Excuse me but you hit a soft sopt with Eric Dowty.
I was up until 3 years ago assistant CMO my dad being CMO for twenty years for Golden Spike NHS
at Promontory.I don't know what you ment by looking like a "carnival" speaking about their reciently being painted ,aparently you haven't been to Golden Spike in quite a while because the repaint was done in 1993!
After much research it was determaned that the colors of the replicas was not as accurate as once thought.Although the late Gerald Best was a consultant as was Ward Kimball.Mr. Best did not have all his information correct.Mr. Best ,no dissrespect intended was not always accurate about his research.The Jupiter between 1878 and 1893 was painted a crimsin or bright red.Mr Best has received this information from Al Jolsin former master mechanic of the SP.He had been arround in his tenure with SP had talked with men who had actually worked on and had run the Jupiter but not prior to 1878.They said it was painted bright red.Later research found that Schenectady Locomotive Works which built the Jupiter painted all factory locomotives blue with crimsin trim.This research was found in the Sacramento Bee dated early 1869.Quote "The Jupiter
arrived on the track this morning fresh from the paint shop resplendant in blue and crimsin"un quote"The 119 was painted by Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works at Patterson New Jersey in a UPRR
freight color of the time to hide the soot!!Wine Red rather than bright red.Mr Kimball felt that the 119 probably was wine red but that bright red was a more pleasing color to the public.The same went for the replica Jupiter.Like it or not and many have not but many more were very impressed with the bright gaudy colors.You can see why it was so very hard to keep the 19th century locomotives clean especially coal burners.But the Golden Spike locomotives are not some amusement
park trumped up colors.
