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Railroad Color Schemes as Inspiration for Home Exterior Paint Schemes

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, January 28, 2021 1:34 PM

charlie hebdo
Of course no one knows what if anything the Nazarene said precisely on this subject, be it Mark or Matthew. But it is a great philosophy for life often ignored in formal religions. 

Well and concisely said in both respects.

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Thursday, January 28, 2021 12:19 PM

Of course no one knows what if anything the Nazarene said precisely on this subject, be it Mark or Matthew. But it is a great philosophy for life often ignored in formal religions. 

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, January 28, 2021 12:05 PM

Note the difference in emphasis, though; it's important here, too.  In the Commandments, it was the Golden Rule; treat your neighbor as you yourself would want to be treated.  Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself" [with the usual caveats about the word he actually used, vs. the Greek] and it is in the implications of that attitude that you can hang the Law and the Commandments from it.

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Posted by NKP guy on Thursday, January 28, 2021 10:18 AM

charlie hebdo

As a once acolyte and server,  that phrase was part of the communion liturgy.  It's what the Nazarene said in answer to a question about which are the great commandments (Matthew 22: 36-40) based on Leviticus 19: 8-18.

 

further:

  "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

 

The whole thing is just sublime.

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Thursday, January 28, 2021 10:03 AM

As a once acolyte and server,  that phrase was part of the communion liturgy.  It's what the Nazarene said in answer to a question about which are the great commandments (Matthew 22: 36-40) based on Leviticus 19: 8-18.

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, January 28, 2021 6:54 AM

Hopefully, not just Episcopalians.  Charlie, it's Leviticus 19-18 that you quoted, and certainly in use by more than just Episcopalians.

quote user="charlie hebdo"]

 

 
NKP guy
The principle is simply this:  Think of the effect of one's actions upon one's neighbors and community.   

 

Or as good or lapsed Episcopalians might say, 

"Love thy neighbor as thyself."

 

[/quote]

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Posted by mudchicken on Thursday, January 28, 2021 12:05 AM

HOA's are constantly in the news over squabbles with display of the US flag.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by charlie hebdo on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 10:54 PM

NKP guy
The principle is simply this:  Think of the effect of one's actions upon one's neighbors and community.   

Or as good or lapsed Episcopalians might say, 

"Love thy neighbor as thyself."

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 9:23 PM

NKP guy
 I'm a vexillologist and love flying my many flags of cities, states, foreign countries, etc.

No kidding!  I'm a flag fancier myself, a fascinating study when you  get into it, isn't it?  Im sure you're familiar with Dr. Whitney Smith's work, but to avoid "narrow-casting" and boring everyone I'll go no further.

Certainly, anyone displaying a Nazi flag outside of a certain narrow context, say a World War Two re-enactment, would be guilty of extreme bad taste.  But I think we're getting pretty adrift of the original premise of this thread.  We can argue good-taste, bad-taste until the cows come home and not resolve anything. 

As far as Shaker Heights is concerned I'm sure any prospective homeowners are made well aware of the particular zoning regs pertaining to the area.  If you like 'em and agree with 'em, you move there.  If not, you don't.  Simple.  Your choice.

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Posted by NKP guy on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 7:13 PM

   When the Van Sweringen brothers were developing Shaker Heights, Ohio (c1915-c1940), only four or five architectural styles were allowed for houses, e.g. colonial, Tudor, French Chateau, etc.  In fact, the advertising for Shaker Heights touted "each house unique, yet in harmony with its neighbors."

   Somewhere in the 1980's the City of Shaker Heights helpfully distributed to new home owners the "suggested" colors to paint one's house.  Here it might be helpful to note that hanging laundry outside on clothes lines is not allowed in Shaker, either; there likely are a few other such zoning constraints.  A predictable debate ensued.

   BUT, Shaker Heights has managed to keep its property values up and still looks like the type of city it was intended to be and that others have "bought into" (as it were) for 106 years now.  Something I've noticed over my lifetime: Cities with stiff, even brutal zoning codes, have and retain high property values.  Other towns, like one near me, allow people to park cars on their front lawns if desired.  One may guess the effect on property values in such a place.

   Still, the question or issue of "my property" versus city-wide zoning always provoked a long and passionate debate in my history classes.  Dr. Hebdo raises a key point when he asks how any of us would like a neighbor to paint his house in neon-bright colors (which I've seen done c. 1965) and leave it that way for years?  The drop in one's property values is significant when house buyers detect a visible kook in the immediate area of the house they're considering.

