Trim Colors of John W. Masury & Son, Co. 1877 (probably chemically shifted due to age) http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/masury/index.htm
Painter’s Mixing Manual & Sample Book, 1895 https://archive.org/details/paintersmixingma00darl/page/n16/mode/2up
Standard gauge cars were painted “Sherwin Williams Pullman Color (New)” by 1904, while narrow gauge cars continued to be painted Tuscan red. During World War I, narrow gauge was forced to adopt “Pullman Color” (dark olive green) as a cost saving measure.
Denver & Rio Grande passenger car painting, ca.1908
Denver Pacific Railway
1870: Passenger cars painted “a drab color, new and unique.”
Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), 25 April 1870
Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
Passenger Cars
1867: Passenger coach painted a “bright yellowish color.”
The Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI), 8 May 1867
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OleVQCq3Jkflcy-eR6TYQ5rqWrwGcb7j/view?usp=sharing
Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad
1889: Passenger coaches of the Saginaw & Grand Rapids division begin to be painted red.
The Bay City Times (Bay City, MI), 21 December 1889
Detroit, Saginaw & Bay City Railroad
1878: Passenger cars painted the “‘Flint & Pere Marquette’ color,” a “peculiar drab and yellow, - lighter than most roads, except in this part of the country, are in the habit of using.” Car body ornamentation is distinct by having the “ornamentation in the center of the bottom” of the panels. A “handsome border” is painted below the panel-work.
The Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA), 30 September 1878
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IQYb4oF2ZwFseNBo2fOqxsuPvBCfzBhT/view?usp=sharing
Duluth & Iron Range Railway
Freight Cars
Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway
1901: Passenger coaches painted vermilion.
The Duluth News Tribune (Duluth, MN), 20 November 1901
Dunkirk, Warren & Pittsburgh Railway
1870: Combination car painted a rich vermilion, with the car sides being “finished to such a gloss” that they “serve as mirrors.”
Wilmington Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), 12 September 1870
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11FwbpbaRim0RL9oigDnpeZJUAhI-06b6/view?usp=sharing
East & West Railway
1898: Combination car painted olive.
The Sun (Wilmington, DE), 30 December 1898
East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad
Freight Cars
1882: Freight cars painted a “brownish red,” lettered in white.
The Knoxville Daily Tribune (Knoxville, TN), 19 February 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qo9mevLJzv9XzhvdDCW_IsG_RgZLOmfo/view?usp=sharing
1892: Box cars and coal cars begin to be painted a “dull black.”
The Knoxville Journal (Knoxville, TN), 18 December 1892
Passenger Cars
1871: Mail cars painted a deep orange, lettering in gold with blue and green shading.
The Knoxville Daily Chronicle (Knoxville, TN), 27 December 1871
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033437/1871-12-27/ed-1/seq-1/
1881: Passenger coaches begin to be painted a “cherry red.”
North Georgia Citizen (Dalton, GA), 23 June 1881
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034046/1881-06-23/ed-1/seq-3/
1882: Directors’ car painted Tuscan red, the “standard color of the road,” with gilt ornaments.
The National Car Builder, June 1882, pg. 62
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Eastern Railroad
Passenger Cars
1868: Eastern drovers’ saloon cars attached to freight trains painted red.
The Daily Eastern Argus (Portland, ME), 12 March 1868
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z5dwchWW3tKCRY89XGP3ys_2BVYRDoOf/view?usp=sharing
1868: Eastern passenger cars painted “the prevailing color of cars on the road,” striped with black, white, and yellow. Lettering in green and gold, and the corners “ornamented with colors and scroll work.”
Boston Press and Post (Boston, MA), 3 August 1868
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qJ35I-cLXBKDFZQUAYYRGEGhefVvMUmI/view?usp=sharing
1869: Eastern passenger cars painted “a green drab,” with lettering and numbers in red, blue and gold. “Tasty scroll work ornaments” at the cars’ ends and entrances.
The Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics (Portsmouth, NH), 14 August 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mm2CjYHvNqoGLMEmClWteansNtkvvsAI/view?usp=sharing
1870: Eastern passenger cars painted the “greenish-drab color used on this road,” striped in black, yellow, and fawn, touched up with red and gold. Numbers painted in red and gold on a blue ground, enclosed “in a tasty scroll.” Corners and overhead above platforms “handsomely ornamented.” Hitchcock’s patent ventilator drums painted bright red.
The Boston Traveler (Boston, MA), 7 February 1870
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FrxgEgSnUE7-wTAqAkQl5R4z4TP28kh6/view?usp=sharing
1871: Eastern baggage car painted a “rich red, with green, black and white reliefs, and lettered “Seashore Line. Boston and Portland.”
The Salem Register (Salem, MA), 2 February 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/114gQHQKmIB03W-1gR5Tha-ypEk0AAXfW/view?usp=sharing
1871: Eastern passenger cars painted light olive green, striped in drab, black, and white.
The Salem Register (Salem, MA), 2 February 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/114gQHQKmIB03W-1gR5Tha-ypEk0AAXfW/view?usp=sharing
1871: Eastern smoking cars painted light olive green, striped in black, white, and cream.
The Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics (Portsmouth, NH), 8 April 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14IZbGAltgZATmOqs-VqAnvPViUDrB_7W/view?usp=sharing
1872: Eastern postal/express car painted buff and “handsomely lettered.”
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 10 September 1872
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bToAP514NBwMeH4MutLtMGfr3kP35ONk/view?usp=sharing
1873: Eastern passenger cars painted straw, ornamented in green and red, with corners “illuminated in gold and colors.” Lettering done in “old English script.” Trucks painted vermilion and striped in black.
The Boston Traveler (Boston, MA), 28 February 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16VPb-M-8W8i2HfVqijVb1jcC9mB8ukwH/view?usp=sharing
1873: Eastern first-class passenger cars painted light straw, with letterboard and corner posts “rich red, ornamented elaborately with gold.”
Salem Register (Salem, MA), 24 March 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GPB4hfV7D2fjALziRiZLbp36NuTsAX5v/view?usp=sharing
1873: Eastern passenger cars painted straw with lake trimmings
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 27 March 1873
https://books.google.ca/books?id=y6ozAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
1881: Eastern passenger car painted yellow.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 9 February 1881
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1881-02-09/ed-1/seq-3/
1884: Eastern passenger car bodies unpainted, varnished California red-wood, lettered in gold. Roofs painted white with black edges.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 25 February 1884
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1884-02-25/ed-1/seq-1/
Structures
1874: the casings for station signals (probably train order signals) are painted blue and red.
American Railroad Journal 17 January 1874 p65.
Elmira, Cortland & Northern Railroad
1892: Passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
Watertown Times (Watertown, NY), 12 April 1892
Empire Line
Tank cars, in 1876, had all wood painted in Brandon yellow (an inexpensive alternative to yellow ochre, sourced from Brandon, VT), ironwork painted black, lettering painted white (unless otherwise specified), and the tank itself painted with a coat of brown metallic paint, followed by two coats of white lead or zinc.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=214
A Manual of Engineering Specifications and Contracts, 1878
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=217
Boxcars, in 1876, had their bodies painted with yellow oxide, lettering painted white, and their emblem a vermillion red arrow painted on a white field.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=218
A Manual of Engineering Specifications and Contracts, 1878
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=219
Rack cars, in 1876, had their bodies painted with yellow oxide, lettering painted white, and their emblem a vermillion red arrow painted on a white field.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=220
A Manual of Engineering Specifications and Contracts, 1878
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=222
Stock cars, in 1876, had their bodies painted with yellow oxide, lettering painted white, and their emblem a vermillion red arrow painted on a white field.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=223
Butter and Egg cars, in 1876, had their bodies painted with yellow oxide, lettering painted white, and their emblem a vermillion red arrow painted on a white field.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=226
Gondolas, in 1876, had their bodies painted with yellow oxide, lettering painted white, and their emblem a vermillion red arrow painted on a white field.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t2p56f48k?urlappend=%3Bseq=228
1896: Empire Line cars are painted red with a white oblong figure containing a red arrow.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Erie Railroad
Includes Erie Railway and New York, Lake Erie & Western
Freight Cars
1876: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1876 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Poor’s Manual of Railroads, 1876/1877
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015020063288?urlappend=%3Bseq=1088
1878: NYLE&W boxcars painted dark brown.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 30 September 1878
1880: NYLE&W lumber car painted red.
Buffalo Morning Express (Buffalo, NY), 20 May 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1op5dwQ_YLAfAV506J-JrTQUdXKoJ9CdG/view?usp=sharing
NYLE&W Great Western Despatch Lumber Car ca. 1878 or 1879. Painted dark brown/red.
https://library.artstor.org/#/public/SS37537_37537_39179432
1887: NYLE&W boxcar bodies and trucks painted with Prince’s Metallic Brown; all ironwork of body and trucks painted black.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, February 1887, pg. 19
Milk Cars 1892: Painted bright yellow.
Middletown Times Press, 28 January 1892
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
1895: Erie grain and produce cars painted white, with a “gold shield on either side bearing the word ‘Erie.’”
The Weekly Press (Paterson, NJ), 5 December 1895
https://books.google.ca/books?id=SuRWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
? to 1897: Erie boxcars painted mineral brown, with black ironwork.
? to 1897: Erie grain cars painted yellow.
1897 to 1898: black paint not used, except in the “Erie'' lettering within the white diamond painted on the car sides. Entire cars, including iron, painted mineral brown or yellow depending on the service.
Railroad Car Builder, February 1897
Boxcars 1898-?: painted white.
The Akron Beacon Journal, 17 January 1898
Cabooses
? to 1874: Erie cabooses painted a “dark red or brown color.”
1874: Erie cabooses begin to be painted a bright red.
The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis, NY), 29 September 1874
https://books.google.ca/books?id=sno9AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1875: Erie caboose painted red with large numbers painted on the sides.
The Paterson Daily Press (Paterson, NJ), 4 February 1875
https://books.google.ca/books?id=tUNVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
1898: Erie caboose used on Robert Peary’s Arctic Expedition painted a “brilliant red.”
The Shepherdstown Register (Shepherdstown, WV), 28 June 1900
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tnuCNWxH4bvx7-GLLoKw_huvE_enPML4/view?usp=sharing
Passenger Cars
1869: Erie drawing-room car “Pacific” painted “a light straw color, delicately striped.”
The Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 3 May 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xVkNw0c1K_wg-kSh6E57dvw2Yg1w2iJO/view?usp=sharing
1869: Erie drawing-room cars “Atlantic,” “Pacific” (the car described in the article above), and “Metropolis” painted a “delicate corn color,” featuring little exterior ornamentation. Platform mountings silver plated.
The New York Times (New York, NY), 18 June 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZsiNEaSrHGDVtjmKVnWhmskU5PRges-6/view?usp=sharing
1870: Erie passenger cars start to be painted a rich, reddish brown, instead of the yellowish hue used before.
The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis, NY) 14 April 1870
1873: Erie Pullman Palace cars painted a rich brown with gold striping and “figures of neat design.” The names of the cars, “Corning” and “Avon”, are painted in ovals on the car sides.
The Chicago Evening Post (Chicago, IL), 2 May 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pwII_ay9DgV-0jkg5QwSMB9Ol0f4MkbC/view?usp=sharing
1875: Erie passenger cars known to be painted maroon with gilt trimmings
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 30 September 1875
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014805/1875-09-30/ed-1/seq-4/
1880: NYLE&W passenger coaches painted “bright red.”
The Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, NE), 3 June 1880
1881: NYLE&W combination cars painted maroon.
The National Car Builder, October 1881, pg. 117
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1883: NYLE&W Pullman sleeping coaches painted a “rich olive brown.”
New-York Daily Tribune (New York, NY), 21 June 1883
1883: NYLE&W emigrant coaches painted yellow.
The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis, NY), 11 August 1883
https://books.google.ca/books?id=CNdlAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1892: NYLE&W passenger car wheels painted red.
The Youngstown Evening Vindicator (Youngstown, OH), 13 February 1893
https://books.google.ca/books?id=tmxKAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
1897: Erie day coach, Pullman sleepers, and buffet car painted dark olive with gold trimmings.
Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, NY), 21 April 1897
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1igzqqwesxCsu2sT3h2-W7IvInj92UH-A/view?usp=sharing
1900: Erie passenger cars painted “a very dark color, nearly black, and handsomely decorated.”
The Scranton Tribune (Scranton, PA), 9 February 1900
1901: Erie passenger coaches painted the “Pullman standard color, which has been adopted by the Erie as its standard color for passenger cars.
The Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI), 1 June 1901
1902: Erie postal cars painted olive green, the “standard color of the road.”
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), 5 July 1902
1903: Erie passenger coaches painted a “dark brown, the same color as the regular Pullman cars.”
The Evening Tribune (Hornell, NY), 30 November 1903
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hZRUEASalhl0kQAH0417YgIS4bY5XZfq/view?usp=sharing
Locomotives
1874: the maintenance of polished brasswork and decorative paint is discontinued; Erie adopts a “dark color” to paint all metal surfaces on locomotives, which saves $300 per engine.
American Railroad Journal 19 December 1874 p1603.
Erie & Wyoming Valley Railroad
1893: Passenger cars painted “cinnamon color.”
The Daily Times (Wilkes-Barre, PA), 16 March 1893
1893: Passenger cars begin to be painted yellow.
The Evening Herald (Carbondale, PA), 22 March 1893
European & North American Railway
1880: E&NA passenger cars painted a “light straw” yellow.
St. John Daily News (St. John, NB), 17 August 1880
https://books.google.ca/books?id=Uh81AAAAIBAJ&pg=PAsa=X#v=onepage&q&f=false
1882: E&NA mail and baggage car “resplendent in bright paint.”
Bangor Daily Whig and Courier (Bangor, ME), 27 June 1882
Fairhaven & Southern Railroad
Freight Cars
1889: Freight cars have a “blue streak” painted on their sides.
The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 4 July 1889
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SUq54xOe2u3tQcfs_5QFEsyhdHbTKkCD/view?usp=sharing
Fitchburg Railroad
Freight Cars
1875: Fitchburg through line cars built by Laconia are painted “coffee brown” and lettered in white for “Hoosac Tunnel Line - Fitchburg Railroad - No Transhipment between New England and the West.”
American Railroad Journal 17 April 1875 p508.
1878: Fitchburg boxcars painted light green. This excerpt is possibly referring to Fitchburg grain cars.
The Worcester Daily Spy (Worcester, MA), 30 July 1878
1881: Fitchburg constructed butter cars painted stone with a bright red stripe extending around the cars at the base of their sheathing. The cars’ corners were painted red, fascia-boards painted blue, and lettered in black with green shade. The lettering on the cars possibly included the place names “North Adams,” “Shelburne Falls,” “Greenfield,” and “West Acton.”
The Fitchburg Sentinel, 31 March 1881
1889: “Old-fashioned” Fitchburg grain boxcar painted green.
The Pratt Republican (Pratt, KS), 19 December 1889
Note: Sechrist’s Hand-Book and Railway Equipment and Mileage Guide, June 1885 lists “Green Grain” cars for the Fitchburg Railroad.
Fitchburg Grain Line boxcar, circa 1880s, near the Hoosac Tunnel.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:hd76s078r
Fitchburg Grain Line boxcar, circa 1890, in Holyoke, MA. The lettering is only faintly visible; download the photo as a TIF at the link below for the best image quality.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:1v53k839g
1890: Fitchburg platform cars painted slate.
The New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, NH), 12 November 1890
1891: Reportedly using Prince’s Metallic on freight cars.
The rusting of iron and steel: how it may be prevented and how it is promoted, 1895 https://archive.org/details/rustingofironste00prin/page/12/mode/2up
1896: An observer notes that Fitchburg cars were usually yellow (likely referring to older boxcars).
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Fitchburg boxcar, circa 1890, in Holyoke, MA.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:1v53k839g
Fitchburg boxcar, circa 1890, in New Bedford, MA.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:mk61t3807
Later Fitchburg boxcar, circa 1890, in Holyoke, MA.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:1v53k795m
Passenger Cars
1882: Fitchburg passenger cars painted yellow, with the exterior of the cars being “plain.”
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 24 July 1882
https://books.google.ca/books?id=WvYzAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false
1882: Fitchburg passenger coaches painted straw, “with but little ornamentation.”
The National Car Builder September 1882 pg. 101
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
https://archive.org/details/SenacaPaintAndColorCosPurePreparedPaints/page/n1/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/PicreMineralPaintReadyForUse/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/LiquidCottagePaints/mode/2up
1884: Fitchburg passenger cars painted dark olive green, the new standard colour for all cars of the company.
The Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA), 5 February 1884
Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad
1878: F&PM passenger coaches known to be painted drab and yellow, “the ‘Flint and Pere Marquette’ color.”
The Railway Age, 24 October 1878
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/chi.42533144?urlappend=%3Bseq=1181
1881: F&PM sleeping cars painted a “deep wine color.”
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 22 July 1881
https://books.google.ca/books?id=TEJfAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false
1883: F&PM passenger coaches painted light straw.
The Evening Express (Saginaw, MI), 16 March 1883
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13koo_oKtb7POCsZdyTtb4bdhE-Sc4QA5/view?usp=sharing
1889: F&PM passenger cars on the Port Huron division painted light yellow, with dark trimmings.
The Weekly Expositor (Brockway Centre, MI), 27 June 1889
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn2006060001/1889-06-27/ed-1/seq-8/#date1=1777
F&PM passenger car built by the Jackson & Sharp Company, circa 1889.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/2886/rec/1
Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad
1893: Passenger cars painted dark olive green, with gold trimmings.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 26 December 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kOj1jNnaO98eUQauh3TLVZGM7FAELKUv/view?usp=sharing
Florida Railway & Navigation Company
1885: Boxcars painted a “deep red.”
Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 19 August 1885
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1885-08-19/ed-1/seq-8/
Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad
1902: Passenger coaches painted the “Northwestern color,” yellow.
The Frontier (O’Neill, NE), 18 December 1902
Georgia Railroad
Freight Cars
1847: Freight cars painted brown.
The Daily Georgian (Savannah, GA), 26 March 1847
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn83016088/1847-03-26/ed-1/seq-2/
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint, Chocolate Color,” used on cars. Blake’s paint had been used since 1848.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Passenger Cars
1880: Passenger cars begin to be painted a “dark yellow color.”
Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 19 February 1880
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1880-02-19/ed-1/seq-1/
? to 1891: Passenger cars painted canary yellow.
1891: Passenger cars begin to be painted a “salmon color.”
The Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA), 17 February 1891
Gettysburg Railroad
1859: Passenger and baggage combine car painted green with stripes of orange; trucks and platform painted straw yellow, striped with black.
The York Gazette (York, PA), 31 May 1859
Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: GR&I lumber boxcars painted light drab.
The Evening Leader (Grand Rapids, MI), 10 April 1880
1878 to 1898: GR&I freight cars painted “french gray,” commonly called “drab.”
1898: GR&I freight cars painted a “faded red.”
The Grand Rapids Herald (Grand Rapids, MI), 24 December 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hl0I4spEaKwZKQstvCriIqmrUUDf806C/view?usp=sharing
GR&I boxcars in Wyandotte, MI, sometime in the 1880s. Painted “French gray” or “drab.”
https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A146960
GR&I flatcar sometime after August 1892. Note the paint behind the lettering, similar to the boxcars displayed above.
https://www.grpmcollections.org/Detail/objects/52233
Passenger Cars
1886: GR&I Woodruff sleeping cars, “Manistee” and “Crestline,” painted “in imitation of mahogany, trimmed in gold.”
The Fort Wayne Daily News (Fort Wayne, IN), 10 July 1886
1890: GR&I passenger cars painted “the prevailing color used by the Pullman company - the dark.”
The Kendallville Standard (Kendallville, IN), 14 March 1890
https://books.google.ca/books?id=TB9KAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false
Grand River Valley Railroad
1868: Passenger coaches and baggage car painted “the rich wine color hitherto so peculiar to some of the Pullman cars.”
Jackson Daily Citizen (Jackson, MI), 26 August 1868
1868: Palace car painted “the color of rosewood.” Windows contain the monogram, “G. R. V.” Panels “containing the number of the coach, ‘3,’ also have a beautifully painted landscape in each.”
Jackson Daily Citizen (Jackson, MI), 24 December 1868
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JLpgyA35W5I_B_Q04vt3pgAl8niq4cYi/view?usp=sharing
Grand Trunk Railway
Includes subsidiary “Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway.”
Freight Cars
1873 (most likely earlier) to 1885: Bodies painted buff (yellow ochre + white lead), ironwork painted black, and roofs painted mineral brown. Photographs show that many GTR cars from the mid-1870s onwards had the end sheathing painted mineral brown.
Specification of Platform Cars, 1873
https://archive.org/details/cihm_60291
See also 1873 Box Car specification: https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.60290/1?r=0&s=1
Specification of Box Car Bodies, 1874
https://archive.org/details/cihm_60289
Specification of Box Car Bodies and Trucks, 1877
https://archive.org/details/cihm_39242
1881: Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway coal cars painted yellow, with red ends.
The National Car Builder, December 1881, pg. 144
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1885 to 1923: GTR freight cars painted mineral brown (described as being a dark, reddish brown, assuming freight cars were painted with the paint as conductors’ vans before 1896) and lettered in white
.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 21 October 1885
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1885-10-21/ed-1/seq-4/
An observer remarks that the bodies were painted “red.” See “National Despatch Line” for information on the paint of National Despatch Line cars:
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Photos
5’6” gauge GTR boxcar circa 1865. Cars painted with the letters “G.T.R.” and the word “CANADA” above the car number. Likely painted buff.
From an untitled cabinet card depicting the Grand Trunk depot in Lévis, Quebec; taken by Charles and John Smeatons circa 1865. From the collection of Evan Abma.
Full photo:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CGGj8aHX4GDmjb618v5THrW6hYgkm9Fp/view?usp=sharing
5’6” gauge GTR boxcar in Toronto, circa 1873.
Union Station, 1873
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-E1-24C&R=DC-E1-24C
Standard Gauge GTR boxcars in Montreal, circa 1875. The new lettering style appears to have been adopted around when the GTR changed to standard gauge. Cars with the old style of lettering are also evident.
Steamships CANADA and CULTIVATEUR, Alexander Henderson, 1875, Library Archives of Canada C-004850 Copy Negative
Full photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-saHdQ7eLguOQ3bvrxvSCzvQJ-VI99Ih/view?usp=sharing
GTR boxcar in a wreck, most likely taken during the 1880s or 1890s.
Unknown source; derived from printed copy the now-retired Art Griffin included in his GTR decal set:
GTR “Through Line” boxcar in Montreal sometime between 1881 and 1884. Note the mineral brown painted end sheathing.
From an untitled stereograph depicting the Montreal Harbour; attributed to J.G. Parks. From the collection of Evan Abma.
Full photo: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hst028wtwfC7s9Mgf97n8ELUwmRZlEeh?usp=sharing
GTR car of the early 1900s featuring lettering typical of GTR cars from 1885 onward.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:br86bb23m
1898: GTR refrigerator cars painted orange with white roofs and black fascia boards.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 19 September 1898
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1898-09-19/ed-1/seq-7/
Fast Freight Cars
1872: Unspecified GTR “through line” cars painted red to distinguish them from the Blue Line cars.
The Indianapolis Sentinel (Indianapolis, IN), 15 July 1872
1884: GTR freight cars painted buff with “white letters on a red ground.” This excerpt may be referring to Commercial Express Line fast freight cars.
The Daily Witness (Montreal, QC), 21 May 1884
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3626806
Pre-1886 GTR fast freight car in Providence, RI. The car is painted buff, with a “field” to the right of the door. On this field was painted the name of the fast freight line (see “National Despatch Line” for a later example of this “field,” painted green.
https://provlibdigital.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A12867
Cabooses
? to 1896: GTR conductors’ vans painted a deep reddish brown.
1896: GTR conductors’ vans painted a “flaming red,” with district numbers painted near the car numbers.
The Evening Record (Windsor, ON), 23 November 1896
https://books.google.ca/books?id=nbJSAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
Passenger Cars
1855: GTR passenger cars painted “in imitation of oak.”
The Portland Weekly Advertiser (Portland, ME), 27 November 1855
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EkT8GMvcNOhSX7AIIVqaCUhZ5D42vjrl/view?usp=sharing
1860: GTR passenger cars painted yellow.
New York Commercial Advertiser (New York, NY), 10 August 1860
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10GVUwXikuVidF8LpDdj1E5ZdZG3HeS_S/view?usp=sharing
1867: GTR miniature model of a new standard sleeping car painted yellow.
The Morning Chronicle and Commercial and Shipping Gazette, (Quebec City, QC), 12 February 1867
https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3598352
Photograph of the above described sleeping car model.
http://collections.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/large.php?Lang=1&accessnumber=I-24931.1&idImage=258495
1875: GTR baggage and express car bodies painted chrome yellow, roofs painted brown.
Specification for Bodies of Baggage and Express Cars
https://archive.org/details/cihm_47356/page/n11/mode/2up
Heath & Milligan Manufacturing Co. advertisement, The Official Railway List, 1892
1883: GTR Great Western Division dining car, “Windsor,” painted the standard colours, with the body painted yellow, letter-board dark, and the base with “gold flowering, which is also interspersed along the whole side.” The style of lettering on this car is new, of a “novel and more attractive style.”
The National Car Builder, October 1883, pg. 113
1886: GTR passenger, baggage, and mail cars start to be painted a “new color,” chrome yellow with trimmings in brown, red, and grey. Lettering in yellow and gold, with the words “Grand Trunk” being used in place of “Grand Trunk Railway.” Exterior ornamentation of cars is simpler than formerly.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 16 March 1886
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1886-03-16/ed-1/seq-4/
1886: GTR passenger cars start to be painted a “darker shade,” Tuscan red.
Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, ME), 24 April 1886
https://books.google.ca/books?id=z_RGAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 28 April 1886
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1886-04-28/ed-1/seq-4/
1887: GTR passenger cars painted Tuscan red with gold lettering.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 29 March 1887
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1887-03-29/ed-1/seq-4/
1887: GTR passenger cars painted a maroon like “that of the standard coaches of the Pennsylvania Railroad” (Tuscan red).
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, March 1887, pg. 36
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286088000005961?lang=en
1889: GTR dining car painted Tuscan red, ornamented in gold.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, September 1889, pg. 126
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286054950005961?lang=en
Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway passenger coach built by the Jackson & Sharp Company, circa 1891.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/2920/rec/2
1893: GTR passenger cars painted dark Indian or Tuscan red, lettered in gold.
The Railway Engineer, May 1893, pg. 140
1886 to 1896: GTR passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
1896: GTR passenger cars are uniformly painted a nearly-black dark maroon instead of Tuscan red.
Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, NY), 19 March 1896
The Muskegon Chronicle (Muskegon, MI), 20 March 1896
1896: GTR standard passenger car colour is “invincible green,” a very dark shade of green.
The Grand Rapids Press (Grand Rapids, MI), 2 June 1896
1897: GTR passenger cars painted Pullman brown.
Engineering News Record, 26 August 1897, pg. 140
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101061104343?urlappend=%3Bseq=182
1898: GTR passenger cars painted olive green, trimmed in gold leaf.
The Gazette (Montreal, QC), 21 June 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tnRzXPbFThU3UzKsNnufyLmCUPj5wOV1/view?usp=sharing
1899: GTR passenger and baggage cars painted the “G.T.R. standard invisible green, ornamented with gold.”
The Gazette (Montreal, QC), 25 March 1899
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nlXGRaJCVsgNJeHV7PQT8GC1u2os-y1_/view?usp=sharing
1899: GTR dining car running between the Niagara suspension bridge and Port Huron painted in green and gold.
1899: Chicago & Grand Trunk dining car running between Port Huron and Chicago painted in maroon and gold.
The Pentwater News (Pentwater, MI), 29 September 1899
https://books.google.ca/books?id=bgRRAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
Great Northern Railway
Freight Cars
? to ?: Refrigerator cars painted white.
1905: Refrigerator cars painted green.
Willmar Tribune (Willmar, MN), 19 September 1903
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89081022/1903-09-19/ed-1/seq-9/
Cabooses
1910: Cabooses painted red.
The Leavenworth Echo (Leavenworth, WA), 13 May 1910
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87093039/1910-05-13/ed-1/seq-3/
Passenger Cars
?-1899: Passenger, express, and mail cars painted maroon.
1899-?: Passenger, express, and mail cars painted dark green
The Butte Daily Post (Butte, MT), 7 November 1899
1900: Passenger cars painted dark green.
The Princeton Union (Princeton, MN), 18 January 1900
Great Western Railway of Canada
Freight Cars:
See “Blue Line” for GWR Blue Line cars
1873: GWR 33-foot boxcars were painted brown ochre, with lettering painted white shaded with black.
1873 Great Western Railway of Canada freight car specifications, Library Archives of Canada
Full document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqX1lgRJTGV2uLjuKt2sX5JFtw344Ufh/view?usp=drivesdk
1873: GWR stock cars were painted brown ochre, with lettering painted white shaded with black.
1873 Great Western Railway of Canada freight car specifications, Library Archives of Canada
Full document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqX1lgRJTGV2uLjuKt2sX5JFtw344Ufh/view?usp=drivesdk
1873: GWR double-decked stock cars were painted brown ochre, with lettering painted white shaded with black. Cast iron letters and numbers, painted white, were placed on the “south side” of the car.
1873 Great Western Railway of Canada freight car specifications, Library Archives of Canada
Full document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqX1lgRJTGV2uLjuKt2sX5JFtw344Ufh/view?usp=drivesdk
1873: GWR platform coal cars were painted brown ochre, with lettering painted white shaded with black. Cast iron letters and numbers, painted white, were placed on the “south side” of the car.
1873 Great Western Railway of Canada freight car specifications, Library Archives of Canada
Full document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqX1lgRJTGV2uLjuKt2sX5JFtw344Ufh/view?usp=drivesdk
1873: GWR “Michigan Line” boxcars were painted brown ochre, with lettering painted white shaded with black.
1873 Great Western Railway of Canada freight car specifications, Library Archives of Canada
Full document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqX1lgRJTGV2uLjuKt2sX5JFtw344Ufh/view?usp=drivesdk
Photos:
Various GWR freight cars near Toronto’s Union Station. The date given, 1888, is questionable, given that the GWR was absorbed by the GTR 6 years prior.
Archives of Ontario, William H. Hammond fonds (F 4436)
A boxcar still marked as being GWR ca. 1884 in Toronto. The six-pointed star indicates that this car is 33ft long.
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-E1-22A&R=DC-E1-22A
The boxcar on the left is still marked as being GWR; the car on the right is either ex-GWR GTR Great Western Division or a recently built GW div. car. The Grand Trunk’s Great Western Division lettered their cars differently than regular GTR boxcars. Circa 1884 in Toronto.
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-E1-22A&R=DC-E1-22A
Another 33ft boxcar marked as being GWR after the company was absorbed by the Grand Trunk. The car marked “G.T.R.” is a Great Western division car, possibly ex-GWR.
From an untitled stereograph depicting the Montreal Harbour; attributed to J.G. Parks. From the collection of Evan Abma.
Full photo: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hst028wtwfC7s9Mgf97n8ELUwmRZlEeh?usp=sharing
Passenger Cars
1860: GWR car built for the use of the Prince of Wales interior painted white, trimmed with gold leaf, and all iron work bronzed except the handrails, which are silver-plated. Trucks painted a “very dark crimson” and trimmed with gold leaf. The Royal Arms with the Prince’s crest painted in the ovals on the car sides.
