Re: Color blind

Posted by Jim Courtney on May 10, 2015; 5:13pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Color-blind-tp2208p2213.html

Who-boy, this should be an interesting thread.  We can all discuss the colors of structures and rolling stock in an all B&W photo era.  At least you didn't ask what colors the Tiffany reefers where painted.

A Proctologist colleague of mine is fond of saying that "opinions are like the anus--everyone is entitled to at least one."

So, for what it's worth, here are my opinions of C&S colors:

Structures:

In the very early South Park days (late 1870s to mid 1880s) depots were painted a solid light color, either white or light gray.  By the mid-1880s the depots were felt to be a light gray with green trim.

From the late 1880s to 1890s, with the Union Pacific firmly in control of the property, depots seem to be a solid darker color, likely barn or boxcar red.  Trim doesn't seem to differ.  Perhaps a Union Pacific Historic Page or discussion group could give one precise specs.

After the creation of the C&S, in the first years, the older UP colors persisted.  By about 1905, when the C&S had its new corporate act together, the Trumbull management began repainting the depots in a "revival" gray with green trim.  A newspaper account from 1905-07 describes the Como structures being repainted these colors.  Discussion on this and other boards suggests that  Polyscale/Floquil "New Gravel Gray" as the primnary color with "Pullman green"  or "Dark Green" as the trim.  Find the "Glenisle" thread that Chris started recently.  I posted photos of the restored little Glenisle wait station.  The folks I talked to at the Historic Society in Baileys, said that they had tried to match existing paint during the restoration.

This gray and green trim survived until abandonment on some structures, ie the Breckenridge depot, albeit heavily weathered.  It appears that other structures, including some water tank bodies (Dome Rock, Crossons) and some outfit car bodies (Baileys) were also painted in this scheme.  Other outbuildings, water tank bodies always seemed to be a dark color, likely barn red.

The CB&Q acquired the C&S in late 1908.  By the mid 19teens, most structures were repainted in the "Q" scheme of barn or boxcar red with dark green trim.  Again CB&Q History Society or discussion boards may provide a suggested paint mix.

One anomaly that I don't understand is how the Forks Creek water tank ended up with a "buff" tank body.

Rolling Stock:

Most discussion boards and people that have looked at paint chips from freight car restoration projects have suggested that the standard C&S "boxcar red" was roughly 2 parts Floquil/Polyscale "Boxcar Red" to 1 part "Caboose Red".  An approximate out-of-the-bottle color is Floquil/Polyscale "Rock Island Maroon", which is what I use.  By the late 1920s the newly painted "Button" lettering scheme was in use, but many cars with the 1906 block "C&S" lettering were still around, heavily weathered.

Controversy exists as to whether the cabooses were painted a different color than the freight cars.  I choose to paint mine with the "Rock Island Maroon".

Any Conoco tank cars of the late 1920s to early 1930s were painted silver with black underframes and dark green lettering and reporting marks. The solid black paint scheme with white Conoco lettering didn't show up until the late 1930s, just prior to abandonment.  (This info from Bruce Blalock, an On3 modeler who worked for Conoco and found the NG tank car specs in their archives; he published an article on the Conoco cars in the NG & SL Gazette back in the late 70s or early 80s).

The refrigerator cars were yellow with C&S boxcar red roof, ends and later underframes. Search for Derrell Poole's C&S reefer blog articles.  He suggests that the yellow was an orangy-yellow, perhaps an "Armour Yellow". By the late 1930s, the cars were a brighter "Reefer Yellow".

As to passenger cars, on Keith's "Passenger Car #72" thread, Mike Trent has an excellent discussion of how he painted his On3 models.  As he helped restore said car in Idaho Springs, I would view his color suggestions as authoritative.

So, let the color arguments begin!

(BTW, in what scale will you be modeling??)