NYC Caboose Colors ?

[traindaddy1]

Hi! I have posted this question on the Classic Toy Train Forum (where I spend most of my time) and thought that I'd ask it on this Forum also.

Catalogs and photos show many NYC caboose paint scheme combinations.  From your experience, what color scheme would best mimic the real-life NYC caboose? Many thanks.

 

[train18393]

What year are we talking? Boxcar Red( a brown color) in the early years, or Jade green in the later years say late 50s and on. The newer bay window cabooses were brown when they first started arriving from the Despatch shops, and got the Jade Green paint early in their life. There were a (very)few wooden "submarine" cabooses painted in Jade Green. There were also a few cabooses in the bluer shade, refered to some as Century Green. The cracker boxes on a flat car were all painted Jade as far can tell. I am at work, so I can't give you NYC names of the paint or exact dates, but whth more specific information I will look it up if you need more than that.  This information is what I have heard Modelers call the colors and caboose types. There were also several itterations of the herald such as with the broken A or not, Lines vs System, Oval or Cigar Band, background or no background in the oval, as well as a few other variations. Some also had a small triangle in the lower left of the car body with painting information that was on nearly all green cars, and some of the brown ones, also depending on the year. They nearly all had a small (3" I think) lot number indicated, usually above the herald, although not always. One could roughly sum it up this way.  Brown with an oval herald if it is wood and Jade Green with cigar band herald if it is steel. Note: That last sentenance was an over simplicfication and was in no way a rule.

Paul

Dayton and Mad River (model) Railroad

[traindaddy1]

PAUL: Thank you.  I'm into Lionel and have seen an abundance of solid red and red & black combinations. That's why I posed the question. Some of the offerings really look toy-like! Appreciate the information and your time. Thanks, again.

[robscaboose]

Generally speaking,Lionel has never concerned itself with being correct on paint schemes.

Rob

[train18393]

Rob,

Generally speaking that would be true. I have a set of really nice streamlined Lionel passanger cars that are painted in the post 1948 LS scheme that are close to being correct, but of course the are very short, and I have a nice 700E Hudson and scale caboose that have the colors dead on, but the color of a scale black hudson are not to hard to match. You just need to be selective, which is what the inquirer was interested in, hence my indicated general response. Even the "newer stuff" in "scale" is very close to the correct colors, and in order to keep the answer brief on the "Prototype" Classic Trains BBS that we are so nicely provided, I kept the answer brief and as close as the writer of the original response intnded (I think) hence the invitation for him to E mail me if he had any further questions. I like to keep this BBS "Classic Trains" limited to classic trains, but did not want to be curt to a possible active member.

I do not care to start a tete-a-tete on this BBS, as it is not approriate, and these guys on this BBS know what they are talking about.

Thank you very much for your response.

Paul

Dayton and Mad River (model Railroad)