The Cass County Republican (Dowagiac, MI) 13 September 1860
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1brYqhOIxU4mw_nxk9fxIA5J_k62RwqtC/view?usp=sharing
1867: GWR Pullman “Hotel Car” painted a “rich lake crimson,” ornamented in gold. The oval panels on the car sides featured copies in bronze of Thorwaldsen’s figures of Sight and Hearing.
Railway News via Rambles on Railways. With maps, diagrams, and appendices, 1868, pg. 303
1868: GWR passenger car painted dark brown, with “native Canadian ochre.”
The Daily Telegraph (Toronto, ON), 23 September 1868
https://books.google.ca/books?id=qaIkAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1870: GWR passenger cars painted Oxford ochre picked out with gold and blue.
The Sarnia Observer (Sarnia, ON), 30 December 1870
https://books.google.ca/books?id=BqgJAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false
Green Line (Fast Freight)
1871: Painted green.
The Republican Banner (Nashville, TN) 20 December 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b8NptLdGkRoA0bIddAMgy7vK2ke4KQ5Z/view?usp=sharing
Hoosac Tunnel Line (Fast Freight)
1875: Fitchburg Hoosac Tunnel Line boxcars painted coffee brown, and lettered, in white, “Hoosac Tunnel line, Fitchburg railroad; no transshipment between New England and the West.”
The Commercial Bulletin (Boston, MA), 10 April 1875
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pCWM_gFluWJoT1adAyAqDm3xuCxgXOr4/view?usp=sharing
Fitchburg Hoosac Tunnel boxcar in Portland, ME, sometime in the early 1880s.
https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/5937
1875: Troy & Boston Railroad Hoosac Tunnel Line boxcars painted “brown, which is to be the distinguishing color of the new line.”
Schenectady Evening Star (Schenectady, NY), 3 September 1875
1876: NYC&HRRR Hoosac Tunnel Line boxcar displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition painted brown.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 May 1876
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_gZCDq_phN8ewR7R655iGw0t-u-3gNv/view?usp=sharing
NYC&HRRR Hoosac Tunnel Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1875.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179406
NYC&HRRR Hoosac Tunnel Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1875. This car was displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179376
Housatonic Railroad
Freight Cars
1881: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1881 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Travelers’ Official Railway Guide, April to June 1881
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/chi.17768562?urlappend=%3Bseq=442
Passenger Cars
1878: Passenger cars of the “Bridgeport and Albany” train painted a “dark wine color.”
The Newtown Bee (Newtown, CT), 25 July 1878
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92051487/1878-07-25/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1777
1882: Drawing room cars painted Indian red, ornamented with “Eastlake designs.”
The New Haven Register (New Haven, CT), 5 May 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ojb0IVnXdOubTsql-rIG9-K7w8LO9van/view?usp=sharing
1884: Passenger car painted Indian red, with ornamentation in the “Ronaisne” [Renaissance?] style.
1884: Baggage and express cars painted dark olive.
1884: Drawing room cars “Bridgeport” and “Pittsfield” painted dark olive; drawing room car “Massachusetts” painted Indian red.
Connecticut Western News (Canaan, CT), 30 April 1880
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027718/1884-04-30/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1777
Houston & Texas Central Railroad
Freight Cars
1895: Fruit cars (and possibly other freight cars) painted bright yellow.
The Public Ledger (Maysville, KY), 5 October 1895
Hudson River Railroad
For successor company, see New York Central & Hudson River Railroad
1868: Train of passenger cars painted lemon yellow.
1868: A different train of passenger cars painted orange.
New York Herald (New York, NY), 11 May 1868
Illinois Central Railroad
Freight Cars
1887: Illinois Central stock cars painted yellow.
Galena Daily Gazette, 5 September 1887
1890: Illinois Central boxcars start to be painted dark brown.
The Courier (Waterloo, IA), 31 December 1890
Passenger Cars
1870: Illinois Central “Post-Office” cars were dark yellow, black stripes, and little ornament.
The Railroad Gazette, 26 October 1870
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015021737674?urlappend=%3Bseq=217
1880: Illinois Central passenger cars painted a “bright yellow, which is the standard color of the Illinois Central.”
The Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL), 15 May 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q0qPVmCI5UKTRzjVCz4Q9JTWUmEs69JJ/view?usp=sharing
1890: Illinois Central passenger coaches painted yellow, with very little ornamentation.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, May 1890, pg. 78
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055090005961?lang=en
1893: Illinois Central passenger cars painted yellow.
The Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, PA), 24 February 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lig1Cop92f8xWXbUY0oCPLeCUx_ap5tf/view?usp=sharing
1893: Old, “low-browed, dun-colored” Illinois Central passenger cars built in the 1860s, or earlier, called into service during the Chicago Exposition.
The Chicago Record (Chicago, IL), 10 October 1893
1894: Illinois Central passenger cars painted dark green.
The Decatur Herald (Decatur, IL), 17 August 1894
1894: All Illinois Central passenger equipment begins to be painted the “Pullman color” except the suburban cars in Chicago, which continue to be painted yellow.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, September 1894
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055650005961?lang=en
Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Railroad
1853: Passenger cars painted red.
The Railroad Record and Journal of Commerce, Banking, Manufactures and Statistics (Cincinnati, OH), 16 June 1853
Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railway
1869: Passenger cars painted maroon and elaborately ornamented with gildings.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 20 September 1869
Indianapolis, Decatur & Springfield Railway
The Railroad Gazette 23 April 1880 https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=249
Intercolonial Railway
Freight Cars
1897: Refrigerator cars painted white and labelled “Government Cold Storage Line.”
St. John Daily Sun (St. John, NB), 8 July 1897
https://books.google.ca/books?id=wpsjAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false
Passenger Cars
1876: Special car built for the superintendent of the company painted a rich claret colour, striped with gold.
Ottawa Daily Citizen (Ottawa, ON) 28 June 1876
1878: Palace car built for the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise painted Tuscan red, ornamented with gold. The crest of the Marquis painted on the four corners of the car, and handrails silver-plated.
The Montreal Gazette (Montreal, QC), 22 November 1878
https://books.google.ca/books?id=5xUiAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
International & Great Northern Railway
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Iowa Eastern Railroad
1874: Passenger car and baggage car painted a light buff when sold off to another railroad.
The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, IA), 20 June 1874
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wX0Rw_NtLdqceYixk4CrY5p66DeVGQFR/view?usp=sharing
Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad
1873: Passenger cars painted buff, with chocolate trimming and “ornamentation in other colors,” and feature a “central landscape painting on either side” of the car body.
The Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI), 5 May 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Nw-wLwAGsoIRX4bIwyV-rVvTlR2tOoE/view?usp=sharing
Jacksonville, Pensacola & Mobile Railroad
Freight Cars
1876: “Florida Dispatch Line” fruit and vegetable car painted yellow.
Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 2 February 1876
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1876-02-02/ed-1/seq-1/
Passenger Cars
1873: Passenger coach painted yellow.
The National Car Builder, February 1873, pg. 37
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WnqSS_JlpCrsL4xmwj19AltTkom_vfMx/view?usp=sharing
Jacksonville Southeastern Railway
1890: Baggage cars, reclining chair cars, and sleepers painted a “deep wine color.”
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 6 December 1890
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pl4CbwCKaQeLI5Xg63s-bbUrxo6F34YU/view?usp=sharing
Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railway
1885: Passenger coaches painted sage green, striped in gold.
The National Car Builder, January 1885, pg. 10
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056660005961?lang=en
Jamestown & Lake Erie Railway
1897: Passenger coaches painted light blue with silver trimmings.
The Buffalo Commercial (Buffalo, NY), 5 April 1897
Jefferson, Madison & Indianapolis Railroad
1882: Passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
The National Car Builder, December 1882, pg. 133
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad
1880: Passenger cars painted a lemon tint, with trucks painted an olive green. Trimmings “more than usually ornamental.”
The Fort Wayne Sentinel (Fort Wayne, IN) 5 November 1880
By 1892, the railroad was using yellow.
Heath & Milligan Manufacturing Co. advertisement, The Official Railway List, 1892
Kansas City, Pittsburgh & Gulf Railroad
Freight Cars
1897: KCP&GRR oyster car painted blue with silver lettering.
St. Joseph Daily News (St. Joseph, MO), 28 December 1897
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1izlk5DkatFcIwRDdLORE8NuoFIpfOTN4/view?usp=sharing
Kansas Pacific Railway
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
Kennebec & Wiscasset Railroad
1871: Passenger cars painted in “dark colors, like the Pullman Palace cars.”
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 10 November 1871
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1871-11-10/ed-1/seq-3/
Keokuk & Des Moines Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Lake Erie & Western Railway
1883: Passenger coaches painted “Pullman color.”
The National Car Builder, June 1883, pg. 61
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints.
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
1882: Cattle car bodies, roofs, and trucks coated with mineral paint; ironwork painted gloss black. These specifications are identical between the NYC&HRRR, Michigan Central, LS&MS, and Canada Southern, given that all four are Vanderbilt lines.
The National Car Builder, February 1882, pg. 19
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1869: LS&MS Drawing Room car, “Ohio,” painted corn yellow.
The Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 5 May 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_4UXaGquxLTN_sjZXiAyt_JlHx5mfYRu/view?usp=sharing
1872: All LS&MS passenger cars painted chrome yellow. LS&MS palace-coach, the “Northern Crown,” built in 1870, was also painted chrome yellow.
See Grand Trunk Railway for period paint samples of chrome yellow.
The National Car Builder, August 1872, pg. 10
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w-3Obe9nOQm1P6eC04jbN9FnXBeGMwIH/view?usp=sharing
1873: LS&MS palace-coaches, “Madison” and “Geneva,” had bodies painted chrome yellow. The cars’ letterboard, skirt around the platform roof, corners, door posts, and oval panels (surrounded by gold-leaf scrolling) containing the cars’ name were painted wine, while the wood-work “projecting past the panels, such as window-belts, circle-headings and mouldings” were painted green.
The National Car Builder, March 1873, pg. 56
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ia2mn-I14ILBA_Eld_iAPHcV6_bRMcik/view?usp=sharing
1874: LS&MS drawing-room coaches, the “Yosemite” and “Yokohama,” had bodies painted a “rich carmine color, relieved with gold and silver gilding.”
The National Car Builder, May 1874, pg. 70
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u3KK2E0IHoKKzNtJ5RHNAotlP1Sccgkr/view?usp=sharing
1884: LS&MS passenger coaches painted light yellow, with “gold horse-chestnut leaf” at the bottom of each panel. Corners and door-casings painted black, relieved by gilt ornamentation. Lettering in gold, shaded with light-green, upon a yellow ochre letter-board. The car numbers, in gilt, placed upon a gold-framed black shield, detailed with red line ornaments; the whole shield and number placed upon a “large oval chocolate-colored panel.” Trucks painted bright red, striped with black.
The National Car Builder, June 1884, pg. 70
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056520005961?lang=en
1888: LS&MS mail car roofs painted with “ebony paint.”
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, December 1888, pg. 192
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286054690005961?lang=en
1893: LS&MS mail cars painted “cream color.”
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, November 1893, pg. 175
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055510005961?lang=en
1897: Majority of LS&MS passenger cars painted yellow. Two LS&MS first class cars painted the “the Wagner standard color,” dark brown.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 6 January 1897
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RmWN30R6H7RXvt1Wxg8klM3Qwg_MGHO-/view?usp=sharing
The Jackson Semi-Weekly Citizen (Jackson, MI), 4 May 1897
Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railway
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
Lawrenceburg & Upper Mississippi Railroad
1853: Passenger cars, baggage cars, “burden, and other cars” painted white.
The Railroad Record and Journal of Commerce, Banking, Manufactures and Statistics (Cincinnati, OH), 16 June 1853
Lehigh Valley Railroad
Freight Cars
1892: LV coal and hopper cars known to be painted black.
The Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY) 19 September 1892
1896: LV boxcars are red. On one side of the boxcars is painted a white staff with a red pennant, on which is painted a black diamond. Within the diamond is painted “L. V.” in white.
Passenger Cars
1876: LV passenger cars painted “an ugly green color.”
The Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA), 15 February 1876
1882: LV passenger cars painted a “light olive color,” with gold and black striping, and “the only ornaments being the name of the road and the number of the car.”
The Daily Republican (Wilmington, DE), 16 May 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YT6N-t9dNqsVLpXPJJTY6N9CvobuDH1x/view?usp=sharing
The National Car Builder, July 1882, pg. 73
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1885: LV passenger cars start to be painted red.
The Wilkes-Barre Record (Wilkes-Barre, PA), 31 December 1885
1886: LV “standard color” for passenger cars is Tuscan red, with lettering and striping the “same as heretofore.”
The Hazelton Sentinel (Hazelton, PA), 5 January 1886
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZL_n1NqVEABefefW8xuRFDD0U5MFi6Vs/view?usp=sharing
1892: LV starts to paint passenger cars in “the Reading’s” brown, with gold trimmings.
The Philadelphia Record (Philadelphia, PA), 28 June 1892
1892: LV starts to paint passenger cars in “the Reading’s” olive green.
The Wilkes-Barre Record (Wilkes-Barre, PA), 12 October 1892
1896: Passenger cars of the LV “Black Diamond Express” painted a “glossy coal.”
Geneva Advertiser Tuesday, May 19, 1896 http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/xmisc/lvrr01.txt
“It is an elegant train of four cars all of the Pullman make, and all elegantly upholstered. The color outside is a glossy coal, in keeping with its name.”
Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press May 7, 1896
“The single train was really made up of what will be three trains, a total of 12 cars. Each train has a cafe and baggage car combined, two day coaches and a parlor car. On the baggage portion of the combination car is painted ‘Black Diamond Express’ in gilt letters with a green wreath and the well known Lehigh Valley flag.”
Ithaca Daily Journal Thursday, May 14, 1896
“The exterior is painted the Lehigh standard, the only variation being on the forward car on which appears also the heraldry of the ‘L.V.’ enclosed in a wreath, and the words ‘Black Diamond Express’ in aluminum leaf.”
Illustrated Buffalo Express Sunday, May 17, 1896
“The exterior of the train is painted according to the quiet Lehigh Valley standard. Inside is to be found not only repose for the body and conveniences of all sorts, but the eye Is pleased and the brain soothed by the most artistic combinations of colors and mural decorations, hanging and upholstery. There is not a trace of gaudiness to be seen; everything is rich and quiet, and therefore enduringly effective.”
Ligonier Valley Railroad
1883: Yellow passenger car repainted red to correspond with a new red coach.
The Latrobe Advance (Latrobe, PA), 25 April 1883
Long Island Railroad
Passenger Cars
1894: Passenger cars painted a dark maroon, the “standard color of the Long Island Railroad.”
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, January 1894, pg. 9
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055650005961?lang=en
1898
Locomotive Engineering, March 1898
Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Freight Cars
1881: L&N Stock Cars had their roofs covered with a mixture of “4-Ace” paint and coal-tar spirits.
The National Car Builder, September 1881, pg. 102
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1882: L&N fruit cars painted the “standard passenger car color.”
Birmingham Iron Age (Birmingham, AL), 23 March 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EF9P05AASErEMSv2KY9s1rpRrrPo24DO/view?usp=sharing
Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington Railroad
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railway
Freight Cars
1882: LNA&C boxcars painted chocolate brown.
The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis , IN), 1 June 1882
Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Railway
1883: Passenger coaches painted dark canary, with black relief striping painted under the windows and rounded corners of the cars “handsomely decorated.”
The National Car Builder, November 1883, pg. 122
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
1885: Directors’ car painted buff with gold striping and Renaissance decoration.
The National Car Builder, May 1885, pg. 60
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056660005961?lang=en
Macon & Brunswick Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Passenger Cars
1881: Passenger cars painted bright red.
Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, GA), 14 June 1881
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84024798/1881-06-14/ed-1/seq-3/
Macon & Western Railroad
Freight Cars
1847: Freight cars painted blue and white.
The Daily Georgian (Savannah, GA), 26 March 1847
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn83016088/1847-03-26/ed-1/seq-2/
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” used on cars. The testimonial indicates the use of both “Black color” and “Chocolate color” paints.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Maine Central Railroad
Freight Cars
? to 1898: Maine Central freight cars painted green.
1898: Maine Central freight cars begin to be painted a dark red (similar to that used by the Boston & Maine), with lettering in white.
The Lewiston Saturday Journal (Lewiston, ME), 1 January 1898
https://books.google.ca/books?id=tCUgAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Republican Journal (Belfast, ME), 6 January 1898
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn78000873/1898-01-06/ed-1/seq-1/
Maine Central boxcars in Bangor, ME, sometime during the 1870s. The cars’ paint colour is unknown.
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-246e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Maine Central boxcar painted green in Westbrook, ME, sometime in the 1890s (photo erroneously dated to 1881).
https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/13145
Maine Central boxcar painted dark red in Ottawa, ON, circa 1895.
LAC Copy Negative 8708
https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinchurcher/28281581633/in/album-72157672195161995/
Passenger Cars
1868: Maine Central passenger car painted straw.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 21 August 1868
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1868-08-21/ed-1/seq-2/
1870: Maine Central passenger car painted straw.
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 6 July 1870
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1870-07-06/ed-1/seq-2/
1879: Maine Central passenger cars painted a light yellow and gilded.
1879: Maine Central mail cars painted red or lake and gilded.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 20 October 1879
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1879-10-20/ed-1/seq-3/
1881: Maine Central postal cars painted lake with silver and gilt trimmings.
The Daily Kennebec (Augusta, ME), 31 August 1881
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1881-08-31/ed-1/seq-3/
1882: Maine Central Pullman sleeper, “Bangor,” painted a rich olive, with carmine, gilt, and black trimmings. Lettering in gold leaf, shaded with drab.
The Bangor Daily Whig and Courier (Bangor, ME) 23 June 1882
1884: Maine Central Pullman sleeping coaches painted dark brown and richly gilded.
The Daily Kennebec (Augusta, ME), 7 April 1884
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1884-04-07/ed-1/seq-2/
1885: Maine Central Pullman cars painted a “fine umber shade.”
The Daily Kennebec (Augusta, ME), 13 June 1884
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1885-06-13/ed-1/seq-3/
1885: Maine Central postal car painted dark red.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 16 March 1885
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1885-03-16/ed-1/seq-4/
1885: Maine Central baggage cars painted a “rich red,” with trimmings of old gold.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 11 June 1885
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1885-06-11/ed-1/seq-1/
1885: Maine Central combination car painted yellow and dark red.
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 30 November 1885
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1885-11-30/ed-1/seq-3/
1890: Maine Central passenger cars painted “the standard Maine Central straw color.”
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 15 March 1890
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1890-03-15/ed-1/seq-4/
1891: Maine Central passenger cars begin to be painted olive green.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 9 December 1891
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1891-12-09/ed-1/seq-4/
1892: Maine Central sleeping cars painted a “dark green color which the Maine Central adopted a year or more ago.”
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 14 December 1892
1893: Maine Central passenger cars and baggage cars painted seal-brown.
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 20 May 1893
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014248/1893-05-20/ed-1/seq-4/
1893: Maine Central baggage cars painted dark green.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 10 August 1893
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1893-08-10/ed-1/seq-2/
1894: Maine Central passenger cars painted the “Pullman color.”
The Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, ME), 10 December 1894
https://books.google.ca/books?id=wtAgAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad
1879: M&CRR coaches and baggage cars painted dark brown, finished in green and gilt.
The Highland Weekly News (Hillsboro, OH), 20 May 1879
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038158/1879-03-20/ed-1/seq-3/
Marietta & North Georgia Railway
1890: Passenger cars painted dark green.
Knoxville Daily Journal (Knoxville, TN), 8 September 1890
Memphis & Charleston Railroad
1859: Sleeping cars, of the Gothic style, painted straw and striped with bright red. The “centresides of the cars are ‘set off’ with landscape scenes.”
Dayton Daily Empire (Dayton, OH), 13 August 1859
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N1YHTEYyOM1-gkUldRXYDzDi0zKQgNwN/view?usp=sharing
Merchants Despatch
1871: MDT freight cars painted drab.
The Evening News (Indianapolis, IN), 9 September 1871
1874: Fruit car running on the NYC&HRRR painted a “neat drab color,” with black running gear (could also be referring to a NYC&HRRR car, but “drab” is consistent with other MDT excerpts).
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 7 January 1874 https://drive.google.com/file/d/16rWlt8ih2JykoaTL7pQO-zDnTCKDuaJM/view?usp=sharing
1875: Refrigerator car painted “lead color, having a white and red band running the full length of the car, along the bottom.” The letter “R” is painted in a circle of red on one end of the car.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 27 October 1875
https://drive.google.com/file/d/112Yi1o0TVn9ve37g-ZZyRVKTMw8l_Cif/view?usp=sharing
1876: Painted greenish-grey/slate colour, with a red, white, and blue stripe along the bottom of the side and end sheathing. Blackened iron.
See H.W. John’s Roof, Railroad and Seaside Paints ca.1883 for a potentially similar shade: http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/hwjohns/index.htm
1880s-?: Same as above with roof painted brown
At least 1888-?: Painted white with a red, white, and blue stripe along the bottom of the side and end sheathing. Blackened iron. Roof painted brown.
An observer notes that the MDT car displayed at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 was painted “a beautiful slate color.”
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 May 1876
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_gZCDq_phN8ewR7R655iGw0t-u-3gNv/view?usp=sharing
Another observer notes that the MDT car displayed at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 was painted “green.”
Railway World Vol. 20, 1 July 1876 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021721769&view=1up&seq=455
Railroad Gazette, 10 December 1880
“The Cost of Painting Freight Cars as Affected by their Color”
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=694
An observer notes that Merchants’ Dispatch [sic] cars were painted grey in 1896. These were likely older MDT cars from the previous decade (MDT reefers built by Pullman in 1889 were painted white, see White, The American Railroad Freight Car, 1993).
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
MDT Milwaukee Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1872.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179420
MDT fruit car built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1873 or 1874. This may be one of the fruit cars “to run on the New York Central” painted a “neat drab color” with black running gear referenced in The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 7 January 1874
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179434
MDT boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1873 or 1874.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179394
MDT boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1876. Painted slate with a red, white, and blue stripe (colours in order from top to bottom of the stripe) along the bottom of the side and end sheathing. Ironwork is painted black. This car was displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179372
MDT boxcar in Ann Arbor, MI, sometime between 1880 and 1886. Most likely painted slate with a red, white, and blue stripe. Note the wood-beam trucks and regular peaked roof, hallmarks of NYC&HRRR boxcars before 1876 (MDT was Vanderbilt owned and were, as such, built like New York Central cars through most of the 1870s). It is quite possible that this car was built before the 1876 car shown above.
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhl/x-bl000920/bl000920
MDT boxcar in Wyandotte, MI, sometime in the 1880s. Painted slate with a red, white, and blue stripe.
https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A146960
MDT reefer model made by employees of the company’s car-building and car-repair shops in 1905.
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1211872
Meriden & Cromwell Railroad
1888: Passenger and combination cars painted dark olive green and trimmed in gold leaf.
The Meriden Daily Republican (Meriden, CT), 14 February 1888
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KeHLkPmxmMiZ3FPF68_mfY6K7jaj8pde/view?usp=sharing
Michigan Central Railroad
Freight Cars
1875: Freight cars “to be painted” yellow.
The Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI), 20 January 1875
1882: Cattle car bodies, roofs, and trucks coated with mineral paint; ironwork painted gloss black. These specifications are identical between the NYC&HRRR, Michigan Central, LS&MS, and Canada Southern, given that all four are Vanderbilt lines.
The National Car Builder, February 1882, pg. 19
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1870: Postal cars painted buff.
The National Car Builder, November 1870, pg. 5
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v6l1UFSrTBXB7u_GfXmh6031x67D7srg/view?usp=sharing
1880: Sleeping cars painted maroon.
Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA), 10 September 1880
1880: Postal cars painted white with “decorations in the Eastlake style, with corner and door-posts of deep lake color.”
The National Car Builder, October 1880, pg. 164
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1883: Passenger cars painted the “regulation ochre shade of the road.”
The National Car Builder, June 1883, pg. 61
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
New 70-foot dining cars are painted “old gold color” on the outside and finished in white oak with French Walnut panels on the inside. Furniture is upholstered in red morocco.
Railway Passenger Agent 8 May 1883 https://archive.org/details/scrapbooks186519734pull/page/n269/mode/2up?q=rio+grande
1884: Passenger car “standard color” is yellow.
The National Car Builder, August 1884, pg. 104
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056520005961?lang=en
? to 1890: MC passenger coaches painted bright yellow.
1890: MC passenger coaches begin to be painted a “very dark brown with trimmings of gold.” Brown was already in use for MC sleepers.
The Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI), 12 February 1890
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, April 1890, pg. 51
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055090005961?lang=en
1890: MC passenger and baggage cars painted a “dark olive green.”
The Buffalo Morning Express (Buffalo, NY), 6 August 1890
1895: MC passenger cars painted dark brown, lettered in silver with red shading.
Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI), 9 April 1895
1901: MC passenger coaches known to be painted dark green.
Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI), 29 October 1901
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OG4nlFIZHHerSvdIT5lkiPmKTiP4I8gK/view?usp=sharing
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
1870: Baggage cars painted dark yellow (a mix of white lead and golden stone ochre), with plain stripes.
The Railroad Gazette, 3 December 1870, pg. 228
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015021737674?urlappend=%3Bseq=241
Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Passenger Cars
? to 1886: Passenger cars painted grey.
1886: Passenger cars begin to be painted yellow
1886: Sleeping cars begin to be painted dark red.
The Manitowoc Pilot (Manitowoc, WI), 25 February 1886
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033139/1886-02-25/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1777
Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway
1896: Boxcars have painted on their sides a black rhombus, bordered with white, containing the words “Soo Line” in white.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad
1887: Passenger car bodies unpainted, varnished mahogany.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, February 1887, pg. 16
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286088000005961?lang=en
Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway
Freight Cars
1880: MK&T platform and coal cars painted with “Cleveland Iron-clad” mineral paint
The National Car Builder, January 1880, pg. 5
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1880: MK&T stock cars painted with mineral paint. Ironwork coated in heavy black paint.
The National Car Builder, March 1880, pg. 41
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1873: MK&T passenger cars painted Chinese vermilion.
The National Car Builder, February 1873, pg. 38
? to 1907: MK&T passenger coaches painted black.
1907: MK&T passenger coaches painted green.
The Emporia Gazette (Emporia, KS), 16 August 1907
Missouri Pacific Railway
Freight Cars
1893: Standard 60,000 lb capacity boxcars painted with “Sherwin & Williams’ Perfect Method of Freight Car Paint.”
Railroad Car Journal, June 1893
1881: ten new locomotives built by the Hinkley Locomotive Works are painted black, including the jacketed parts that are polished iron from other companies.
American Railroad Journal 28 May 1881 p610.
Tender Style 37, Baldwin Style Book, Stanford University
Passenger Cars
1871: Passenger, baggage, and express cars painted dark.
The Leavenworth Times (Leavenworth, KS), 5 May 1871
Mobile & Ohio Railroad
1878: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1878 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Poor’s Manual of Railroads, 1878/1879
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015020064047?urlappend=%3Bseq=1172
Montgomery & West Point Railroad
Freight Cars
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” used on cars. The testimonial indicates that both “Chocolate color” and “Slate color” were used.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad
? to 1884: Passenger cars painted bright yellow.
1884: Company adopts a dark, brownish-green tint, the same as used on Pullman coaches, for their passenger cars
The Courier-Journal (Louisville KY), 8 February 1884
Nashua, Acton & Boston Railroad
1873: Passenger cars painted in “brilliant” carmine.
The New England Farmer (Boston, MA) 26 April 1873
Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad
1870: “Ladies’” passenger car painted maroon.
The Nashville Union and American (Nashville, TN) 30 April 1870
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Passenger Cars
1881: Passenger cars painted brown.
The National Car Builder, October 1881, pg. 115
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
National Despatch Line (National Car Company)
1869 to 1880s?: Cars painted green with highly ornamented lettering.
1869:
The Burlington Free Press, 14 July 1869
1870:
The Burlington Free Press, 13 January 1870
1878:
This excerpt is most likely referring to a National Despatch car.
The Arizona Sentinel (Arizona City, AZ), 21 September 1878
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021912/1878-09-21/ed-1/seq-3/
1883:
This excerpt is most likely referring to a National Despatch car.
The Daily Record Union (Sacramento, CA), 24 October 1883
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014381/1883-10-24/ed-1/seq-5/
A National Despatch Line car in Passumpsic, VT, sometime before 1884. The car is most likely painted green (with yellow lettering?). Lettered: “NATIONAL DESPATCH LINE. VIA CENTRAL VERMONT.”
http://etandhkide.com/vhspassumpsicphotos
National Despatch Line cars differed between companies; pictured is a Grand Trunk Railway ND car, built sometime before 1879. Possibly painted green with white lettering. Circa 1884 in Toronto, ON.
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-E1-22A&R=DC-E1-22A
GTR ND car in Point Edward, ON; built sometime between 1879 and 1885. Possibly painted green with white lettering.
Lambton County Archives, Holland Paisley Collection.
Link to full image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yZlMBppwOnt-Alg8pTqWujF1cQsBX60K/view?usp=sharing
GTR National Despatch Line cars from sometime in the mid-1880s onward were painted a mineral red/brown, like normal boxcars, with an added oblong shape, painted green and bordered in white, containing the words “NATIONAL DESPATCH” painted in white.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Late GTR National Despatch boxcar in Westbrook, ME, sometime in the 1890s (photo erroneously dated to 1881).
https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/13145
Canada Atlantic ND boxcar in Ottawa, ON, circa 1893. Paint colours unknown.
Library Archives of Canada PA 27295
https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinchurcher/28647547410/in/album-72157672195161995/
ND boxcar in Oakdale, MA, 22 November 1902. Paint colours unknown.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:vt150m265
Naugatuck Railroad
Freight Cars
1873: Naugatuck had “two different colored” freight cars, some of a “cream color,” and others of a dark “lead or bluish color.”
Superior Court of the City of New York, Von Nordhausen vs. New York and Harlem Rail Road Company, 1874, pg. 24-25
New Brunswick Railway
1883: Passenger car painted light yellow, with a “bordered bottom and black striping.” The trucks “are dark with yellow and scarlet stripings; the body of the doors are yellow, corner purple, and gold borders.” The words “‘New Brunswick Railway’ stand out very plain in black letters with scarlet shading.”
The Fredericton Evening Capital (Fredericton, NB), 31 March 1883
https://books.google.ca/books?id=QCFNAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
1886: Passenger cars of the “Flying Yankee” train painted yellow.
The Union Advocate (Newcastle, NB), 14 July 1886
https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00127_188601/113?r=0&s=6
1886: Passenger cars painted yellow, relieved by “carmine and stripes, and lettering of gold.”
The Fredericton Evening Capital (Fredericton, NB), 14 August 1886
https://books.google.ca/books?id=FOZMAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
New Jersey & New York Railway
? to 1896: Passenger cars painted yellow.
1896: Passenger cars begin to be painted Tuscan red.
The Paterson Daily Press (Paterson, NJ), 8 December 1896
https://books.google.ca/books?id=ZltVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
New Jersey Midland Railway
Freight Cars
1874: Freight cars and milk cars begin to be painted yellow.
The Paterson Daily Press (Paterson, NJ), 18 June 1874
https://books.google.ca/books?id=sTxVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
Passenger Cars
1874: Coaches used on the milk trains described as being painted yellow.
The Paterson Daily Press (Paterson, NJ), 18 June 1874
https://books.google.ca/books?id=sTxVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company
1859: First-class passenger cars painted a “light cream color.”
