im sure it could be very compicated, but generally when did santa fe go from black roofs to red roofs? was it by a year or by style of box car as they change to more modern equip? or combo of both?
Black roofs were an anti-skid coating with a grit. Helped to prevent falls when people were on roofs. I would think this was discontinued when running boards (“roofwalks”) were removed. Which were what originally is already complicated enough.
Hello Steve,
According to the Santa Fe Ry. Historical & Modeling Society’s Santa Fe Railway Painting & Lettering Guide For Model Railroaders, Volume 1, Rolling Stock, by Richard Hendrickson, anti-slip black paint was used on the roofs of Mineral Brown boxcars from 1931 until it began to be replaced in 1951. Of course, many cars painted earlier than that still had black roofs through much of the 1950s. The anti-slip black was first replaced by anti-slip Mineral Brown, with coarse brown granules mixed into the paint to give it a rough finish. Anti-slip finishes themselves were phased out on the Santa Fe by the late 1950s or early 1960s, as trainmen by then had much less occasion to ride on top of cars.
Bright Indian Red Santa Fe boxcars, in paint schemes introduced in 1958 to identify cars with “Shock control” underframes, mostly had black roofs through 1977. The black roofs were discontinued on Indian Red cars repainted in 1977 or later.
The Santa Fe Society’s Painting and Lettering Guide is available at atsfrr.net, and you don’t have to be a member to buy a copy.
So long,
Andy
thx andy i realy apprieciate the time that you have taken to answer a few of my questions.
You’re welcome, Steve. – Andy