   A similar free-speech issue:  I'm a vexillologist and love flying my many flags of cities, states, foreign countries, etc.  But I never consider two flags: Russia's (which enslaved my ancestors) and Nazi Germany's.  Now, if I wanted to, I have the right as an American to fly any flag I wish, right?  But what effect would that have upon my neighbors? And who would want to live in or buy any house near a kook who flies such an offensive flag?

   The principle is simply this:  Think of the effect of one's actions upon one's neighbors and community. 

 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 5:42 PM

54light15
Hospital rent-a-cops will ticket you because they want you to pay the stupid price of parking in the hospital lots.

How do they get away with that?  As far as I know public streets are just that, public property, and only the REAL cops have juristiction there.  A rent-a-cops authority is only good for the facility he/she is hired to provide security for. 

Ask a real cop if a rent-a-cop is a "real" cop, they'll tell you!   

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 5:38 PM

charlie hebdo

I wonder how you would like it if a nearby resident painted this house day-glo orange,  pink or chartreuse?   Or all three? 

 

I wouldn't, but as long as he/she doesn't try to do it to my house then hey, it's a free country!  At least it was last time I looked. 

Now if someone turns their property into a junkyard, or a coal-mining operation, or chemical works that's another story and there's zoning laws on the books to deal with that.     

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 5:20 PM

I wonder how you would like it if a nearby resident painted this house day-glo orange,  pink or chartreuse?   Or all three? 

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Posted by 54light15 on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 3:04 PM

I've heard that gated communities are worse- A columnist in a car magazine that I read lives in a G.C. in Los Angeles. He can't have a project car in his back yard even if it's hidden from view. He can't even park a car in his driveway, it has to go in the garage. And naturally there are rules about what colour you can paint your house. Who the hell wants to live in a place like that? In the newspaper real estate section there are always articles about the condominium boards that act like little Hitlers too. The rules seem to change to whatever the biggest mouth on the condo board wants. Who needs it? 

Another thing- In towns like Sarnia or Windsor, Ontario if you live near a hospital, there is no parking anywhere on the street. Hospital rent-a-cops will ticket you because they want you to pay the stupid price of parking in the hospital lots. I guess that means you can't have visitors? 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 10:43 AM

mudchicken
That ought to go over great with the local HOA* Architectural Review Board (ie -"snob squad"). 

I will never, ever,  buy a house in a neighborhood with an HOA!  Angry

Too many good guys died to destroy Hitler for me to tarnish their memory by putting up with a pack of "Little Hitlers" that gravitate to HOA leadership roles. 

You said it Mudchicken, a bunch of self-important busybodies and snobs!

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Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 9:32 AM

Shock Control

Have you ever been inspired to paint your house exterior based on a railroad color scheme that appealed to you?

We are looking at paint schemes, and I am looking at mid-century locomotive paint schemes as inspiration.

 

 

That ought to go over great with the local HOA* Architectural Review Board (ie -"snob squad"). Mischief

 

*HOA=Home Owners Association (locally, the overbearing HOA's here right now are in their 13-D color phase, only allowing house colors that are various shades of dirt)

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 11:48 AM

Semper Vaporo

 

 
Flintlock76
By the way, I don't care for the term "Victorian" when applied to American houses, nothing against Her Majesty but Victoria wasn't queen here.  I prefer to use the term "Gilded Age," but if someone says "Victorian" I don't lose sleep over it.
 

Semper Vaporo
Although I have heard of the Guilded Age, I have never been able to determine the span of years it is supposed to encompass (but, I have never researched it at all), so I could be all wet in my understanding.

Basically 1870 to 1900.  The name comes from a Mark Twain novel, not one of his better-known ones, that's kind of a satire of late 19th Century American society. 

Historians took the name "Gilded Age" from the novel and applied it to the period.

For a contrast, in France the same period is referred to as "La Belle Epoque," or "The Beautiful Time."  

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 11:42 AM

BaltACD

 

 
wjstix
Keep in mind of course the colors a railroad painted it's diesels and/or passenger cars were often different from what it painted it's wooden stations or other structures. For example, Great Northern didn't paint buildings Pullman Green and Omaha Orange, they were white with green trim (a shade of green close to the later BN green). NP didn't use two-tone green, their depots were tan/brown.

 

While the B&O passenger and diesel colors were blue & gray with gold trim - their buildings were painted tan with brown trim.

 

Either would look fine on some houses, though I think the classic B&O blue and light grey are the best.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 11:32 AM

wjstix
Keep in mind of course the colors a railroad painted it's diesels and/or passenger cars were often different from what it painted it's wooden stations or other structures. For example, Great Northern didn't paint buildings Pullman Green and Omaha Orange, they were white with green trim (a shade of green close to the later BN green). NP didn't use two-tone green, their depots were tan/brown.

