Re: green boiler/paint colors

Russ,

Baldwin stopped using Green by the mid 20's (I think), however by then most railroads were ordering black for locomotives. Even then, it was only if the purchaser did not specify a color of their own that it would be painted green, this would include the jacket, frame, drivers, tender, cab, etc.. The whole thing would have been green, not just the jacket. Prior to this period of time, Green had been the standard Baldwin locomotive beginning in the late 1870s. Again, Green has been a standard machinery color since the end of the 1860's. It is possible that Baldwin picked up some surplus Green, however it was never a justification for application.

On a side note: I have confirmation that the The NCNG boxcars shipped to Pearl Harbor at the start of WWII were painted a dark green by the NCNG's scrapper. I suspect this is the same color as the surplus paint. In service these cars would have been Oxide Red, the change to a dark green was dramatic enough for a reporter in Colfax to note the color.

Andrew Brandon
A fixture here since Y2k.
[www.pacificng.com]
[www.spnghs.org]

"An end to red domes in our lifetime!"