The Commercial Advertiser (New York, NY), 8 September 1859
New London Northern Railroad
Freight Cars
1878: Express freight cars painted “the color of ordinary passenger cars.”
The Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA), 26 November 1878
1886: “Cars” begin to be painted dark olive (excerpt is primarily about freight business, but it may be referring to passenger cars).
The Vermont Phœnix (Brattleboro, VT), 1 January 1886
Passenger Cars
1882: Passenger car painted a light orange with magenta corners and doors, “light-lined” with ultramarine and “Oriental” designs in gold leaf. Lettering in “overshaded” green and gold.
The Day (New London, CT), 25 February 1885
https://books.google.ca/books?id=DBIiAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
New Orleans & Mobile Railroad
1876: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1876 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Poor’s Manual of Railroads, 1876/1877
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015020063288?urlappend=%3Bseq=1088
New Orleans, Fort Jackson & Grand Isle Railroad
Freight Cars
1890: Freight cars painted grey.
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 31 August 1890
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l2KBE0VIcs_F6MqbUXXJ4p95yw3ZVd9p/view?usp=sharing
Passenger Cars
1890: Passenger cars painted a “dark claret color, picked out and lettered in gold and finished throughout in polished oak and burnished brass.”
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 31 August 1890
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l2KBE0VIcs_F6MqbUXXJ4p95yw3ZVd9p/view?usp=sharing
New York & Harlem Railroad
Freight Cars
1860: Freight cars painted light green.
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), 27 November 1860
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CSRDO87QfbVx6CTMOEY4LI9Az2Ku0P62/view?usp=sharing
Passenger Cars
1875: “Funeral car” painted the “distinctive green color seen only on Harlem railroad cars.”
Wheeling Register (Wheeling, WV), 28 September 1875
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xK5VTG8QigEsV2J1vkX9nKAbc6RsiZZ9/view?usp=sharing
New York & New England Railroad
Freight Cars
1881: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1881 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Travelers’ Official Railway Guide, April to June 1881
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/chi.17768562?urlappend=%3Bseq=442
1896: Boxcars in service mostly red, some yellow. On the sides of boxcars is painted a large, white Maltese cross, in the centre of which is the car number.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Passenger Cars
1875: NY&NE passenger cars painted “in some light color.”
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI), 4 June 1875
1883: NY&NE passenger coach painted a “deep Tuscan red, ornamented by shaded gold stripes.”
The Day (New London, CT), 16 May 1883
1888: NY&NE passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 10 November 1888
https://books.google.ca/books?id=tnM-AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
1891: NY&NE passenger cars in the “New England Limited” train painted white and gold.
The Boston Post (Boston, MA), 17 March 1891
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_6zatEyZKZbNGM1chUBiXyYf0J_BkAjs/view?usp=sharing
1891: NY&NE passenger cars in the “Long Island and Eastern States Line” train painted Tuscan red, lined in gold. The company’s “well-known cross is displayed upon the sides.”
The Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA), 18 September 1891
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lUT3SZsCZG5MbKJsRxEqUP8xNjMms3Am/view?usp=sharing
New York Central & Hudson River Railroad
Includes predecessor company “New York Central Railroad”. See “Hudson River Railroad” for other predecessor company information.
See also Blue Line, Red Line, White Line, Merchants Despatch
Freight Cars
1861: New York Central experimental iron freight cars painted a “light color.”
New York Commercial Advertiser (New York, NY), 27 March 1861
1875: 100 NYC&HRR cars are repainted for the Hoosac Tunnel through. They are painted “coffee brown” with white lettering.
American Railroad Journal 17 April 1875 p508.
1880: Regular boxcars painted brown with black ironwork and white lettering.
Railroad Gazette, 10 December 1880
“The Cost of Painting Freight Cars as Affected by their Color”
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=694
NYC&HRRR boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1872 or 1873. Most likely painted brown with black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179422
NYC&HRRR grain boxcar built by the Michigan Car Company in the early 1870s. Most likely painted brown with black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179390
1882: Cattle car bodies, roofs, and trucks coated with mineral paint; ironwork painted gloss black. These specifications are identical between the NYC&HRRR, Michigan Central, LS&MS, and Canada Southern, given that all four are Vanderbilt lines.
The National Car Builder, February 1882, pg. 19
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1892: NYC&HRRR gondolas painted with Prince’s metallic brown paint, lettering in white. All visible ironwork painted glossy black, including “the heads of bolts and coach screws.” Trucks coated in mineral brown paint.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, November 1892, pg. 167
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055370005961?lang=en
1895: NYC&HRRR boxcar trucks painted black and all ironwork exposed to view painted gloss black.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, May 1895, pg. 68
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055650005961?lang=en
1896: Some NYC&HRRR boxcars have large white stars painted on them.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
1898: NYC&HRRR freight cars known to be painted red.
Fairview Enterprise (Fairview, KS), 12 February 1898
Grain Line Transit Cars
1876: “Grain Line Transit” car at the 1876 Centennial Exposition painted yellow or straw colour, with black lettering and ironwork.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 May 1876
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_gZCDq_phN8ewR7R655iGw0t-u-3gNv/view?usp=sharing
Railway World Vol. 20, 1 July 1876 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021721769&view=1up&seq=455
Grain Line Transit boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1871. Most likely painted yellow with black lettering and black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179398
Grain Line Transit boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1872 or 1873. Most likely painted yellow with black lettering and black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179400
Grain Line Transit boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1876. Painted yellow or straw colour with black lettering and ironwork. This car was displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179382
Grain Line Transit boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1877 or 1878. Painted yellow with black lettering and ironwork. Roof possibly painted brown.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179414
1880: “Grain Line Transit” cars painted a deep yellow or orange, with black lettering, black ironwork, and roofs painted brown.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 17 December 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TmqqJUL3uvAGx7vwBv_MynnWMIakbGTp/view?usp=sharing
“The Cost of Painting Freight Cars as Affected by their Color”
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=694
“How to avoid delays and accidents,” Clay Cosack & Co. ca.1880, NYC&HRRR advertising lithograph https://www.justanswer.com/antiques/9puve-found-railroad-print-thats-says-avoid-accidents.html
Passenger Cars
1866: Sleeping cars running on the New York to Buffalo train painted bright red.
The Pittsfield Sun (Pittsfield, MA), 1 March 1866
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_RrE0Zy0yq5uIemLEV90zc8vYsYu1hZ/view?usp=sharing
1873: NYC&HRRR passenger cars begin to be painted bright yellow.
The Troy Daily Times (Troy, NY), 8 August 1873
1880: NYC&HRRR passenger cars painted a “light straw color.”
The National Car Builder, September 1880, pg. 149
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1883: NYC&HRRR passenger coaches painted “something of a straw color known among car builders as the New York Central & Hudson River Standard.” (see Fitchburg Railroad for color samples). Car ornamentation is “artistic and elaborate.”
The National Car Builder, June 1883, pg. 66
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
1885: NYC&HRRR passenger cars on the “Flyer” train painted “a peculiar tint somewhat similar to an olive color.”
The Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), 25 May 1885
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IkfbI0oz0DmhHB2FnknVnXf8pjnXdesd/view?usp=sharing
The National Car Builder June 1883 p.66
1886: NYC&HRRR passenger cars begin to be painted wine.
St. Albans Daily Messenger and Advertiser (St. Albans, VT), 8 April 1886
NYC&HRRR passenger car built by the Jackson & Sharp Company, circa 1886.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/2860
1889: NYC&HRRR (and LS&MS) Wagner “state-room” cars painted dark olive green.
The Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 24 March 1889
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1468E1G5OSTppSc4_gE3h8fzYidBfGT-g/view?usp=sharing
1901: NYC&HRRR passenger cars on the “Lake Shore Limited” train painted a “dark green color,” ornamented with gold.
The Evening Journal (Jersey City, NJ), 5 April 1901
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dfF9Mz20p_-RS-dmcjwf32hSZlXE0CvC/view?usp=sharing
New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (Nickel Plate Road)
1882: Passenger cars painted dark red and “handsomely lettered.”
The Morning News (Chicago, IL), 24 October 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xK5VTG8QigEsV2J1vkX9nKAbc6RsiZZ9/view?usp=sharing
1883: Passenger cars painted chocolate colour.
The Toronto Daily Mail (Toronto, ON), 20 June 1883
https://books.google.ca/books?id=d_1MAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
Freight Cars
1889: Fast freight cars to run between New York and Boston painted dark olive, lettered in white.
Morning Journal and Courier (New Haven, CT), 15 March 1889
1894: NYNH&H coal cars painted dark brown.
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI), 28 December 1894
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qIfM_UXEQ-0Z7CBHLH7rVMs59sLg-t0U/view?usp=sharing
1895: “Consolidated System” freight cars painted bright red, and have the “monogram of the Consolidated system painted in white on each side in place of the old block letters.”
The Waterbury Democrat (Waterbury, CT), 17 December 1895
1896: NYNH&H cars painted red. The company recently adopted a “scroll” as its trademark, which is painted in white upon its boxcars.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Passenger Cars
1881: NYNH&H parlor and passenger cars on the “New York and Newport Shore Line” train painted yellow.
1881: NYNH&H drawing-room cars painted “dark.”
New Haven Daily Morning Journal and Courier (New Haven, CT), 26 May 1886
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JnhrKP21T69vUgbn3Z8KbvwrfGPxRA-V/view?usp=sharing
The Port Chester Journal (Port Chester, NY), 9 June 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xV5VzFFJSjqh_YaqI4lrEd3H0QN5xWQj/view?usp=sharing
1882: NYNH&H sleeping cars painted olive brown with gilt lettering.
The Hartford Weekly Times (Hartford, CT), 2 March 1882
https://books.google.ca/books?id=Xgo0AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false
1882: NYNH&H painted olive green, “free from fantastic decoration so much in vogue in times past.”
The National Car Builder, September 1882, pg. 118
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1883: NYNH&H passenger coach built by the Pullman Company painted “Pullman color.”
The National Car Builder July 1883 p.80
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
Murphy Varnish Company’s Fine Carriage and Railway Varnishes. 1897
Valentine Varnish Co. ca. 1880s
1885: New York and Boston express trains of the NYNH&H painted dark olive.
The National Car Builder, April 1885, pg. 43
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056660005961?lang=en
1890: NYNH&H passenger cars painted a shade similar to the “familiar brown ‘Pullman’ color, but it is said to be better.”
The Worcester Daily Spy (Worcester, MA), 30 December 1890
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fn8Ck4q0QIajFqS5uzks8NF51XRJjwCZ/view?usp=sharing
1893: Wagner sleeping cars of the NYNH&H “Shore Line Express” painted a dark brown with gold lettering.
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 12 January 1883
https://books.google.ca/books?id=FmAzAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q&f=false
1891 to 1895: NYNH&H passenger cars on the “New England Express” train painted a “solid, dead white.”
The Daily Independent (Elko, NV), 11 July 1891
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020355/1891-07-11/ed-1/seq-2/
The Daily Astorian (Astoria, OR), 5 December 1895
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn96061150/1895-12-05/ed-1/seq-3/
1894: NYNH&H passenger cars begin to be painted Quaker green.
The Newtown Bee (Newtown, CT), 19 January 1894
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92051487/1894-01-19/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1777
1898: NYNH&H experiments with copper and aluminum to replace the usual car decorations.
The Morning Record (Meriden, CT), 8 March 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y5qHWp2qBWficCjrJS0uCZyjLylgPrAt/view?usp=sharing
1901: Passenger cars painted “Quaker green.”
The Daily Advocate (Stamford, CT), 12 March 1901
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x9Z6lkabGTI5qy4GQwfg6k2cEqkHWtNO/view?usp=sharing
New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad
1880: First-class passenger coaches painted chocolate brown, the “standard color of the passenger cars of the road.”
The National Car Builder, November 1880, pg. 168
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1881: Officers’ car painted chocolate brown, ornamented in gold. Trucks and steps painted dark orange, relieved with stripes.
The National Car Builder, May 1881, pg. 54
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
New York, Providence & Boston Railroad (Stonington Line)
Freight Cars
1880: Freight cars painted a reddish brown, lettered “New York, Providence and Boston Railroad,” and bearing on either side a “large white star with the letter ‘S’ in the centre.”
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI), 26 October 1880
Passenger Cars
1885: Passenger coaches painted yellow, with trucks painted red.
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI), 12 May 1885
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nZNihn0xNmbEeemN1VGCM6ry6arsjVvb/view?usp=sharing
1885: “Reclining chair” cars painted straw, with lake letter board and striping.
The National Car Builder, June 1885, pg. 84
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056660005961?lang=en
New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railway
1884: Passenger cars painted a “rich, dark olive color.”
The Western Recorder (Lawrence, KS), 13 June 1884
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqFRpSbjhXmjKgDZ_CcVVPb4ZZzvNvD0/view?usp=sharing
New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad
1880: Passenger cars painted a “light maroon color.”
The National Car Builder, October 1880, pg. 160
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
Nickel Plate Line (Fast Freight)
1885: P&R Nickel Plate Line boxcars painted yellow.
Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, PA), 1 January 1885
Norfolk & Western Railroad
Freight Cars
1881: Freight cars painted dark green.
The Norfolk Virginian (Norfolk, VA) 4 June 1881
Passenger Cars
1882: Passenger cars painted seal brown with gilt ornamentation.
The National Car Builder, April 1882, pg. 45
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Northern & Central Vermont Line (Fast Freight)
1883: Boxcars painted light green with yellow lettering.
The St. Albans Daily Messenger and Advertiser (St. Albans, VT), 7 January 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gdgFCmGasIYWo63Yk7pyW0Rn6X93fKq4/view?usp=sharing
Northern Alabama Railway
Freight Cars
1896: Boxcars painted red with black lettering.
The Reaper (Sheffield, AL), 11 April 1896
Northern Central Railway
Freight Cars
1852: Freight car specifications call for “dark brown paint and metal lettering.”
Unknown 1852 Northern Central Railway specifications, referenced in White, The American Railroad Freight Car, 1993, pg. 184 [Location of these specs to be determined].
Passenger Cars
1857: Passenger car used to convey US President Buchanan painted buff, with panel stripes of vermilion, brown, and orange. Platform, railings, and brake wheels bronzed.
The Daily Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA), 7 March 1857
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn87090234/1857-03-07/ed-1/seq-3/
1865: Directors’ car painted light claret and striped in different shades of green. Trucks painted green and striped with yellow.
The York Gazette (York, PA) 9 May 1865
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gFpyOFYxbi_zXTSt5Ctpassk63zngCXu/view?usp=sharing
1867: Passenger coach painted a deep red, “elaborately lettered and gilded,” running gear painted black, and trucks painted green with orange and red striping.
The Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, PA), 21 January 1867
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zBDsiKlToSjpXzVyS2Vs5SETRJtRS8SB/view?usp=sharing
1873: Passenger cars painted the company’s “standard color,” Tuscan red.
The York Daily (York, PA) 3 January 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V_ski5Jdl1UelirFlmMqAeegjAHWB9cX/view?usp=sharing
1873: Passenger cars painted a “brownish crimson,” set off with stripes of gold.
The National Car Builder, August 1873, pg. 190
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U426KbGeC_Vt0WstX08B9UEyHk2OdAAt/view?usp=sharing
North Eastern Railroad
1881: Passenger coaches painted dark red and gold.
The Weekly Chronicle and Constitutionalist (Augusta, GA), 14 December 1881
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82014778/1881-12-14/ed-1/seq-2/
North Missouri Railroad
?-1871: Passenger cars painted bright cinnamon.
1871: Passenger cars start to be painted bright yellow.
The Warrenton Banner (Warrenton, MO), 16 May 1871
Northern Pacific Railroad
Freight Cars
1882: Refrigerator cars painted bright yellow.
