Re: Fresh Paint

Chris Walker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> James,
>
> the lettering of the 174 is the 1910-23 period
> (give or take), the last passenger lettering
> scheme before the DENVER & RIO
> GRANDE WESTERN was spelt out in full on the
> tendersides.
>
> So given that this turnout was most likely early
> teens pre WW1 (1914) and the financial troubles of
> the later half of that decade, my question would
> be, would the polished jacket be of russia iron,
> that late?

Depends on how specific you want to be. If you want to be really technical, it didn't have actual imported Russian Iron even when it was brand new. Only a relative handful of the early D&RG engines got that. The large majority used domestic-produced planished iron which was similar (but not identical) and cheaper. Imported Russia Iron was entering a terminal decline by the 1880's due to the appearance of domestic substitutes and very little was imported past about the turn of the century or so. More generally, you saw planished jackets made of domestic materials remain in use even in new construction (in gradually declining numbers) well into the 1920's. The Great Depression seems to have killed the last of it off other than the occasional outlier here and there. The bare planished jackets would've been in no way unusual circa 1914.