Hello All,
My HO pike is freelanced based on coal mining operations in the Western Slope of Colorado during the 1970s-1980s.
Flatcar loads that supply machinery to the mines is my passion- -along with the Tyco 34-foot operating hoppers.
Within the mines is a color-coding of machinery:
In no way are these colors meant to be prototypical.
The parent company of the B.S.&P. R.R: Consolidated Materials Group (CMG), specifically requested these paint schemes from the manufacturers to simplify the sorting of machinery upon arrival.
With multiple systems operating in the depths of the mines, being able to identify- -by color- -components of each system keeps the mines operating in difficult conditions.
Also, check out this thread...
Color of the Prime Mover?
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Several decades ago, I got some machinery from a now long-gone hobbyshop. It was cast in dark grey plastic and needed to be assembled...Not too long ago I painted some of it, but haven't had an opportunity to do the rest. It's usually seen when being shipped out, either by truck or train, from Bertrams.
Here's the partially-painted stuff, with most of one of the drill presses gone...
...and a duplicate of the large green one, shown above, still in its original grey in the Lowbanks locomotive shop...
As a kid, I had some opportunities to visit manufacturing industries with my father, who started out as a draughtsman, but later rose into management. Most of his larger home-equipment, a lathe and a drill press (both acquired through his business connections) were painted a light grey (gloss paint).In the various mills that I worked, in the steel industry, the machinery came in multiple colours: green, similar to that in the photo above, and light grey (flat or gloss).Depending on what process each particular mill was doing, you might see relatively clean machinery, and in other mills, machinery the same colour as the air...steel-dust grey...
Wayne
I remember most all Ingersall Rand and Allis Chalmers machinery painted dark green or sometimes grey, gloss finishes deminished over time. Most factory, machine shop, and mill equipment was coated with a combination of greases & lubricants, factory dust & grime, etc. Flat paint is the way to go. Bayway Terminal NJ
wrench567Was wondering when someone was going to mention the red lead.
Around the plant where I worked (built in '32) I would have to chip paint off the columns to attach my ground clamp then grind off layers of paint to weld brackets and clip-angles to the trusses and girders. There would always be a layer of bright orange where the mill primer finish would surface. How much of that lead did I vaporize with the welding rod then suck into my lungs?
Oxide_New by Edmund, on Flickr
wrench567Sometimes the paint was still tacky but laid down thick.
Some of the Cincinnati, Warner & Swasey, Monarch machines I worked around would get chipped. There was a coating under the painted surfaces that was at least a sixteenth inch thick, sometimes thicker. Sure looked pretty, though.
GE in July 054 by Edmund, on Flickr
Sure the machines were glossy and some were well maintained to keep that look but in the model world it wouldn't look right. Too toy-like if it remains shiny.
Good Luck, Ed
Was wondering when someone was going to mention the red lead. Also the white lead and aqua marine for equipment exposed to salt water. I remember the days I did flatbed work around the rust belt. Like I mentioned earlier. Castings we're shipped raw or primed. W S, Parker, Cincinnati, and others would get raw unfinished castings and ship brand new painted machines with bare metal coated in cosmolien grease. Crated up ready to work. I spent a lot of time covering them in tarps to keep the weather off them. Parker shipped very large pumps painted in the lead paints. Sometimes the paint was still tacky but laid down thick.
Pete.
Here's portions of the 1963 booklet I was mentioning:
GE_Glyptal_cover by Edmund, on Flickr
GE_Glyptal_Drift-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
GE_Glyptal_Drift-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I like the second page of color chips with the pastel colors. I've seen plenty of machinery painted in these colors.
You are asking about "Castings" though. Do you mean raw castings in process?
Up until the mid-1950s or so there was a great deal of red-lead used for corrosion protection before better coatings came along.
GE_Glyptal_Objective2 by Edmund, on Flickr
GE_Glyptal_Objective3 by Edmund, on Flickr
There are a few more pages here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gmpullman/albums/72177720297109063
I believe that factories/foundries painted the castings according the stage in the processing. Finished product ready for use to the customer was finished in a variety of colors usually gloss or semi gloss. The color was chosen by the customer during the order process. Industrial black and gray were most common. Gloss white in refineries was pretty common. It kept the pipes cooler by reflecting sunlight. Safety yellow for obvious reasons, and industrial green for distribution warehouses was pretty common for visibility an uniformity. Raw and primered parts were usually shipped because the casting hasnt reached final processing.
At least thats what my 85 year old father (retired steel mill worker) said. He did retire 30 yrs ago and things may have changed.
The GE turbine folks always shipped turbine parts and assemblies in what we called "beige primer". I remember this as being a flat color.
It didn't matter if it was the high pressure turbine shell, the low pressure exhaust hood, the oil tank, or any of the various pumping units. Most of this stuff was installed and was never re-painted.
The exception was the exhaust hood and the turbine appearance lagging. After installation, these items were usually re-painted by the customer. I think usually this was a medium green. This paint was glossy, I think because the glossy paint made it easier to mop the coal dust off.
Semi gloss geys, black, and even unpainted raw castings that was going somewhere for machining. Some foundries did not paint and shipped them out as quickly as possible. You could clearly see where the mold gates and flashing was cut off and rough ground. Flash rust would start almost immediately.
Why not a flat machine gray?
I chose a green similar to the P-C green you mention for my rolling mills:
Mill_litup2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Two of the stands are from a different manufacturer so I used a slightly different shade of green:
Mill_line3 by Edmund, on Flickr
Shades of gray were popular, too.
I have a book featuring industrial paint samples I'll have to scan and post soon.
This shade of green was popular, too, especially for shelving, cabinets and work benches:
Machine_Paint by Edmund, on Flickr
I was restoring some factory cabinets a while back and found a color from Krylon called Hosta Leaf that was perfect for this shade of olive green.
Machine_Paint_generator by Edmund, on Flickr
Go with the flat finish.
I get it different factories painted their castings their own colors. I was thinking about Penn Central green but not sure if it should be flat or glossy. Thank you for your time.