Mark, I can't comment on C&NW, but that NYC gon should definitely be
painted red with a black oval if shopped in 1955. That was the year
they returned to black ovals. IIRC, open-top cars continued to be
painted f.c. red until ca.1959 when the box cars began being painted
Century Green, the "Cigar Band" herald was introduced, and open-top
cars went back to being all black as they had been before the early
40s.

Jeff English
Troy, New York
home of the Meneely family, whose various family members established
numerous bell foundry firms in or around Troy that were world
renowned. Among many notable Meneely bells is the not-cracked
Liberty Bell replica of 1876, which is the one that still rings in
the bell tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

--- In STMFC@..., "Mark Heiden" <mark_heiden@h...> wrote:

Hello everyone,

I'm going to paint a couple of freight cars and I'd like some
suggestions as to what paints (preferably water-based) I should
use.

The first car is a Chicago & North Western 40ft PS-1, series 656-
1655, built 1954. Pictures of well weathered 1432 and 1602 can be
found at:

http://www.cnwhs.org/memberphotos/thumbnails.php?album=6&page=2

These cars were delivered with black ends, roof and underframe, so
what's a good match for the side?

The second car is a New York Central gondola, series 712500-

713099,

Lot 791-G, as it would have appeared following shopping in 1955.

I

have no color photos of these cars for reference.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark Heiden