Historic Depot Paint Colors, Liveries Or Schemes - Whitewash Isn't Necessarily White

Discussion in 'General' started by Karl, Jun 25, 2013.

  1. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    This article has been in the works for quite some time.

    I had hoped to uncover additional information, but the goal of my quest is elusive. The attached PDF file contains rank speculation about the early 20th Century color palette used by the Frisco. It is a wild ass[umption] guess (WAG) based on two pieces of evidence. One document is very specific, while the other document that I used is lacking in specificity, and much in the way of assumption was used.

    I welcome other info and thoughts about this topic.
     
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  2. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Nice article Karl!

    We should highlight it for future reference by including it in an issue of The Meteor.

    Ken
     
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  3. Sirfoldalot

    Sirfoldalot Frisco.org Supporter Frisco.org Supporter

    Very nice work, Karl.

    Wish I could help; but, I cannot even remember the color of my hometown depot.

    And, that was in the 1950s!
     
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  4. Oldguy

    Oldguy Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Very well done, sir!

    Well, one thing about the Frisco, pretty much nothing was standard. :rolleyes:

    The Bolivar depot obviously had at least 2 paint schemes. The black and white photograph was in 1948 and the other had no specified date.

    At least you gave me a starting point to figure out what color I need to look for.

    Bolivar Depot.jpg Bolivar.jpg
     
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  5. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Superb resource, Karl.

    I, for one, am already appreciating the "paint chips" that you've provided. I've been toying around with acrylic paint mixes for my 2nd-generation Olathe depot, and I'm happy to report that I've apparently come reasonably close. A bit of tweaking needed on my end, perhaps.

    Frankly, a WAG is better than analysis paralysis.

    Best Regards,
     
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  6. frisco1522

    frisco1522 Staff Member Staff Member

    I've always been under the impression that during the 1920s through the mid 1940s they seemed to be a light to medium gray with dark gray trim.

    Later in the 1940s they showed up as light gray with white trim. I remember those.
     
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  7. TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020)

    TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020) Passed Away July 15, 2020 Frisco.org Supporter

    I'm with Don on his time line.

    The best example around here, Springfield, was the Turner, MO depot, first stop east of Springfield on the Memphis line. Gray with dark gray trim until about 1947, then gray with white trim.

    The main gray was kind of a "battleship gray" and the dark gray trim was a "lead" color.

    Tom G.
     
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  8. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    From his book by Don Banwart Rails, Rivalry and Romance, page 314, “The Frisco Paint Gang arrived in Ft Scott in the Spring of 1922, and painted all the buildings. The new “lead” color gave the building(s) a brighter appearance than the traditional “red” previously used. “

    This periscope helps confirm some previous assumptions.
    1. Frisco depots and other structures were indeed red.
    2. The switch from red to gray (lead) occurred during the early 1920s.
     

    Attached Files:

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  9. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks for the update, Karl.

    I felt like I struggled for a long time to come up with a "good enough" color match for the Olathe depot under construction on my workbench.

    The original article and the update both help considerably.

    Best Regards,
     
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  10. trainsignguy

    trainsignguy Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks Karl.

    This is very helpful.

    Somehow I missed the original post.

    Dale Rush
    Carthage, MO
    (Modeling the Clinton Sub in N scale)
     
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  11. john

    john FRISCO.org Supporter

    I stumbled onto this today and it reminded me of this thread.

    Monett Times, 9 September 1921:

    "The section house is being repainted today. The Frisco which has always painted their railway offices and buildings red, is now painting them gray."
     
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