I’m starting to paint my locomotives, loosely based on the colors used by Great Northern Pacific. I’ve searched throughout Model Railroader Prototype Forums and the Great Northern Historical Site but have been unable to find any information about what the interior of various cabs looked like or what colors they were painted. I must admit that I have always been terrible at using search engines, as most of the time I get replies, that nothing fits the listing I’ve entered, I don’t know if I type to much or not enough. I am interested in the time period from the first diesels to present day deisels, as my railroad is set in the area of Northern Idaho and some of Western Montana covering a section of the Great Northern Pacific line that is privately owned and therefore continued to buy newer engines using the Great Northern’s paint scheme. I also allow BN and the newer BNSF to use my main lines as part of the arraignments when the true Great Northern Pacific was bought up by Burlington Northern.
Maybe check out www.railpictures.net they have thousands upon thousands of photos posted there with a lot of interior shots too. Most engines I’ve seen have the standard ugly light grey interior paint from the builder. Specifically for the Great Northern, do not know if they were different. Good luck…
most locomotive interiors are either green, tan, light brown or grey
i hope i have been some help
This may not be any help at all, but when I was a conductor for CSX a few years ago, I noticed that cab interiors seemed to be gray or tan. We had a recently painted FURX SD40-3 in or consist one day and it’s interior was a fresh coat of tan (still had paint fumes looming about in it!). I know it’s not the RR you had in question but I thought I’d share my experience anyway.
Interior green, tan and sometimes grey, although the interior green, sometimes looked grey.
Somebody in the historical society should have access to painting drawings. I know the PRR used suede grey on the walls and ceiling and indian red on the floors. If they are typical it never changed right up through the merger.
RLHelton
I’ve been inside of locomotives before in my younger days. Seaboard Coast Line engine crews in Tampa were typically friendly to polite railfans back in the 1970s. [:)][:D][8D]
This was years ago, but from my memory, 1st and 2nd generation EMD locomotives as well as 1st generation GE U-Boats are a pale light green. Similar to the semi-gloss light green that you find in many school buses. Badger ModelFlex paint #16-47, IMHO is the closest.
In a separate mixing jar, combine: 90% #16-47 light green with 10% #16-06 Antique White.
Alco locomotive cabs were a medium gray, similar the primer we often use on models.
Modern GE and EMD cabs are usually light tan with white ceilings. As mentioned check out www.railpictures.net as there are plenty of cab interior shots of modern locomotives.
It’s up to you, but don’t worry about getting the “exact” color as model diesel cab interiors show very little interior from the outside. I will be painting my diesel’s interiors as well.
Hope this helps!