Re: D&RGW Water Sevice Bunk Car 04432

Skip Wrote:
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> ...  Please, please, please DO NOT paint the
> car Red!   Note the boxcar next to 04432 in
> Jerry's photo.  That's the color of Rio Grande
> house cars back in the day.  I was there ....
> do not be fooled by the name "boxcar red...."
> on Rio Grande it was really brown.


Since you posted a photo of a model, Skip -

And ONLY because you posted a photo of a model, I will think back several decades to when I modeled in 1:87 scale instead of my very occasional current work in 12"/foot scale, and note that with the Floquil (sp?) paints that I used in those days the 'Boxcar Red' was a very slightly reddish brown - exactly the same as your model appears on my monitor - whereas 'Tuscan Red' was a very slightly brownish red, much more reddish than your model appears.  'Caboose Red' had even less brown in it - maybe none - but IIRC was very slightly glossy, whereas both 'Boxcar Red' and 'Tuscan Red' were dead flat.

IIRC, all three were originally formulated from very finely ground reddish-brown, brownish-red or dull red clay, mixed with linseed oil, etc., to make an inexpensive paint that the railroads could afford to use on tens of thousands of cars; each color would vary slightly, depending on exactly where the clay was mined.  Many of the modern paints are based on chemical pigments - like those used by the C&TS several years ago that changed over time to a weird, almost purplish hue - unlike the older clay pigments that simply faded as they oxidized or weathered away.

- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender