U.S. Army steam engines

[cmgn8905]

What color were U.S. Army steam locomotives. I have seen black and white pictures of them but it is hard to tell what color they are. Pictures of one would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

From the Fallen Flags site:


http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/usa/usa-s606.jpg

[orsonroy]

That photo's from a late 1960s fantrip, and doesn't represent the vast majority of transportation corps steam. Mostly, it's plain black with white lettering, and no pinstriping or safety paint any where on the engine.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

That photo's from a late 1960s fantrip, and doesn't represent the vast majority of transportation corps steam. Mostly, it's plain black with white lettering, and no pinstriping or safety paint any where on the engine.

I'm not so sure. The autos and uniforms say late '50s to very early '60s to me. And who says this is a fan trip photo?

I've seen plenty of B&W photos, with captions dated in the mid- to late-'50s, that show US Army steam locos with highlighted safety appliances and running board or footboard edges, but the poster's question is what were the colors used?

Have any dated, color photos to prove your claim?

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fiverings
I'm not so sure.
Have any dated, color photos to prove your claim?

Well, yeah...the rest of the US Army photos on that site:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/usa/usa.html
They're all from Ft Eustis, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Color 35mm film, while around since the 1930s, wasn't common in the hands of the common schlub railfan until post-1960, which is why there was an explosion of railfans at that time, as compared to the relatively few steam-era photographers. Therefore, I'll stick with the late 1960s as my target date for the photo.

QUOTE:
The autos and uniforms say late '50s to very early '60s to me.

The autos say 1958 to me, but the uniforms say 1949-1982. I can show you RA NCO's in wools, photographed in 1965 or so (the last year they were allowed for wear).

QUOTE:
And who says this is a fan trip photo?

I do, based on my 30+ years of reading all things railroady. Look at the rest of the color photos on the site; they're all fantrip photos. Look at Trains Magazine photos from the 1960s and 1970s; they've got loads of Army base fantrip photos in them. Heck, look at similar photos from other sites, with the photos labeled as fantrips.

QUOTE:
I've seen plenty of B&W photos, with captions dated in the mid- to late-'50s, that show US Army steam locos with highlighted safety appliances and running board or footboard edges, but the poster's question is what were the colors used?

So have I. And we've answered his question: for most of the history of the Transportation Corps' history, and for the vast majority of engine on the roster, the colors were black with white lettering. Only the few steamers which survived on American bases into the 1950s had any other colors added to them, with a nonstandard application of yellow paint added to safety features. Modeling the one out of 500 lend-lease steam sent to Europe over two wars in all black is common and usual; painting one engine that at one time had one overzealous E5 paint yellow all over the place is NOT common nor usual.