The River Press (Fort Benton, MT), 20 December 1882
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r-KuNZjIdjrIAtFiGaqpK8nPwgjHQ3Jd/view?usp=sharing
Northern Pacific refrigerator cars in Medora, Dakota Territory, circa 1883. The car sides are lettered "Wisconsin, Minnesota & Oregon. Dakota, Montana, Idaho. Washington Territory. Superior, Duluth, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Fargo, Bismarck, Miles City, Billings, Livingston, Yellowstone Park, Bozeman, Helena, Missoula, Tacoma, Portland, And All Other Points on NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD 1790 REFRIGERATOR LINE. Fresh Meats, Butter, Eggs, Fruits, Fish, Vegetables, Beer, And All PERISHABLE ARTICLES. Transported Summer & Winter on NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD without Transfer SAFETY & DESPATCH"
Another photo of a Northern Pacific refrigerator car at Medora, Dakota Territory, circa 1883.
Cabooses
1880: NP cabooses painted light red.
The Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL), 20 July 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g9wxSnzm__9UrWxzcK6fntMg6ARXB_Y0/view?usp=sharing
1881: NP cabooses painted with bright red lead.
The National Car Builder, December 1881, pg. 154
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
Passenger Cars
1874: NP passenger coaches painted light straw with “lead colored trimmings. The posts and panels are black, striped with gold leaf.”
The Petaluma Weekly Argus (Petaluma, CA) 5 June 1874
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bMb21x5w0-OVw1C4H38uk_IET2YLIbTB/view?usp=sharing
1881: NP passenger coach color changed from brown to yellow.
The National Car Builder March 1881 pg. 25
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056090005961?lang=en
1881: NP passenger coaches painted a “bright straw color,” with trimmings in maroon and dark brown.
The Duluth Tribune (Duluth, MN), 15 April 1881
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N8vtx_Re7VDMgdjYzDs4w8UfcF4YPTIo/view?usp=sharing
1883: NP passenger coach built by the Pullman Company painted the “Pullman color.”
The National Car Builder July 1883 pg. 80
See New York, New Haven & Hartford for Pullman Color paint samples.
1891: NP mail cars painted white.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 8 April 1891
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1891-04-08/ed-1/seq-6/
1898: NP passenger cars of the express train, “Copper City Limited,” painted a deep green with copper trimmings.
The Saint Paul Globe (St. Paul, MN), 30 April 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18SLvKdUFyQuaYbjjDm6TxlkrveCydVck/view?usp=sharing
Ogden City Railway
Baldwin dummies:
Carmine body with gold pinstriping and lettering. Spelled out “OGDEN CITY RAILWAY CO.”
Murphy Varnish color for Carmine
Motor Style 20 from the Baldwin style book
Tank style 84 from the Baldwin style book
Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad
1882: Passenger cars painted dark brown, in “half Eastlake and half Queen Anne” style.
St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 3 March 1882
Ohio & Little Kanawha Railroad
1900: Passenger coaches painted “a deep red.”
The Marietta Daily Leader (Marietta, OH), 7 August 1900
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m519U9dAQxOqpUWAJy9KBrYOsiASPDyu/view?usp=sharing
Ohio & Mississippi Railway
Freight Cars
1872: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
Passenger Cars
1857: First-class passenger car painted “cream color,” ornamented with gothic panels.
Buffalo Morning Express and Daily Democracy (Buffalo, NY), 25 May 1857
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mXaGWsQSYpUBWiLD_rDhxH_8UdGuJyX0/view?usp=sharing
1880: Passenger cars painted “a sort of chocolate color.”
The Herald (Omaha, NE), 22 December 1880
Ohio & Mississippi passenger car built by Jackson & Sharp, circa 1881.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/5199
Ohio River Railroad
Freight Cars
1896: Freight cars painted white.
The Weekly Register (Point Pleasant, WV), 15 July 1896
Passenger Cars
1893: Passenger coaches painted a “brilliant dark seal brown.”
Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, WV), 10 May 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JvoYlmDi3KAq0LDOPT7q-p6HwtsOmRHN/view?usp=sharing
Old Colony Railroad
1884: Old Colony officially adopts the “Pullman color” for the exterior of its passenger cars.
The Boston Herald (Boston, MA), 27 May 1884
1886: Drawing room car painted dark brown, with gold stripes and lettering.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, June 1886, pg. 71
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286087860005961?lang=en
1886: Passenger coaches painted “Pullman color,” ornamented with gold lines and modest designs.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, September 1886, pg. 118
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286087860005961?lang=en
1886: Parlor car, “King Philip,” painted carmine, ornamented with gold.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, September 1886, pg. 119
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286087860005961?lang=en
1892: Since 1883 or 1884, passenger cars have been painted either yellow or a shade that is “nearly a Pullman color, although it shades a little more on the red than Pullman color.” Yellow car corner posts, hoods, and letter-boards painted Tuscan red, with a “black panel laid over the red for the letters.”
The National Car Builder, November 1892, pg. 170
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055370005961?lang=en
1893: Most passenger coaches painted yellow when Old Colony was acquired by NYNH&HRR.
The New Haven Register (New Haven, CT), 19 July 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gR4jbwcYUKQW4tvIjoWqjCpHp9YnjkSS/view?usp=sharing
Pennsylvania Railroad
Freight Cars
1852: PRR used “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” on cars since 1848.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
1874: “Maryland & Delaware” fast freight cars painted a “brownish color,” with “Maryland & Delaware” lettered in red and white. Painted on the car sides is also a “red diamond,” denoting the cars’ “exclusive use for this line.
Wilmington Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), 23 September 1874
1875: 30 PRR boxcars and 60 coal cars are repainted for the Hoosac Tunnel through line. They are painted “coffee brown” with white lettering.
American Railroad Journal 17 April 1875 p508.
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
1886: PRR creates specifications for freight car paint.
1888: Third draft of specification; paint pigment 50% sesquioxide of iron (Fe2O3, red iron oxide), 45% hydrated gypsum (as a binder), and 5% carbonate of lime (calcium carbonate; to facilitate drying). I.E., PRR freight cars were painted a shade of oxide red.
The Railroad and Engineering Journal, May 1891, pg. 224
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101048911794?urlappend=%3Bseq=240
The shade of oxide red used by the PRR was likely a warm shade of oxide red, not a “purplish-red.”
1890: PRR coal cars were painted jet black.
The Southern Herald, 14 March 1890
1891: “Regulation” boxcar paint colour is given as dark red. A number of new boxcars were painted yellow.
Harrisburg Telegraph, 8 December 1891
1896:
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Detail from lettering diagram for Union line cars:
Cabooses
1891: Third draft of PRR cabin car paint specification calls for the use of scarlet lead chromate (AKA “Chrome Red'' or “American Vermilion'').
The Railroad and Engineering Journal, May 1891, pg. 222
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101048911794?urlappend=%3Bseq=239
Murphy Varnish Company’s Fine Carriage and Railway Varnishes. 1897
Passenger Cars
1858: PRR emigrant cars painted green.
The Daily Pennsylvanian (Philadelphia, PA), 20 May 1858
1866: PRR director’s car painted lake red, and on the car sides is “the coat of arms of Pennsylvania, finished with bright colors of gold, red and blue.”
The Daily Patriot and Union (Harrisburg, PA), 24 January 1866
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xK5VTG8QigEsV2J1vkX9nKAbc6RsiZZ9/view?usp=sharing
1866: PRR passenger cars painted “a beautiful red color.”
The Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA), 20 April 1866
1872: PRR passenger cars begin to be painted a “dark red color,” due to bituminous coal smoke blackening the “lighter colored cars.”
The Trenton State Gazette (Trenton, NJ), 29 May 1872
1876: All PRR postal cars begin to be painted white.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 8 February 1876
1880: Most PRR day-passenger cars painted a “rich maroon color.”
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 73
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1880: New passenger cars built at the Altoona shops for New York Division service are painted rich maroon. The interiors are finished in light oak colors decorated in the Queen Anne style. Seats are upholstered in blue in half of the cars and green in the other half.
American Railroad Journal 21 May 1880 pg. 562
1880: PRR adopts a new style of ornamentation for its passenger cars, where the Tuscan red cars’ ornamentation and lettering are “in gold, with a fine line of black around the figures and along either side of the borders.” The cars are largely “devoid of either ornament or stripe.”.
The National Car Builder, August 1880, pg. 142
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055950005961?lang=en
1881: PRR observation cars “of the street car pattern” painted light stone.
The Latrobe Advance (Latrobe, PA), 15 June 1881
1883: PRR postal cars painted white.
The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 25 April 1883
1888: PRR parlor cars painted brown.
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), 26 August 1888
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1888-08-26/ed-1/seq-11/#date1=1777
? to 1889: PRR postal cars painted yellow “with a large American eagle emblem on each side.”
1889: PRR postal cars painted the “standard of color for all passenger coaches,” Tuscan red. A monogram was used in place of the eagle emblem.
The Crawford County Forum (Bucyrys, OH), 6 August 1886
1890: PRR passenger car paint specification; Tuscan red paint pigment 80% sesquioxide of iron (Fe2O3, red iron oxide), 15% “organic coloring matter,” and 5% carbonate of lime (calcium carbonate; to facilitate drying).
The Railroad and Engineering Journal, May 1891, pg. 251
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101048911794?urlappend=%3Bseq=267
In other words, Tuscan red is created by combining Indian red with “organic coloring matter” that can be “chatemuc” (AKA “wood lake” or “crimson lake”) or alizarin lake.
The Railroad and Engineering Journal, May 1891, pg. 252
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101048911794?urlappend=%3Bseq=268
1891: PRR Pullman cars painted Tuscan red.
The Richmond Item (Richmond, IN), 4 September 1891
1893: All rolling stock painted red on the PRR and lines leased or controlled by the company.
The Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, PA), 24 February 1893
1897: PRR cars used in the inauguration train of President McKinley painted Venetian red.
The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 25 February 1897
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ei0k3FIu6H0mAAfspFvG-s4BDzJOcV80/view?usp=sharing
1898: PRR passenger cars on the “Pennsylvania Limited'' train painted a “rich” dark green below the windows, and window frames of “mahogany color.” Edges of the car bodies’ ornamented with a “Greek border'' in gold leaf. Letterboards, corner posts, and vestibules painted a “rich cream color,” ornamented with gold leaf and “topped with a narrow line of green.”
New York Daily Tribune (New York, NY), 14 January 1898
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M58LjCR18TDaMk85GLikL1tNlCZNaVaK/view?usp=sharing
Locomotive Engineering, February 1898, pg. 109
https://archive.org/details/locomotiveengine11hill/page/108/mode/2up
1898: PRR Pullman cars for the “congressional limited between Washington and New York” painted the “national colors.”
The Akron Beacon (Akron, OH), 10 May 1898
1903: PRR experiments with cabin cars a “richer and deeper hue of red than that now in use.”
The Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE), 9 June 1903
Pere Marquette Railroad
1900: Pere Marquette baggage cars painted tan.
The Bay City Tribune (Bay City, MI), 12 May 1900
Philadelphia & Erie Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars). [Iron Clad advertisement could also be referring to Paducah & Elizabethtown Railroad; P. & E. R. R. could be either].
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Passenger Cars
1869: Passenger car painted dark red.
The Northumberland County Democrat (Sunbury, PA), 14 May 1869
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad
Freight Cars
?-1892: P&R hoppers and gondolas painted red.
Post-1892: P&R hoppers and gondolas painted black.
The Pottsville Daily Republican (Pottsville, PA), 19 September 1892
1892: Another source implying (erroneously?) that all P&R main and leased line freight, gondola, and coal cars were to be painted black with white lettering.
Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 19 September 1892
1896: P&R coal cars painted black.
The Pottsville Daily Republican (Pottsville, PA), 5 September 1896
Passenger Cars
There are two contradictory chronologies of P&R passenger paint.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s account:
? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted yellow.
? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted green.
? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted vermilion.
? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted a brownish-red.
1868 to 1880: P&R passenger cars painted a “neutral color, approaching that of a fawn.”
1880 to 1887: P&R passenger cars painted olive green.
The Daily Republican’s account:
? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted amber.
? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted Indian red.
? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted green.
1872 to 1887: P&R passenger cars painted olive.
1876: P&R parlor cars painted a “handsome drab color.”
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 October 1876
1880: P&R passenger cars painted olive green with crimson and gold striping. Oval panels painted crimson with gold lettering. Trucks painted crimson, striped with black and gold.
The Reading Eagle (Reading, PA), 18 April 1880
https://books.google.ca/books?id=IsIrAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), 8 May 1880
1880: Two “mahogany” passenger coaches, the appearance of which “both inside and outside, is entirely different from any cars ever seen on any railroad.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), 27 October 1880
1887: P&R passenger cars start to be painted yellow.
The Lancaster Examiner (Lancaster, PA), 7 December 1887
1887 to 1892: P&R’s passenger cars are described as being painted lemon above and below the belt rail, with the rail and frieze board painted orange. Lettering in gold, shaded with tuscan red. Platform and trucks painted “mouse color.” Cars striped in gold and tuscan red.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 25 November 1887
The Daily Republican (Pottsville, PA), 20 December 1887
1888: P&R passenger cars described as being orange and gold.
The Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, PA), 18 February 1888
1888: P&R passenger car interior described as being painted a “lemon color, and relieved by striped and shading of a deep orange hue.”
The Brooklyn Citizen (Brooklyn, NY), 23 March 1888
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_GWUBCfdw2UKj9nH6okNmgWeIw6e2WqZ/view?usp=sharing
1888: P&R passenger cars described as being a light orange.
The Gazette (York, PA), 23 May 1888
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V3nZLgPx7h-xz7k7Af4QWJnMtbngaIwV/view?usp=sharing
1892: P&R passenger cars start to be painted a shade “similar to that of the Pullman parlor cars - a dark brown or plum.”
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 22 January 1892
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dvqIi5JM9j9XuHJnHLDchl5NuKK0SW_L/view?usp=sharing
1892: P&R passenger cars start to be painted the “Pullman color,” lettered in gold.
The Miners Journal (Pottsville, PA), 1 February 1892
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dcORA47k-LcSqqB51lmwd3WnxJ1IhyLG/view?usp=sharing
1892: P&R passenger cars described as being painted a “rich brown,” with gold trimmings.
The Philadelphia Record (Philadelphia, PA), 28 June 1892
Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad
Freight Cars
1861: Harlan & Hollingsworth drawing of a PW&B boxcar shows a “pale yellow body, tan roof {canvas coated with sand?}, black hardware, and red wheels.”
Harlan & Hollingworth “Freight Cars for Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail Road” drawing (at Smithsonian?), from White, The American Railroad Freight Car, 1993, pg. 184. A black and white image of this drawing (from Smithsonian copy-negative 81-8117) is printed on pg. 180.
1874: “Maryland & Delaware” freight express cars painted a “brownish color,” with “Maryland & Delaware” lettered in red and white. Painted on the car sides is also a “red diamond,” denoting the cars’ “exclusive use for this line.
Wilmington Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), 23 September 1874
Passenger Cars
1869: PW&B day cars painted a “rich glossy buff.”
Wilmington Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), 8 July 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t9NI1Yi4CR6uycj2Vtfs6Vk2P3OCCTIv/view?usp=sharing
1869: PW&B “palace” cars painted light yellow, relieved by the “bright hues of the lettering.”
American Railroad Journal, 18 September 1869
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013032316?urlappend=%3Bseq=133
1880: PW&B “light” passenger cars painted light yellow, highly ornamented with gold.
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 14 July 1880
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014805/1880-07-14/ed-1/seq-1/
1882: PW&B passenger cars start to be painted the “established color of the Pennsylvania R.R.” (Tuscan red).
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 13 February 1882
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014805/1882-02-13/ed-1/seq-1/
1882: PW&B baggage car painted red with gold lettering.
The Morning Herald (Baltimore, MD), 29 March 1882
https://books.google.ca/books?id=0SVCAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false
1898: PW&B Pullman coaches painted red up to the belt rail and green above the belt rail. Ornamented with gold leaf.
The Morning News (Wilmington, DE), 3 May 1898
Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon Railroad
1876: First-class passenger car and baggage car painted a “Penn’a” red and richly ornamented.
