David Lehlbach wrote

> I believe that the 1 billboard for every 10 black cars to be only somewhat true
> ... It depends on the LOCALE you are modeling.

Yes. I'm reminded of that Robert Morris photo of the SP Fresno CA yard that shows two
strings of WINE tank cars (about 40 cars are visible) in a huge variety of shapes and
sizes and (very likely) paint and lettering schemes.

But then I've also seen yard photos showing dozens of black tank cars (some cars with
bold lettering like DX or SINCLAIR etc) generally in the vicinity of oil refineries,
mixed with occasional strings of silver or white MAGNOLIA or TEXACO or other such cars.

I think the trend in the postwar era was for bolder paint schemes for NEW cars built
for private leases but wherever the older cars predominated, you would mostly still see
plain black tank cars.

Tim O'Connor