Re: Why was red paint so common?

So many misconceptions...

Mineral color, aka box car red, or barn red, is generally a ferris oxide... ie rust... It was believed that it was more protective. It was not generally the cheapest option... white lead, black, and lead based yellows (chrome yellow) were all cheaper... Gray made from white lead and lamp black would be about the cheapest good paint... plain white next, yellow or buff next... White lead and yellow chorme were in most cases half the cost of "Tuscan Red" (a common precipitated iron oxide). Prince's Mineral paint, (brown) was particularly popular, and was used by D&RG until near 1920. Rawlins red, a brighter red, but still a mineral color was used by UP (who ended up owning the quarry) until about 1886. Rawlins red was also used on the Brooklyn Bridge...

Note, that in addition to white lead, there was white wash... a lime based white stain. That was even cheaper..

Railroads were choosing a good protective paint, not the cheapest option.

The colors they chose were well understood, and painters were skilled proffesionals who kept the color constant (maybe not at Westside Lumber... they were apparently just cheap)

Red lead was always a primer... never a finished color... but was used as a undercoat, and especially prized for priming iron that came in contact with wood.

Randy

Randy Hees

Director, Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City, retired
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