SP GS class paint scheme policiy VS. SP passenger train paint scheme policy

[De Luxe]

Look what I found here today:

http://www.lafterhall.com/osw11_032.jpg

I think they really look nice. So I asked myself the following question:

Why did the SP have the energy and motivation to maintain 7 different passenger schemes (dark green heavyweights, grey heavyweight Daylight, two tone grey Overland scheme for Overland Limited, Lark & Cascade, Daylight scheme, Golden State scheme, Sunset Limited scheme and UP yellow for the City of San Francisco & San Francisco Challenger and later Overland) but it never painted some of their GS class 4-8-4´s into the two tone grey Overland scheme for Lark service or Golden State scheme although these engines were regularily used on these trains? Why couldn´t the SP have painted those GS steamers that were assigned to these trains when it could paint it´s trains in so many different paint schemes that surely cost more? I mean the GS class in 3 different paint schemes and 3-4 passenger train schemes in total would surely cost less than 1 paint scheme for the GS class and 7 paint schemes for the passenger trains...

[West Coast S]

I shudder at the thought of a GS class locomotive displaying anything but DAYLIGHT or basic black,  throughout the history of DAYLIGHT colors Espee was always seeking solutions to control cost, maintainability and there were many variations over the years each generation more cost effective to apply and maintain then its predecessor. That  would immediently rule out any GS displaying the labor intensive two-tone grey. The use of Armour Yellow was prescribed by pool agreement, the Golden Sate scheme era on the Espee came and went virtually unoticed, and most equiptment featuring those colors were of Rock Island orgin-Espee seeming content to confine these colors to head end cars and a token E7 set that too was quicky repainted into DAYLIGHT.

Dave

 

[De Luxe]

I don´t shudder at all. In my eyes a GS-4 in Golden State or Two Tone Grey scheme would look very good in front of the Golden State or Lark. Those Daylight painted GS-4´s always look so missplaced in my eyes when pulling the Lark or Golden State.

About the Golden State: from 1948 till 1953 this was indeed a train painted thoroughly in the red and silver Golden State scheme by both SP & RI. And interestingly during this time, GS-4´s were regularly pulling the Golden State between Tucumcari and El Paso, while the E7´s took over from El Paso to LA. Why SP did it like that I don´t know, but for me this would be reason enough to paint thise GS-4´s assigned to the Golden State Route into the Golden State scheme. Or at least black. I saw photos of both skirted Daylight painted GS-4´s and deskirted black GS-4´s pulling the red and silver Golden State, and I must say that the black and deskirted GS-4´s look much better in front of it than the ones in Daylight scheme.