Modern era freight cars can be seen in many different colors, even on cars of the same type on the same RR. Here is an example of CSX hoppers painted differently:
Is there any logic or reason for this? Obviously in the picture the cars are different models and age, but they are all Ortners in the same service.
Well, no. “Ortner” isn’t a car type, it’s the name of a specific (former) freight car manufacturer.
From what I understand, CSX used the grey freight car paint for gondola and hopper cars with a 286K+ gross rail loading.
In other cases, different paint schemes may simply be the result of the railroad changing their schemes/colours/logos over time.
Also car color depends on when the car was built and by which manufacturer. Different brands of paint and different batches of paint may have different colors.
If you are looking for rhyme and reason in CSX paint schemes, you will not find it.
My friend Randy models the CSX, and the ever-changing paint schemes are a real thorn in his side.
-Kevin
To the contrary, if I call an automobile a Ford am I saying it is a coupe, sedan, or SUV? Having said that, Ortner was best known for a unique design of hopper cars. While they did make some other cars such as rotary dump gondolas once Trinity acquired the designs they named their hopper division Ortner.
Exactly my point. If you have a Ford sedan, a Buick sedan, and a Chevrolet sedan in a line, you don’t call them all Fords because Ford builds sedans.
None of the cars in your photo were built by Ortner Freight Car Co.