Need some hopper car help please!!!

[Morpar]

Herer is a question for the researchers. What colors were used on hopper cars from maybe 1930 to 1960? I'm talking regular service, not MOW or special promotions. I can find black and boxcar red, but I was hoping for something lighter in color. I need to start painting and decalling the fleet of Athearn 40' quad hoppers to go behind an ex-N&W class A or Y6-b, but I want them in my own road name. My printer just does't have white ink, so I'm hoping to find a color that will have some prototype roots, yet still print on my printer. I have a couple of the old Tyco Virginian silver hoppers with black lettering, but I didn't think that was a real paint scheme. Thanks for the help!

[Morpar]

Herer is a question for the researchers. What colors were used on hopper cars from maybe 1930 to 1960? I'm talking regular service, not MOW or special promotions. I can find black and boxcar red, but I was hoping for something lighter in color. I need to start painting and decalling the fleet of Athearn 40' quad hoppers to go behind an ex-N&W class A or Y6-b, but I want them in my own road name. My printer just does't have white ink, so I'm hoping to find a color that will have some prototype roots, yet still print on my printer. I have a couple of the old Tyco Virginian silver hoppers with black lettering, but I didn't think that was a real paint scheme. Thanks for the help!

[dknelson]

I strongly suspect that black and red/brown were about it for colors back then. Some old photos suggest a lighter color but remember that cars were often painted light gray purely for official photography purposes, then repainted for regular service.
Dave Nelson

[dknelson]

I strongly suspect that black and red/brown were about it for colors back then. Some old photos suggest a lighter color but remember that cars were often painted light gray purely for official photography purposes, then repainted for regular service.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Penn Central hoppers were light green. I have pics on my site of one, the green is original, the rust is age. http://www.trainweb.org/zmtshortline/r20.html ADM hoppers were/are light gray and Chicago Northwestern had/has bright yellow hoppers, but I'm not sure for how long.

[Anonymous]

Penn Central hoppers were light green. I have pics on my site of one, the green is original, the rust is age. http://www.trainweb.org/zmtshortline/r20.html ADM hoppers were/are light gray and Chicago Northwestern had/has bright yellow hoppers, but I'm not sure for how long.

[randybc2003]

I have had very good results with home-made decals with "white" lettering and black background.

Use your computer with a CADD package or Microsoft WORD and a lazerprinter for high resolution output of text. Also, WORD has a "negative" output mode.

Take your output to a KINKO's photocopy shop, or similar outfit. The photocopiers also have "negative" copy mode. Run a test sheet to be sure it works like you want it, and then run a sheet of solid white decal paper through. White "under sheet" with black "mask" yeilds beautiful custom white letterheads. Colored paper can also be used to invoke colored "text". I haven't tried combining color photocopies for different colored "masks, but I think it could be done.

[randybc2003]

I have had very good results with home-made decals with "white" lettering and black background.

Use your computer with a CADD package or Microsoft WORD and a lazerprinter for high resolution output of text. Also, WORD has a "negative" output mode.

Take your output to a KINKO's photocopy shop, or similar outfit. The photocopiers also have "negative" copy mode. Run a test sheet to be sure it works like you want it, and then run a sheet of solid white decal paper through. White "under sheet" with black "mask" yeilds beautiful custom white letterheads. Colored paper can also be used to invoke colored "text". I haven't tried combining color photocopies for different colored "masks, but I think it could be done.

[Wdlgln005]

Older cars should have a prototype rust color. Paint may get lighter also as it gets older & gets washed by the rain & snow. In the Chicago Odyssey tapes, the L&N had a set of orange hoppers. May be from 70's. Yellow Peabody cars may be from 60's. And don't forget to have some cars lettered for a fallen flag old road with rept marks for a new road.

[Wdlgln005]

Older cars should have a prototype rust color. Paint may get lighter also as it gets older & gets washed by the rain & snow. In the Chicago Odyssey tapes, the L&N had a set of orange hoppers. May be from 70's. Yellow Peabody cars may be from 60's. And don't forget to have some cars lettered for a fallen flag old road with rept marks for a new road.

[cacole]

The Illinois Central, Missouri Pacific, and Chicago & Eastern Illinois all used black with white lettering back then, probably under the premise that they were hauling coal and the cars were going to get black from the coal dust, so why bother painting them a different color? Or perhaps they were following Henry Ford's philosophy that you could buy a Model A in any color you wanted, as long as it was black. The true reason for this was, of course, that black paint was the only one that would stick to steel back in those days of lead-based paint.

[cacole]

The Illinois Central, Missouri Pacific, and Chicago & Eastern Illinois all used black with white lettering back then, probably under the premise that they were hauling coal and the cars were going to get black from the coal dust, so why bother painting them a different color? Or perhaps they were following Henry Ford's philosophy that you could buy a Model A in any color you wanted, as long as it was black. The true reason for this was, of course, that black paint was the only one that would stick to steel back in those days of lead-based paint.

[ndbprr]

Black and oxide red were by far the most frequent but since it is your railroad you can do whatever you want. There is some precedence for silver cars as many railroads painted maintenace hoppers in that color. Also the Burlington started painting hoppers their chinese red color at some point. Soo painted some white as I recall but the could be bogus and would need to be checked. I've seen some late Rock Island hoppers that were a light blue also.

