OK folks, it's time to stir up the hornets again. On the subject of green boiler jackets and colors other than black on boiler jackets, this much is known. After the demise of russian iron and the short lived substitution of "american iron", many roads used paint to aprroximate the color that russian iron gave off. some were gray, others a gray-green, some flat out green. Colors other than black on boiler jackets were at one time VERY COMMON. Roads known to use non-black include D&RGW, SOO LINE, N.P., G.N., D.M.&I.R., T.&P., S.P., etc. Most of these went to black with the stringencies of the Great Depression. Written up below is a color chart from the September, 1944 Model Railroader that I stumbed across in my never ending search for articles by Frank Ellison and Paul Larson. I don't have a scanner so I'll have to type it in. It says color chart for the Denver and Rio Grande Western (and in small print) this information furnished by the mechanical department of the Denver and Rio Grande Western RR.
STEAM LOCOMOTIVES: CAB EXTERIOR, BLACK DUCO. CAB INTERIOR, MEDIUM GREEN. CYLINDERS, PILOTS, RUNNING GEAR, BLACK ENAMEL. SMOKE BOX, FIRE BOX, FRONT-END PAINT. BOILER AND CYLINDER JACKETS, DARK OLIVE GREEN ENAMEL. LETTERING, TIRE RIMS, EDGE OF RUNNING BOARD, ALUMINUM PAINT. TENDER, BLACK DUCO.
DIESEL ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES EXTERIOR, BLACK DULUX. EXT. LETTERING AND STRIPING, GOLD DULUX. CAB INTERIOR, ENGINE ROOM, ENGINES AND ACCESORIES, SUEDE GRAY DULUX. INTERIOR LETTERING, BLACK PAINT. HIGH VOLTAGE WARNING, BRIGHT RED PAINT.
PASSENGER EQUIPMENT ROOF, UNDERFRAME, UNDERNEATH EQUIPMENT, BLACK DUCO. BODY, VESTEBULES, TRUCKS, OLIVE GREEN DUCO. LETTERING, YELLOW PAINT.
FREIGHT EQIPMENT BODY, ROOF, TRUCKS, BOX AND AUTO CARS, FREIGHT-CAR RED. BODY, ROOF, TRUCKS, STOCK AND COAL CARS, BLACK. LETTERING, WHITE PAINT.
WORK EQUIPMENT SIDES AND ENDS, GRAY PAINT. ROOF, ALUMINUM PAINT. TRUCKE, UNDERNEATH EQUIPMENT, BLACK PAINT. LETTERING, BLACK PAINT.
So there you have it, for what it's worth, information supposedly straight from the railroad. So, you ask what about all those black engines? Like I said, the Great depression killed off many frills the railroads used to enjoy, such as engine wipers etc. In any case, shop foremen used to vary from company standards almost at will. If he had an engine to get out and no green paint (or aluminum paint for lettering) around, he sure as hell did not wait for two weeks for a shipment to come in. He used what was on hand. Incidently, Model Railroader used to publish one of these color charts almost every month in the 1940's. Does anyone out there know the difference between DULUX and DUCO?