The York Gazette (York, PA), 30 May 1876
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway (Pan Handle Route)
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
1884: “Keystone” refrigerator cars painted a “cream color, striped with blue, with the picture of a large keystone painted on each side.”
Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH), 7 August 1884
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway
Boiler jackets were painted blue-hued black.
Railroad Car Journal August 1896 (recipe submitted in April 1896)
Werner’s Nomenclature of Colors, 1821
Pittsburgh, Shawmut & Northern Railroad
1900: Coal cars painted black and lettered in white.
The Evening Tribune (Hornellsville, NY), 14 December 1900
Plant System
Freight Cars
? to 1900: Freight cars painted yellow with dark red trimmings.
1900: Freight cars begin to be painted dark red.
The Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 22 July 1900
St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, VT), 27 August 1901
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nKLuTXvEC0hAtBjU3Lg6eTGeNhFAgnzV/view?usp=sharing
Portland & Kennebec Railroad
1868: Combination baggage, postal, and express car painted English vermilion.
The Daily Eastern Argus (Portland, ME), 11 December 1868
Portland & Rochester Railroad
Freight Cars
? to ?: Freight cars painted lead colour.
1896: Freight cars painted lead colour with ends painted vermillion.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 24 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1896-12-24/ed-1/seq-6/
Passenger Cars
1868: Post office and baggage cars painted bright vermilion.
The Daily Eastern Argus (Portland, ME), 28 June 1868
1888: Combination, smoking, and baggage cars painted Etruscan red with running gear painted chocolate brown.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 15 September 1888
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1888-09-15/ed-1/seq-4/
1891: Passenger cars painted Tuscan red and ornamented with gilding.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 28 May 1891
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1891-05-28/ed-1/seq-1/
1895: Mail/express car painted in the “regulation color of the road,” crimson lake with gold striping.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 3 May 1895
Providence & Worcester Railroad
1872: Passenger cars painted light straw.
The Aegis and Gazette (Worcester, MA), 13 July 1872
Providence & Worcester passenger car built by the Jackson & Sharp Company in 1872. This is one of the cars referenced in the above excerpt.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/2823/rec/2
Pullman
See Pullman Paint and Lettering Notebook: A Guide to the Colors Used on Pullman Cars From 1933 to 1969 by Arthur D. Dubin
See https://utahrails.net/pass/pullman-green.php
Pullman was both a car builder and a car leaser. If a Pullman car was owned by a railroad, then the railroad determined the body color. If the car was leased or operated by Pullman, then it would have been the standard “Pullman Color,” which was a dark brown. Modern UPS trucks are painted the same color.
In the late 1800s Pullman introduced Brunswick Green as an option, which causes some confusion in newspaper accounts. Both Pullman brown and Brunswick Green were technically “standard Pullman colors” but brown continued to be Pullman’s proprietary default until 1900.
Painting and Decorating, October 1892 lists one variation of Pullman color as a mix of ochre, drop black and Indian or Venetian Red.
Murphy Varnish Company’s Fine Carriage and Railway Varnishes. 1897
Valentine Varnish Co. ca. 1880s
Heath & Milligan Manufacturing Co. advertisement, The Official Railway List, 1892
On February 22 1900 the company issued a “new body color for all general service cars,” changing from brown and Brunswick Green to the more familiar “Pullman Green.”
1871: Pullman palace parlor cars painted olive, which appeared “greenish or brown, according to the light.”
The National Car Builder, April 1871, pg. 3
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sfLx1iwynW4K4DBuFWpbeVnbRo_YXLrh/view?usp=sharing
Quebec & Lake St. John Railway
1887: Passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
The Quebec Saturday Budget (Quebec City, QC), 11 June 1887
https://books.google.ca/books?id=ipNLAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
1889: Passenger cars painted Tuscan red.
The Montreal Herald (Montreal, QC), 24 July 1889
https://books.google.ca/books?id=Mc9hAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa & Occidental Railway
1879: Pullman drawing-room cars painted a “deep tinge of rose color.”
The Montreal Evening Post (Montreal, QC), 4 June 1879
https://books.google.ca/books?id=_7MuAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false
1879: Pullman drawing room cars painted Munich lake with olive green and gold facings (these are the same two cars referenced in the above excerpt).
The Montreal Daily Witness (Montreal, QC), 11 June 1879
https://books.google.ca/books?id=5xs1AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false
1879: First-class passenger car painted dark yellow, striped with red lake. Each car side features a “handsomely painted panel.”
The Montreal Evening Post (Montreal, QC), 29 July 1879
https://books.google.ca/books?id=TkUwAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Montreal Gazette (Montreal, QC), 30 July 1879
https://books.google.ca/books?id=lRkiAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f=false
Red Line (Fast Freight)
See also Blue Line (Fast Freight); New York Central & Hudson River Railroad
1865: Red Line cars painted vermilion with white lettering.
The Hillsdale Standard (Hillsdale, MI), 5 September 1865
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033637/1865-09-26/ed-1/seq-2/
Complete Palette of Car Body and Trim Colors of John W. Masury & Son, Co. 1877 http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/masury/index.htm
Masury liquid house paint (ready to use) also railroad paints, 1927 https://archive.org/details/MasuryLiquidHousePaint/page/n9/mode/2up
Valentine Varnish Co. ca. 1880s
Murphy Varnish Company’s Fine Carriage and Railway Varnishes. 1897
Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Red Line Cars:
1869: Repainted to say “From the Atlantic to the Pacific” pending the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
The Daily Davenport Democrat 11 March 1869 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045646/1869-03-11/ed-1/seq-2/
CRI&P Red Line Car, circa late-1860s or early-1870s
Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad Red Line Cars:
1869: Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad Red Line cars painted bright red.
The Saginaw Daily Enterprise (Saginaw, MI), 13 December 1869
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Red Line Cars:
Red Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1877 or 1878.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179440
New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Red Line Cars:
1866: New York Central Railroad and Hudson River Railroad “Red Line” cars painted bright red.
The Pittsfield Sun (Pittsfield, MA), 1 March 1866
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_RrE0Zy0yq5uIemLEV90zc8vYsYu1hZ/view?usp=sharing
1876: Painted a “brilliant red color,” with white lettering and black ironwork.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 May 1876
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_gZCDq_phN8ewR7R655iGw0t-u-3gNv/view?usp=sharing
Railway World Vol. 20, 1 July 1876 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021721769&view=1up&seq=455
NYC&HRRR Red Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1874. Painted red with black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179360
NYC&HRRR Red Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1876. Painted a “brilliant red color,” with white lettering and black ironwork. This car was displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179378
1880: Painted red with brown roof and black ironwork.
Railroad Gazette, 10 December 1880
“The Cost of Painting Freight Cars as Affected by their Color”
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=694
“How to avoid delays and accidents,” Clay Cosack & Co. ca.1880, NYC&HRRR advertising lithograph https://www.justanswer.com/antiques/9puve-found-railroad-print-thats-says-avoid-accidents.html
Redondo Railway
? to 1894: Passenger coaches painted a “dark green color.”
1894: Passenger coaches begin to be painted a “rich shade of orange.”
The Los Angeles Herald, 9 April 1894
Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad
1835: Passenger cars painted fawn, with buff shading. “Picture pannels” painted with lake shading and rose, pink, and gold borders, as well as delicate stripes of vermilion and “Opaque Black.” Within the panels were reproductions of famous paintings.
Steuben Farmers’ Advocate (Bath, NY), 23 September 1835
Richmond & Allegheny Railroad
1882: R&ARR coal cars painted with dark mineral paint.
The National Car Builder, April 1882, pg. 45
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1882: R&ARR stock cars painted with dark brown paint.
The National Car Builder, May 1882, pg. 56
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Richmond & Danville Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
1890: Boxcars painted yellow.
The Evening Capital (Annapolis, MD), 30 December 1890
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88065721/1890-12-30/ed-1/seq-3/
Passenger Cars
1882: Officer’s car painted Tuscan red, with gilt ornamentation on the door and corner posts, and a black stripe around the outside panels.
The National Car Builder, May 1882, pg. 50
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad
Freight Cars
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint, Chocolate color” used by the company. The testimonial does not explicitly state that the paint was used on cars.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
1881: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1881 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Travelers’ Official Railway Guide, April to June 1881
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/chi.17768562?urlappend=%3Bseq=442
Passenger Cars
1866: Sleeping cars painted light yellow.
Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA), 4 May 1866
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBbjqwziqeX48Lkko_lqOnJ8ubiYETvR/view?usp=sharing
Rio Grande Western Railway
See Denver & Rio Grande
Freight cars: followed the D&RG standard, painted Prince’s Metallic with black ironwork and white lead lettering. Painting documentation can be found under the section for the D&RG.
Cabooses: followed D&RG standards, brilliant red with tuscan red windows, Prince’s Metallic floors, steps and platforms, and black ironwork. Lettered in imitation gold. See Denver & Rio Grande for more information and illustrations of this color scheme.
Passenger cars: Before 1899 followed D&RG standards, tuscan red bodies, black ironwork. See Andrew Brandon’s drawing of the D&RG standard: http://www.pacificng.com/roads/co/drg/DRG-Coach-292-ca-1906.pdf
Murphy Varnish Company’s Fine Carriage and Railway Varnishes. 1897
Complete Palette of Car Body and Trim Colors of John W. Masury & Son, Co. 1877 (probably chemically shifted due to age) http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/color/masury/index.htm
After 1899, the Rio Grande Western adopted the Oregon Short Line’s passenger color scheme of Van Dyke Brown with gold leaf lettering.
"...the standard Tuscan red ... has been changed to Van Dyke brown [with] rich gold facings." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 21, 1899)
"The standard color, Tuscan red, now used for Rio Grande Western passenger equipment, will be succeeded by the Van Dyke brown. Vice-President and General Manager D. C. Dodge made the statement yesterday,..." This change the result of Dodge seeing the chair cars for the Chicago-Portland Special and liking their appearance. "...the Van Dyke brown is almost a black..." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, May 25, 1899)
"The 'Colorado - Utah Line' legend is to go on all RGW cars as they are repainted in brown with gold lettering. Mail and express car no. 3 is the first car so done; it has 'Wells, Fargo & Co.' and 'Express,' curved, in the space between doors on the sides, with 'Baggage' at one end, and 'U. S. Mail' at the other." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, July 15, 1899)
"The RGW plans to repaint all passenger equipment to 'Colorado - Utah Line' light brown scheme. Colorado - Utah Line cars are now used on trains 9 and 10." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, August 23, 1899)
Van Dyke Brown was a mix that blackened with age, so good period color samples are rare. The house siding in this ink-printed illustration is labeled as Van Dyke Brown.
Masury’s House Paints, 1900 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/t5jb29t8p&view=1up&seq=6
Locomotives:
Tender Style 166, Baldwin Style Book, Stanford University
Post-1908 Denver & Rio Grande repaints of Rio Grande Western equipment
Passenger car painting, D&RG sheet 521, Denver Public Library collections
Roanoke & Southern Railway
Freight Cars
1891: Boxcars painted brown.
The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, VA), 21 November 1891
Rochester & Syracuse Railroad
1852: Passenger cars painted vermilion.
The Rochester Daily American (Rochester, NY), 2 July 1852
Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad
1886: Passenger car, “Mayflower,” painted black.
Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, NY), 11 August 1886
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1laV3xIXVq8W7s4md2Be6ZMInT1mrtR0W/view?usp=sharing
Rutland Railroad
1899: Passenger coaches built by Wagner painted green, with “plain Wagner decoration.”
Bellow Falls Times (Bellow Falls, VT), 28 December 1899
Saginaw, Tuscola & Huron Railroad
1882: Smoking car and combination car painted a “very dark brown, almost black, with appropriate ornamentation.”
The Evening Express (Saginaw, MI), 2 February 1882
San Diego, Cuyamaca & Eastern Railway
1906: Passenger coaches painted an “olive color.”
The San Diego Union (San Diego, CA), 8 May 1906
Sandusky & Columbus Short Line Railway
1893: Parlor cars painted blue.
Bucyrus Journal (Bucyrus, OH), 27 January 1893
Sandy River Railroad
1879: Passenger cars painted buff.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 12 April 1879
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1879-04-12/ed-1/seq-3/
Savannah & Charleston Railroad
1870: Passenger cars painted yellow, and “splendidly decorated in arabesque.”
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 3 November 1870
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1870-11-03/ed-1/seq-3/
Savannah, Florida & Western Railway
1882: Passenger coaches painted “chocolate color, with gold and black decorations.”
The National Car Builder, May 1882, pg. 53
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1887: Passenger coaches painted Tuscan red, trimmed with black and gold.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 19 May 1887
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hDtlaJUTAsRCsBoZwzTa-JHz5u4Lh_ED/view?usp=sharing
Savannah, Griffin & North Alabama Railroad
Freight Cars
1873: Freight cars painted red with white lettering.
The Carroll County Times (Carrollton, GA), 29 August 1873
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034016/1873-08-29/ed-1/seq-2/
Seaboard Air Line Railway
1900: Passenger cars painted a “very dark maroon - the color of new Pullman cars.”
The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), 28 March 1900
Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway
1887: Passenger coaches and combination car painted “a bright red.”
The Livingston Enterprise (Livingston, MT), 10 September 1887
1889: Passenger coaches painted bright maroon, with lettering in gilt.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, WA), 22 May 1889
Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad
Freight Cars
1871: Freight cars painted yellow.
The North Georgia Citizen (Dalton, GA), 16 March 1871
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034046/1871-03-16/ed-1/seq-3/
Shenandoah Valley Railroad
1879: Pullman Palace Cars painted wine.
The Spirit of Jefferson (Charlestown, WV), 16 December 1879
Silver Springs, Ocala & Gulf Railroad
Freight Cars
1879: Boxcar painted yellow.
Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 15 January 1879
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1879-01-15/ed-1/seq-1/
Passenger Cars
1879: Passenger car “handsomely painted, with red predominating.” The car sides are lettered “Ocala and Gulf Railroad” near the top, and “Silver Spring” on the “lower rim.”
Savannah Morning News (Savannah, GA), 15 January 1879
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015137/1879-01-15/ed-1/seq-1/
South Bound Railroad
1891: Passenger coaches painted Tuscan red.
The Morning News (Savannah, GA), 6 September 1891
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86063034/1891-09-06/ed-1/seq-8/
South Carolina Railway
1882: First-class coaches painted with Prince’s metallic paint and finished with Indian red ground in japan. Corners, door posts, and letter-boards ornamented with gold and black.
The National Car Builder, April 1882, pg. 38
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
1883: Passenger cars painted Tuscan red, the “road’s standard color for passenger equipment.”
The National Car Builder, September 1883, pg. 98
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056380005961?lang=en
Southern Central Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Southern Pacific Company
Freight Cars
1891: Southern Pacific adopts the “setting sun” monogram, with some freight cars having the monogram painted upon them.
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), 4 June 1891
Cabooses
1883: Southern Pacific cabooses begin to be painted bright red.
The Kern County Californian (Bakersfield, CA), 10 November 1888
https://books.google.ca/books?id=fpZhAAAAIBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Passenger Cars
1881: Southern Pacific passenger coaches painted bright yellow, with red roofs.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 9 August 1881
? to 1883: Southern Pacific passenger cars painted yellow.
1883: Southern Pacific passenger cars begin to be painted a pale green.
1883: Southern Pacific emigrant cars begin to be painted bright red.
The Kern County Californian (Bakersfield, CA), 10 November 1888
https://books.google.ca/books?id=fpZhAAAAIBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
1884: Southern Pacific passenger cars begin to be painted a “rich brown similar to the Pullman cars.”
The Silver State (Unionville, NV), 1 March 1884
Southern Railway
Freight Cars
1895: Hopper bottom coal cars painted with mineral paint and all ironwork exposed to view coated with black asphaltum.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, May 1895, pg. 67
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286055790005961?lang=en
St. Joseph & St. Louis Railroad
1885: Combination car painted a rich brown.
