Re: The Mason-Garretts . . .

Stewart Rhine Wrote:

> Looks like it had a green boiler
> jacket??



I don't know whether you're serious or not (given this forum's history with respect to that color), but no. Paint from that era could not withstand high temperatures, hence the jacket wouldn't have been painted at all. It would have been made of surface-treated iron, probably genuine imported russian iron since Mason typically spared no expense with respect to finish. Russian iron (as well as similar, locally-made planished iron) did not have modern quality control so it tended to vary somewhat in color and hue....ranged from medium to dark grey, sometimes with various tints due to impurities. The main consistent thing about surviving samples of the material is its inconsistency; every batch was a little different. I don't know for certain what color the rest of the locomotive (cab, frame, tank, wheels, etc) was, but the Mason works from that era turned out locomotives primarily in green, sometimes brown. So figure it was most probably either green or brown with a metallic grey boiler, with brass bands and painted (likely gold-based paint) line trim. Black would've been unlikely owing to Mason's sense of aesthetics, though might have been possible if the customer made a specific request.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2018 10:11AM by James.