Loco Design and Decoration . . .

Russo Loco Wrote:
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> How can colours which look so good on Inyo look so
> utterly horrible on D&RGW #483??   Only
> 'The Phantom' knows . . .


By the standards of its own era the paint job V&T 22 presently wears (which is NOT its as-built paint job) was kind of oddball. I believe it's basically the 1880's CPRR scheme. The Central Pacific (and roads influenced by it--the V&T in this case clearly followed the larger road's fashion) was one of the last major holdouts that kept the civil war-era vermilion red wheels which had generally gone out of style during the early/mid 1870's. The V&T, specifically, was one of the very last roads in the U.S. to retain the bright wheels. The CPRR-style coloration was additionally peculiar because it dispensed with the usual extensive line trim that was still popular at the time, so it was in that sense ahead of its time while simultaneously keeping the old-fashioned wheels. Plain black made its appearance there, as elsewhere, in due time.

The scheme looks bad on modern-era power because that kind of scheme was specifically meant to look nice on 1870's-style locomotives. A 1950's style two-tone paint job from a Chevrolet Bel Air would look out of place on a modern automobile, too.