St. Joseph Gazette-Herald (St. Joseph, MO), 13 February 1885
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-12oIyulyZGbEM_GcfTje322iSrk3se3/view?usp=sharing
St. Lawrence & Ottawa Railway
1880: Passenger car painted yellow, with a “bordering of blue and black, richly ornamented.”
The Ottawa Daily Citizen (Ottawa, ON), 20 November 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n_9Ewp7xzhjZwGxK6i4--0_gwex_zdft/view?usp=sharing
St. Louis & San Francisco Railway
1880: Passenger coaches, express car, and mail car painted dark and gilt.
The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, KS), 3 June 1880
St. Louis & Southeastern Railway
1870: Passenger cars painted a rich vermilion, with the car sides being “finished to such a gloss” that they “serve as mirrors.”
Wilmington Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), 12 September 1870
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11FwbpbaRim0RL9oigDnpeZJUAhI-06b6/view?usp=sharing
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway
1876: Passenger coaches painted a “dark mahogany color.”
The St. Louis Globe Democrat (St. Louis, MO), 28 September 1876
St. Paul & Pacific Railroad
1878: First-class passenger car painted dark brown with gilt striping. Wheels painted green and platforms painted a light brown.
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 7 June 1878
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014805/1878-06-07/ed-1/seq-1/
St. Paul & Pacific first-class passenger car, built by the Jackson & Sharp Company in 1878. Painted dark brown with gilt striping, light brown platforms, and green wheels.
https://delaware.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/2265/rec/3
St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway
? to 1880: Passenger cars painted brown.
1880: Passenger cars begin to be painted bright yellow, “similar in shade to those of the Chicago and Northwestern road,” panel trimmings in wine, and lettering in gilt.
Daily Globe (St. Paul, MN), 6 January 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jMQXD8AGfMHv4ZUsYIDtNZhxWCrhifPM/view?usp=sharing
1888: Passenger cars painted maroon (Tuscan red).
The United Opinion (Bradford, VT), 21 December 1888
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PmB3QEH-BIHM_Sf8ASav1KMtR_ofhbez/view?usp=sharing
Susquehanna Railroad
1865: Passenger cars painted “in imitation of oak.”
Daily Albany Argus (Albany, NY), 13 July 1865
Texas Midland Railroad
Freight Cars
1899: Boxcars painted green.
The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX), 22 November 1899
Passenger Cars
1901: Passenger cars on the “Lone Star Limited” train painted dark olive green with gilt lettering.
The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, TX), 22 March 1901
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m60WYG_C0DbDQ4zYvVHNKJ9rvyw7FV0S/view?usp=sharing
Toledo & Central Ohio Railway
Freight Cars
1896: Boxcars have on their sides a red star on a black circle, surrounded by a white band.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad
Freight Cars
1889: Flat car painted a dark red.
The Kearney Daily Hub (Kearney, NE), 6 December 1889
1896: Boxcars decorated with a black diamond, bordered with a white band. Contained within the diamond is a white three-leaved clover containing the words “S. Dispatch” or “Southwest Dispatch” in black.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, 15 December 1896
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1896-12-15/ed-1/seq-3/
Union Pacific System
Includes Utah & Northern, Oregon Short Line, Denver South Park & Pacific, Utah Central, Union Pacific Denver & Gulf
Information regarding black paint used by Union Pacific on trucks and ironwork
Railroad Car Journal August 1896
Cabooses
See Andrew Brandon’s drawing of a DSP&P caboose under Union Pacific control: http://www.pacificng.com/roads/co/dspp/DSPP-Way-Car-76-ca-1883.pdf
Passenger Cars
1868: UP first and second-class passenger cars start to be painted wine.
The Gold Hill Daily News (Gold Hill, NV), 22 January 1868
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84022046/1868-01-22/ed-1/seq-3/
1869: UP first-class passenger cars painted wine.
The Detroit Advertiser and Tribune (Detroit, MI), 19 August 1869
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k1VjDCX-InK3fUp2fZ9nBeOpBepbWYzy/view?usp=sharing
1870: UP passenger cars were painted “a kind of Quaker drab.”
Railroad Gazette, 22 October 1870, pg. 73
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015021737674?urlappend=%3Bseq=85
Masury’s Railroad Colors No.2 “Quaker Drab Light”
Masury’s Railroad Colors No.4 “Quaker Drab Medium”
1871: UP passenger cars uniformly painted a “rich brown, set off with gold trimmings.”
The Watchman (Montpelier, VT), 19 July 1871
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1opz5LIKthcdbryiglClJCK2JwdVlhPGY/view?usp=sharing
1878: UP passenger cars painted a “deep wine color,” lettered and ornamented in gold.
The Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, NE), 8 March 1878
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EgGtBBX7sx33oPijlP89mBjKKtjIa4VS/view?usp=sharing
1883: UP buffet car, “Monterey,” painted chocolate brown, relieved with gold trimming.
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA), 22 December 1883
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FA8_jXMwgcNcYTzvfQmd_tyFJ5fwvwNn/view?usp=sharing
? to 1895: UP passenger coaches painted a light shade of yellow
1895: UP passenger coaches start to be painted Van Dyke brown, trimmed in “gold colors.”
The Kansas City Journal (Kansas City, MO), 28 October 1895
Union Tank Line
1873: Union tank cars painted red, white, and blue (tank most likely painted with white red ends and blue dome).
Lancaster Intelligencer (Lancaster, PA), 2 April 1873
UTL tank car built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1873.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179352
1877: Union tank cars painted red, white, and blue (tank most likely painted with white red ends and blue dome).
Pittsburgh Commercial and Gazette (Pittsburgh, PA), 8 May 1877
UTL tank car built by the Harrisburg Car Company, ca. 1877.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179418
1883: Tank cars of the standard oil company reportedly painted blue.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042459/1883-11-14/ed-1/seq-3/
[White, 1993 states that UTL cars were painted red through the 1880s up until 1912, when they started to be painted black. His source may be the McClure’s Magazine articles or legal proceedings?]
Utah & Northern Railway
1879: Passenger and baggage cars painted “bright as gold dollars.”
1880: Pullman sleeping cars, “Argo” and “Adrance,” painted “the usual color of Pullman cars.”
The Weekly Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), 21 August 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18ukyzYhcpJE0ozOuOSEhtcXcGwH1xNRR/view?usp=sharing
Utah & Western Railroad
Passenger Cars
1874: Passenger cars painted canary with green striping.
The National Car-Builder, October 1874, pg. 150 https://drive.google.com/file/d/10sOnknK1UWOP6oz3vK95wxHTdcXxaAZ4/view?usp=sharing
(See Chicago Burlington & Quincy for historic paint samples of Canary Yellow)
Utah Central Railroad
Passenger Cars
Ogden Semi-Weekly Junction, 26 January 1870
Locomotives
Deseret News 13 November 1872
Utica & Schenectady Railroad
1837: Postal cars painted green. [I’m uncertain if this is the right railroad.]
The Cheraw Gazette (Cheraw, SC), 19 July 1837
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88084121/1837-07-19/ed-1/seq-2/
Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railroad
1875: Passenger coaches painted orange, with blue and vermilion finish.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 24 June 1875
Virginia & Truckee Railroad
1874: Passenger cars painted a “peculiar fawn color, invented by Superintendent Yerington, and contrasting finely with the gold and ornamental work.”
Territorial Enterprise (Virginia City, NV), 22 November 1874
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UkvbaysB2VvLM9d2doaa2aCW8H_4-YWF/view?usp=sharing
1877: Passenger cars painted dark red or maroon, running gear painted yellow with black stripes.
The Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV), 6 February 1877
May 1904:
Letter to Zelnickler Supply regarding purchase of coach #19
Body Yellow, trucks and platform dark brown, letter board and corner post light brown, the legend "VIRGINIA & TRUCKEE", Roman Gold.
Virginia Central Railroad
Freight Cars
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” used on car roofs.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Wabash Railroad
Includes predecessor companies “Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway,” “Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway,” and “Wabash Railway”
Freight Cars
1872: Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in September of 1872 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, September 1872, pg. 18
1880: Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway passenger coaches painted a “rich chocolate,” ornamented with gold, blue, pink, and wine.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 1 July 1880
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13LBcsmStMKAyTc3JHb7-1zAFjI5Q45fQ/view?usp=sharing
1880: Wabash Railway (TW&W renamed to Wabash in 1877) listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
? to 1894: Wabash fruit cars painted white.
1894: Wabash fruit cars start to be painted red.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), 6 October 1894
Wagner
1873: Wagner palace cars, “two to run over the Shore line, two on the Boston and Albany, and two from New York to Chicago,” painted “scarlet-lake color,” striped with gold and “other fancy decorations.”
The Troy Daily Times (Troy, NY), 2 April 1873
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12iFk9PhdjB3iia6zi4AJ936vC_islO7n/view?usp=sharing
1893: Wagner palace cars sent to the 1893 Columbian Exposition painted royal blue with golden scroll decorations and polished brass railings, steps, guards, and vestibule bindings. Trucks “shine resplendently in gold lacquer.”
The Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 20 May 1893
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xP23CKJvlVw9VLySkFVilfC-A2tVfLEm/view?usp=sharing
Passenger Cars
1885: Wabash combination car painted a “rich seal brown.”
The Parsons Weekly Sun (Parsons, KS), 29 January 1885
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_UjXkWvs4uL8jjo5k6tgebivdUqrA99h/view?usp=sharing
Washington City, Virginia Midland & Great Southern Railway
Freight Cars
1881: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1881 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Travelers’ Official Railway Guide, April to June 1881
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/chi.17768562?urlappend=%3Bseq=442
Washington County Railroad
1898: Combination cars painted a “slightly brighter shade of carmine than the Pennsylvania Railroad passenger cars.”
The Sun (Wilmington, DE), 15 December 1898
West Jersey & Atlantic Railroad
Passenger Cars
1880: New coaches are painted red.
American Railroad Journal 30 April 1880 p479.
West Shore Railroad
Freight Cars
1892: Boxcars painted bright red with a large, white circle on each side, with the words “West Shore Local” encircled within.
Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 17 March 1892
West Shore 60,000 lb boxcar with the circle described above.
https://heritagecollections.elgin.ca/en/permalink/archives160425
Passenger Cars:
1886: West Shore passenger cars painted wine.
St. Albans Daily Messenger and Advertiser (St. Albans, VT), 8 April 1886
Western & Atlantic Railroad
1852: Boxcars and platform cars painted a “yellow color.”
Southern Banner (Athens, GA), 11 November 1852
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82014069/1852-11-11/ed-1/seq-2/
Western Maryland Railroad
1876: First-class passenger cars painted a deep yellow with running gear painted orange.
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE) 11 March 1876
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014805/1876-03-11/ed-1/seq-3/
1903: Passenger cars begin to be painted a light olive green.
Baltimore American (Baltimore, MD), 7 March 1903
Western Railway of Alabama
1877: Passenger cars painted dark brown and highly ornamented.
Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, GA), 19 September 1877
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84024797/1877-09-19/ed-1/seq-2/
1880: Passenger cars painted “Pennsylvania red.”
The Railroad Gazette 12 March 1880 https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013053635?urlappend=%3Bseq=174
Western Union Railroad
1876: Sleeping cars, “Milwaukee” and “Rock Island,” painted a “straw tint.”
The Daily Argus (Rock Island, IL), 14 August 1876
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92053942/1876-08-14/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1869
Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad
1881: Passenger cars painted a light olive.
The Railway Review, 2 April 1881, pg. 190
https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Railway_Review/gWo8OUWt4y8C?hl=en&gbpv=1
White Line (Fast Freight)
See also Blue Line (Fast Freight), Red Line (Fast Freight), New York Central & Hudson River Railroad
1866: Painted white.
The Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 29 August 1866
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TBoNG8iFjbkGAgf0LLEtQCGKaCtbQU-x/view?usp=sharing
Eastern Railroad White Line Cars:
1880: Painted white with black lettering.
The New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette (Concord, NH), 6 May 1880
Lehigh Valley Railroad White Line Cars:
1880: Painted white.
The Elk County Advocate (Ridgeway, PA), 15 July 1880
New York Central & Hudson River Railroad White Line Cars:
1876: Painted white, with black lettering and black ironwork.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 May 1876
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_gZCDq_phN8ewR7R655iGw0t-u-3gNv/view?usp=sharing
Railway World Vol. 20, 1 July 1876 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021721769&view=1up&seq=455
NYC&HRRR White Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1873. Painted white with black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179384
NYC&HRRR White Line refrigerator car built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1873. Painted white with black ironwork.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179430
NYC&HRRR White Line boxcar built by the Harrisburg Car Company, circa 1876. Painted white, with black lettering and black ironwork. This car was displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.
https://library.artstor.org/public/SS37537_37537_39179380
“How to avoid delays and accidents,” Clay Cosack & Co. ca.1880, NYC&HRRR advertising lithograph https://www.justanswer.com/antiques/9puve-found-railroad-print-thats-says-avoid-accidents.html
Williams Valley Railroad
?-1898: Passenger cars painted yellow
1898: Passenger cars start to be painted olive green.
The West Schuylkill Herald (Tower City, PA), 25 August 1898
Williamstown Railroad
? to 1883: Passenger cars painted yellow.
1883: Smoking car repainted a “rich olive brown.”
Gloucester County Democrat (Woodbury, NJ), 18 October 1883
Wilmington, Columbia & Augusta Railroad
Freight Cars
1880: Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in May of 1880 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
The National Car Builder, May 1880, pg. 2
Wilmington & Northern Railroad
1881: Passenger and baggage cars start to be painted a dark pea green, striped in dark maroon, and lettering in gold.
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 15 March 1881
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014805/1881-03-15/ed-1/seq-1/
Wilmington & Reading Railroad
1870: First-class passenger coaches painted a “dark red or reddish brown,” the “color adopted for all cars on this road hereafter.”
The Wilmington Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), 29 December 1870
Wilmington & Weldon Railroad
1871: Passenger car painted green.
The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), 8 October 1871
Wilmington & Western Railroad
? to 1876: Passenger cars painted yellow.
1876: Passenger cars begin to be painted dark brown or the “maroone [sic] color of the Pullman cars.”
The Morning Herald (Wilmington, DE), 29 March 1876
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 29 March 1876
Windsor & Annapolis Railway
1869: Passenger cars painted straw colour, with streaks of white and magenta.
The British Colonist (Halifax, NS), 1 May 1869
Wisconsin Central Railroad
1882: Smoking cars painted straw, with corner boards and letter-boards painted a light umber. Bevelled corners of batten strips on the car sides painted black. Car ornamentation in “Egyptian designs.”
The National Car Builder, February 1882, pg. 14
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056230005961?lang=en
Woodruff
1873: Woodruff parlor and sleeping coaches painted chocolate and maroon, ornamented in golden arabesque.
The National Car Builder, August 1873, pg. 189
https://drive.google.com/file/d/178_OpNdyPQrzOhwojMuytM3B5CIp1sgA/view?usp=sharing
1873: Woodruff car, “Cleopatra,” painted a “deep maroon color, picked out in gold arabesque.”
The National Car Builder, December 1873, pg. 304
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yoXFO0YDyMYpNOluGUCYB2CSSw4-trEw/view?usp=sharing
1885: Woodruff combined sleeping, parlor, and reclining-chair car painted seal-brown, with black letter-board and gold ornamentation.
The National Car Builder, February 1885, pg. 23
https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LINDAHALL_INST:LHL/1286056660005961?lang=en
York & Cumberland Railroad
Freight Cars
1851: “Blake’s Patent Ohio Fire-Proof Paint” used on cars.
See Baltimore & Ohio for more information on Blake’s Paint.
The American Railroad Journal, 11 February 1854, pg. 96
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000877139l?urlappend=%3Bseq=106
Passenger Cars
1848: Passenger coach, baggage car, and milk car uniformly painted a “bright golden yellow.” (Uncertain on what company is implied by “for York.”)
American and Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore, MD), 14 April 1848
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