--- In STMFC@..., "wr3200" <paul_rocheleau@...> wrote:

Hi,

Let me preface my first posting to this forum by stating the
obvious - I'm fairly new to model trains and even newer to prototype
modeling.

I'm interested in scratch building turn of the century freight cars
(1910 or earlier). I'd like advice on where I could find prototype
information on the graphics. Most pictures I've scrounged up on the
web are blurry distant images at best, and of course black and
white. I'm particularly interested in the more obscure New England
railroads.

Where should I look to determine true color schemes. I realize a
historical society may be my best bet, but where would this type of
information be recorded? Did railroads typically keep records of
freight paint schemes? Did the rail car manufacturers?

I came across a picture of a B&A Blue Line box car I would love to
model. I suspect the text is Blue and the body a white or cream
color, but I'd like confirmation. Any and all advice would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul Rocheleau

Paul: While I don't have much to add about colours of cars, if you are
modelling the early 20th century you might want to look at Clover
House. http://www.cloverhouse.com/ They have a large PDF you can
download with illustrations of dozens, perhaps hundreds of early
freight cars. (Downloading it is the bast way to view it. Trying to
read from the Web is really slow) Their lettering is dry transfer,
sometimes an iffy proposition because you have to align it correctly
the first time or else you've ruined it. You can, though, transfer the
lettering to a good decal paper and apply it that way.

Stephan Parachuk
Toronto