painting of old steam engines

[sebamat]

I know that around 1870s the steam engines were very colorfull (think Jupiter & UP91 of the golden spike ceremony...) Later on, this fancy painting was dropped and the most engines were then plain black (exception only some crack passenger engines?) .

When did this change happens? Which RR started it?

I would like to paint a Bachmann 4-4-0 in black ..

Thank you

sebastiano

[route_rock]

Well towards the late 1800's about 1870 and on it started to go to basic black. Engineers had discretion with their engines as well, as most ran only one that was assigned ot them.The firemans job was ot keep her clean and painted up nice.
As to what railroad? My guess is any one of them. Freight engines were first no doubt as they were always being run hard and why bother keeping them clean?

[mersenne6]

Over the years people have offered a variety of explanations for the change. There's the thought that the paint schemes represented a pre-civil war view of the world and in the somber post-war period such decoration was looked upon as being frivolous. There is the issue of upkeep of the paint scheme - retouching a multicolored engine was more than just a notion. There is the view that the change from relatively clean burning wood to the widespread use of coal was the cause since a brightly painted engine was more likely to show the effects of soot from coal. Then there is the notion that the changeover from personally assigned engines to pooled motive power resulted in a drop in personal pride in the locomotives and hence a move to simpler and darker engine colors.

What ever the reason, the period from around 1855 to about 1875-1880 was a period of brightly colored engines. They were so colorful that numerous patrons as well as foreign observers of the American scene commented on their appearance and the surviving manufacture commisioned water colors and litho prints of the actual engines do reveal an unbelieveable rainbow of color - pink tenders, polychrome tenders, gold leaf and brass trim, engines painted white, blue, red, green, polished metals, Russian Iron jackets in blue grey, green, and brown. Wheel centers in red, vermillion, brown, yellow, robin's egg blue, white, and green and on and on.

[sebamat]

Thank you for the information.

the sight of a well occupied roundhouse should have been a really nice spectacle!

sebastiano