Re: E&P combine name plate

Jim,
Thanks for the compliments! This winter I am planning on doing the FRA inspection so we can take Eureka back to Colorado. It is a lot of work, but I think it is a worthwhile endeavor to have her running as she was intended to do.

You are right about the details. It was an enormous project to get all the filigree right. However, like anything worth doing, one might as well do it right. All the narrow gauge cars today are wonderful, and that they are still running is fabulous. Yet, those cars as nice as they are really do not show the artwork that was so common in the 1870s and 80s. My intent is to get back to that period as close as I can.

Already we are putting on the base color coat paint which is sort of a buckskin color. By this coming weekend we should have the first coat finished. It is about 1/3 done now. After that, another color coat will be applied and I think we will be ready to do the striping. All the patterns have been made, the different colors will be what you see in the name board: the buckskin basic color, striped then in crimson red, brown, blue and gold. There are some 270 bits of scroll work that will be applied. If you want to get a general idea of what it will look like, check out John White's "American Railroad Passenger Car" book where he has a picture of the E&P coach Eureka in the narrow gauge section. I was able to get a large print of that picture from the Smithsonian and that was my guide to what the striping design will be. After doing all this I can see why the railroads painted their cars monochrome. But what the heck, there should be at least one car in this world that has the original Victorian art work running on the rails.

Dan Markoff