While the B&O passenger and diesel colors were blue & gray with gold trim - their buildings were painted tan with brown trim.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 11:06 AM

Murphy Siding
Isn't that Illinois Central colors?

Now that you mention it...

I have no idea when it was painted in those colors.  Well before my time owning the house.

When we moved in, the house was mint/pastel green with white trim.

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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 9:45 AM

Keep in mind of course the colors a railroad painted it's diesels and/or passenger cars were often different from what it painted it's wooden stations or other structures. For example, Great Northern didn't paint buildings Pullman Green and Omaha Orange, they were white with green trim (a shade of green close to the later BN green). NP didn't use two-tone green, their depots were tan/brown.

Stix
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Posted by Bill Stephens on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 9:07 AM

Great question. My house is gray with a plum front door, which evokes DL&W or Erie Lackawanna. My wife wants to change the door color to yellow, and when I mentioned that we should use the same yellow that the Lackawanna used I was shot down instantly. I also suggested that when we repaint the front door we change the shutter color from white to plum so the house can look like an Erie Lackawanna locomotive. That earned me an eyeroll.

In retrospect, I should have just looked up the Lackawanna's shade of yellow and then suggested it without referring to the railroad. I would have looked like a color-matching genius! But no.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 8:15 AM

tree68
 
Semper Vaporo
I have read that Victorian houses were often in bright colors...

 

In the process of scraping 100+ year old paint off my house, I've come to the conclusion that it was once orange with chocolate brown trim. 

Isn't that Illinois Central colors?

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Dayliner on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 12:22 AM

Shock Control

Have you ever been inspired to paint your house exterior based on a railroad color scheme that appealed to you?

 

Yep.  Not the trim or front door--wanted those to "pop"--but the house itself is the classic CPR station red.  

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Posted by samfp1943 on Monday, January 25, 2021 11:46 PM

Sopmewhat qualified as an Old Geezer; I can remember growing up in Memphis, and seeing a number of residences around the various railroad yards that seemed to have been supplied with paint that seemed to match the same colors  that were used to paint railroad and some M.O.W. structures. (?)

 Now I am not accusing anyone of 'helping themselves to railroad ;prperty, but those colors were pretty tracy, and especially so on residentail property... Whistling

Whe I got to Parsons, Ks. it seemed that a large number of homes were painted in the yellow color that showed up on The Katy, and its structures... WhistlingWhistling

 

 


 

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Monday, January 25, 2021 11:34 PM

Flintlock76
By the way, I don't care for the term "Victorian" when applied to American houses, nothing against Her Majesty but Victoria wasn't queen here.  I prefer to use the term "Gilded Age," but if someone says "Victorian" I don't lose sleep over it.

I see "Victorian"as an archetectual style, not an age.  There are French Provincial and Colonial style homes in England as well as France and the former Colonies.  And I have seen many of all styles in the process of being built in the last few years, so they are not really associated with any age other than the style in the age in which they were most popular.

Although I have heard of the Guilded Age, I have never been able to determine the span of years it is supposed to encompass (but, I have never researched it at all), so I could be all wet in my understanding.

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Monday, January 25, 2021 10:24 PM

There are watercolors and oils of Victorian houses. 

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, January 25, 2021 10:18 PM

Semper Vaporo
I have read that Victorian houses were often in bright colors...

In the process of scraping 100+ year old paint off my house, I've come to the conclusion that it was once orange with chocolate brown trim.  I've seen a view of my street which included just the front of the house, and although it was black and white, it would tend to bear out that scheme.

One feature of our county historical museum is the "Pink Schoolhouse."  Moved from its original location (Pink Schoolhouse Road - whodathunk?) it is painted pink, and sits adjacent to a house on the museum grounds which is orange with red trim.  

Colorful, indeed!

It would be interesting to travel back in time to see in living color what we can only see now in black and white (or colorized).  I suspect many would be surprised.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, January 25, 2021 9:58 PM

Semper Vaporo
I have read that Victorian houses were often in bright colors

Quite true.  The problem was the paints of the time didn't last as long as what we had today so needed touching up fairly often.  Then around 1910-1914 a durable exterior white paint was developed and that became the fashion, so those Victorian "Painted Ladies" all turned white pretty quickly.

By the way, I don't care for the term "Victorian" when applied to American houses, nothing against Her Majesty but Victoria wasn't queen here.  I prefer to use the term "Gilded Age," but if someone says "Victorian" I don't lose sleep over it.

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