[ndbprr]

Black and oxide red were by far the most frequent but since it is your railroad you can do whatever you want. There is some precedence for silver cars as many railroads painted maintenace hoppers in that color. Also the Burlington started painting hoppers their chinese red color at some point. Soo painted some white as I recall but the could be bogus and would need to be checked. I've seen some late Rock Island hoppers that were a light blue also.

[Anonymous]

Quote: "The true reason for this was, of course, that black paint was the only one that would stick to steel back in those days of lead-based paint. " I'm sorry, but that's not true. The reason model t's were black was Ford's desire to mass produce them as quick and cheap as possible. Other brands such as Cadillac and Packards were built in the same era and were painted with lacquers whos colors and finish quality rival some of today's best paint jobs. These paint jobs are now near or over 100 years old and are still as nice as the day they were done. I seen this on the History Channel.

[Anonymous]

Quote: "The true reason for this was, of course, that black paint was the only one that would stick to steel back in those days of lead-based paint. " I'm sorry, but that's not true. The reason model t's were black was Ford's desire to mass produce them as quick and cheap as possible. Other brands such as Cadillac and Packards were built in the same era and were painted with lacquers whos colors and finish quality rival some of today's best paint jobs. These paint jobs are now near or over 100 years old and are still as nice as the day they were done. I seen this on the History Channel.

[coalminer3]

Main colors for coal cars were boxcar or iron oxide red with white lettering, or black with white lettering.

A couple of exceptions are below
Chessie had black cars with yellow lettering
Western Maryland had some cars that were gray with black lettering

Hope this helps.

work safe

[coalminer3]

Main colors for coal cars were boxcar or iron oxide red with white lettering, or black with white lettering.

A couple of exceptions are below
Chessie had black cars with yellow lettering
Western Maryland had some cars that were gray with black lettering

Hope this helps.

work safe

[Anonymous]

Morpar,

I have seen a set of Athearn C and O 34' hopper cars that are 2 bay and has smooth panels as a experiment. These are painted silver with black lettering. Maybe this will help.

Mines rely on steady supply and did not view hopper color as necessary. I have to say that black or red was the going colors because it was cheaper for the prototype to paint them that way.
I encourage you to paint them any way you like. It is your railroad and there are alot of ways to paint hoppers. (Or anything else for that matter)

Good Luck, Lee

[Anonymous]

Morpar,

I have seen a set of Athearn C and O 34' hopper cars that are 2 bay and has smooth panels as a experiment. These are painted silver with black lettering. Maybe this will help.

Mines rely on steady supply and did not view hopper color as necessary. I have to say that black or red was the going colors because it was cheaper for the prototype to paint them that way.
I encourage you to paint them any way you like. It is your railroad and there are alot of ways to paint hoppers. (Or anything else for that matter)

Good Luck, Lee

[Morpar]

Thanks for all the input. I'm really leaning towards a light gray with black lettering, as I can make my own decals. The red is also an idea that is appealing, and I am going to need some white decals made for the boxcars anyway. I might even paint them in different color batches to see what I like. Thanks again to all.

[Morpar]

Thanks for all the input. I'm really leaning towards a light gray with black lettering, as I can make my own decals. The red is also an idea that is appealing, and I am going to need some white decals made for the boxcars anyway. I might even paint them in different color batches to see what I like. Thanks again to all.

[Anonymous]

The light gray will show coal dust weathering very well, I think you'll like that choice. For my own railroad, what I'm doing is painting the insides and underbody of my hoppers black, and then painting only the vertical surfaces red; this is in keeping with my overall paint scheme of red and black. I am supposing that the railroad would not want to bother with red paint where it isn't going to be seen and where it will only get dirty. My decals will still be white paint, as this is my scheme, but I could just as easily have gone with black as you are doing. Maybe you might want to do the same, just paint gray on the sides.

If you do paint anything solid black, I recommend mixing a little bit of light gray or white into your black, to create a color that is really a dark charcoal color. This will let you see details better, and will show off a good weathering job much better. I model N+W (in addition to my fictional road) and so I'm going to have a LOT of black hoppers, but I'm painting them all just slightly lighter than true black for this reason. They'll all get plenty of coal dust later, which will settle into the cracks and highlight the details.

[Anonymous]

The light gray will show coal dust weathering very well, I think you'll like that choice. For my own railroad, what I'm doing is painting the insides and underbody of my hoppers black, and then painting only the vertical surfaces red; this is in keeping with my overall paint scheme of red and black. I am supposing that the railroad would not want to bother with red paint where it isn't going to be seen and where it will only get dirty. My decals will still be white paint, as this is my scheme, but I could just as easily have gone with black as you are doing. Maybe you might want to do the same, just paint gray on the sides.

If you do paint anything solid black, I recommend mixing a little bit of light gray or white into your black, to create a color that is really a dark charcoal color. This will let you see details better, and will show off a good weathering job much better. I model N+W (in addition to my fictional road) and so I'm going to have a LOT of black hoppers, but I'm painting them all just slightly lighter than true black for this reason. They'll all get plenty of coal dust later, which will settle into the cracks and highlight the details.