ViC Roseman (known for his incredibly realistic model railroad photographs) authored a book on REA published by Model Railroading Magaine/Rocky Mountain Publishing in 1992. That's Randy Lee's old company. Lee's current website says the book is "long out of print" -- I have seen it at swap meets and train shows but at prices well in excess of the $12.95 I paid for it.
He does not mention a date for beginning the green paint, which makes me assume it as green from day 1. REA per se began in 1929. A shot of an REA Motor Express truck ("1930 vintage") says it was green and that fenders were black to the late 1930s.
Roseman says (p. 100) that "until about 1960 Railway Express used a deep green for both refrigerator cars and their trucks.... a second generation of the Railway Express colors was introduced in 1960 and included a much lighter green." He says the green and red only gave way to gray and blue in June 1970. He also indicates that the pre 1960 green was seen on equipment well beyond that date.
Dave Neslon
I'd assume then that the lighter green c.1960 is the "apple green" the OP is referring to, which would match my memory of REA color schemes. Remember in 1929 almost all passenger cars were dark Pullman green; REA cars weren't that dark but they were dark enough that they could blend into a passenger train better. (REA express cars of course often travelled in passenger trains.)
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