Can anyone tell me when the GN used the box car paint scheme that was an orange top half, and a “brown” lower half ? If someone know the “ball-park” dates of service on cars with that paint job, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks, Iron Goat
Iron Goat–
The Pullman green/Omaha orange paint scheme on Great Northern box cars was first applied in 1953, and continued to be used until the Burlington Northern merger. Some cars lasted in this scheme until retirement in the 1970s or 1980s.
The paint scheme is called the “loader scheme”, since it was applied to box cars equipped with Damage Free (“DF”) lading loaders. "Lading Loader " and/or “DF” logos were applied in green lettering on the orange portions of the sides, leading to the name of the paint scheme.
Selected 40’ and 50’ box cars received this scheme, and they were numbered in 39300 and 39400 series.
The paint scheme also was applied to 40’ express box cars in the series 2501-2549, although the “DF” and “lading loader” lettering were not applied, as the cars had no such equipment. The expresss box cars were first repainted into this scheme beginning in 1955.
–John