I just bought my first Accurail boxcar kit. I’ve built several of their 55 ton hoppers and I liked those, but in looking at this boxcar, I wonder about it’s colors. I have a couple of Branchline cars, and they were boxcar red, with black ends and roof. But this Accurail one is all one color.
I assume it would be more correct for the ends and roof to be black, so I need to paint them?
What roadname is the boxcar?
Erie. The entire car is kind of a light brown.
I believe I’ve seen ERIE cars both ways. Sorry I’m not an Erie expert, nor do I have any references, but that would probably be an incorrect assumption. Many railroads painted box cars in many different schemes and colors at different times. Even the same car could be painted differently through its life cycle.
As I understand sometimes just painting the sides red and leaving the top and ends (metal parts) black primer was an attempt to save money, resources, and time (mainly during WWI). Later, after the war, they had the time and resources to paint the entire car. Black tops could really make the cars interiors heat up like an oven.
NYCentral1,
You should be fine with the boxcar just the way it is. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong but the older boxcars tended to be the same color anyhow.
Tom
Ok…It may depend on era but,the Erie boxcar should have BLACK ENDS during the 1950s.
You need to have data about the specific car and time period. There are just too many variables. Some cars came from the factory with black roof and ends. Some cars later had black sealer applied to the roof, and occasionally to the ends. Cars when repainted were often painted all one color just to avoid the hassle. Some cars needed repairs and were done differently than the rest of a class… So any combination is often possible.
NYCentral1,
Your car is probably painted properly. Without a road number it is hard to tell. I suggest you check out the Fallen Flags Website. There is a fairly large listing of Erie boxcars, many with builders color photos. Your car series is likely listed there.
The link forthe Erie boxcars at Fallen Flags is:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/frt/box.html
Good luck!
I’m looking at a C-D-S lettering catalogue as I write this. It shows: two boxcars in an all-boxcar red scheme, circa 1930 to mid-1950s, one car circa 1934 to mid-1950s with a boxcar red body and black roof, ends, doors, and underbody, two cars circa 1941 to late 1950s with a boxcar red body, with black ends, trucks, and underbody, three cars circa late 1940s to mid-1960s in an all-boxcar red scheme, and finally, two cars, one of them circa 1954 to late 1970s and the other 1959 to early 1980s, both with boxcar red bodies and black ends, trucks, and underbodies. The first five cars listed all have the small Erie diamond herald, while the last five cars have the large version of the same herald. In addition, they list number series for each of the cars mentioned, which indicates that some of the cars with the large heralds are repaints of cars that originally bore the small herald. If you can let me know the car number, and whether the herald is large or small, I’ll try to match it to one of the types listed.
Wayne
Short answer, it’s the correct color. You can go to www.rr-fallenflags.org and find photos and possibly one of the exact car you have. Ken
“As I understand sometimes just painting the sides red and leaving the top and ends (metal parts) black primer. . .”
I think in most cases - especially on roofs - this black paint was actually tar or bituminous paint to prevent water leakage.
I don’t know of a black primer. The most common steel primer pre-war was red oxide, i.e., boxcar red. You could say the entire rail fleet was pretty much left in primer, at least color-wise.
KL
If anyone ever questioned the worth of these forums or the internet as an aide to the hobby this discussion should put the question to rest. Good solid answers and reference link provided. What assistance!