Does anyone know how early the Union Pacific started to paint their cabooses in the yellow color? When did the steam era brown caboose paint scheme end?
I know that UP cabooses were yellow in the early 1950’s.
dd
Hi “Choo Choo,”
The Armour Yellow paint scheme for UP steel cabooses was adopted in June 1947, although the painting drawing for the road’s wooden cabooses wasn’t changed until the end of January 1948. Repainting began in the summer of 1947. According to “Cabooses of the Union Pacific RR,” by Don Strack and James L. Ehernberger, at least three years were required to repaint the whole UP caboose fleet. By the way, the Strack and Ehernberger book is a great reference for modelers of the UP, and it’s available from the Union Pacific Historical Society at www.uphs.org.
So long,
Andy