You folks are always very helpful, so here’s another question: What was a typical color for Milwaukee Road wooden buildings (small stations, crossing structures, etc.) in the late '30s ? Were they all gray, two-tone or solid, or were some maroon and orange? Thanks from a newbe who wants to get things right.
I remember an wood frame office of some kind, I believe on Pulaski Road in Chicago, which in the early 1960s was painted a gray color.
The Milwaukee Road had several paint schemes:
- Princess - Two tone maroon/orange scheme. Orange upper siding with maroon trim and lower siding. This seems to be quite popular in some suburban areas for small depots. Not sure of the date, but I suspect it was quite early.
- This gave way to the gray with maroon trim. This was pretty typical up through the WWII era. The entire structure was painted a light gray with maroon trim. Many of these depots had a red shingle roof that was later replaced with black roll roofing.
- Sometime in the 50’s, the two tone gray scheme(light gray upper siding, with dark gray lower siding & trim became the standard for most structures.
My HO layout is based in the late 50’s. Most of my company structures are in the two tone gray scheme, but I have an interlocking tower and a branch line depot that are in the ‘Princess’ scheme. I usually use SP lettering gray for the light gray, and reefer gray for the dark gray.
Jim
Interesting, I’ve heard of the tiny restored Milwaukee depot in Minneapolis near Minnehaha Falls (across Hiawatha Ave. from the light rail line) referred to as the “Princess” in the past, didn’t know it related to the paint scheme.
Stix,
I heard the term while attending a MRHA event some years ago. A guy was showing off his scratch-built Milw depots and mentioned that the preserved Minnehaha Depot(Princess) was in that scheme. I have always thought of that scheme as the ‘Princess’ scheme after that - Maybe it’s just me!
Jim