Questions on box car paint schemes for B&O, C&O, NYC, Alaska and NS

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
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Okay gang, don’t laugh too loud. I’m a 3-rail Lionel kind of guy –

But I have some questions about box car paint schemes as to when (general time frame) they actually ran on the real rails, if so. I know, the 3-rail companies haven’t always been to the book when it comes to accurate paint schemes and have been known to take liberties. So forgive me on that one. If anyone has accurate information, it would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.

B&O Time Saver Service with the long orange arrow across the car. I would assume as with the NYC Pacemaker cars, these were for premium on-line, non-interchange service.

C&O Blue top body with black ends and yellow across the entire bottom of the car.

Alaska Railroad “At Your Service” scheme, all blue with the yellow stripe and the eskimo figure. A very popular Lionel car. I’ve looked over some Alaska RR websites and all I’ve seen is this scheme used on protoype trailer trucks.

NYC Timesaver and Early Bird schemes: I’ve read the Timesaver came first, then the Early Bird scheme in the early 1960’s… I thought it was the other way around.

Norfolk Southern: some companies make all black box cars with the modern NS type logo, but I’ve looked at prototype photos and have yet to see an actual photo of a all-black NS box car. Again, in the “taking liberties” department, the 3-rail companies make all-black NS cabooses, but all I’ve ever seen actual photos of are red.

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B & O Time Saver Service - The orange comet scheme made its debut around 1951, and may have been applied to a dozen random cars in less-than-carload service. (Source B&O Color Guide/Morning Sun Books)

C & O LCL SERVICE - designated in 1957, and only ran on home rails. (Source C&O Color Guide/Morning Sun Books)

NS - to my best knowledge, hasn’t had all black boxcars. It’s predecessor, Norfolk & Western, had all black boxcars with big NW in white lettering, during the 70’s.

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The B&O also had what was known as the Sentinel Service with the blue and silver boxcars.

Dont be so hard on yourself with the O gauge. I occasionally venture into that gauge myself and probably will get back into it full time within a decade.

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Thanks fifedog! Gee, guess I could have posted this on the CTT forum, but thought I’d get more responses here. Industrial Rail is the only 3-rail company to make a traditionally sized 027 box car in Norfolk Southern, though it is all black. On a prototypical note, if there were any black NS cars, they were probably “roller jobs” from NW box cars.

Falls Valley thanks, but trust me, I’m not too hard on myself over this. I’m hardly one of the obsessive rivet counting 3-rail guys. I’m absolutely a traditional 027 3-rail toy train kind of guy who just has a mild interest in the prototype side, and just enjoys knowing the real stories behind the real trains our models are based upon.