-------Original Message-------



From: Ed Hawkins

Date: 08/10/2009 05:18:58

To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [STMFC] Re: Railway Prototype Cyclopedia Vol. 19





On Oct 7, 2009, at 11:14 PM, Anthony Thompson wrote:

Mark Feddersen wrote:

Speaking of war emergency boxcars, does anybody know why

Intermountain chose to paint the roof of their C&NW version gray? As

far as I know they were the same box car red as the rest of the car

and the Viking roofs were not galvanized. Can anybody shed some

light on this or is this another Intermountain goof?

I have no idea what color those C&NW roofs may have been, but

I'd sure be surprised if the Viking roofing was not galvanized. That

had been essentially standard since the 1920s and was extensively used

even before WW I.

Mark and Tony,

The Viking roofs on the CNW emergency box cars were indeed galvanized.

Also, I believe InterMountain made a good decision on the roof color

based on available data (see below). InterMountain could have gone the

easier route and painted the roof the same as the rest of the body.

That would have eliminated a masking step and saved cost. Instead, IM

masked the car so that the roof could be painted what is thought to be

a legitimate color based on interpretation of source data by multiple

people, including noted CNW freight car historian Jeff Koeller.



I have the original bill of materials for the CNW cars built by

Pullman-Standard having the Viking roofs. I scanned and sent a copy of

the paint specs to both InterMountain and Jeff so they had actual

documentation from which to base a decision. In the paint

specifications it designates the outside of the roof and running boards

as being painted with two coats of Sherwin-Williams #21572 or equal

Galvanized Roof Paint.



Naturally, the discussion then led to "OK, now what color is

"galvanized roof paint?" Ultimately it was decided that the color

should be a shade of gray somewhat matching that of the galvanized roof

itself. Everyone is free to debate the conclusion, but the decision was

made with a great deal of thought. The sides, ends, and trucks of the

cars received CNW #1 paint "redish-brown in color." Underframes were

coated with black car cement. White stencils.



I have been known to criticize some of InterMountain's models when

think the criticism is valid and deserved, In this case, IF a mistake

in the roof color was made, I wouldn't characterize it "another

InterMountain goof" since a great deal of discussion and thought went

into the decision.



The Viking Roof specification in Pullman-Standard lot no. 5752 called

for roof sheets #16 U.S. Ga. C.B. Galvanized. Standard Railway

Equipment Manufacturing Co. drawing 7R-2650-C. The P-S drawing list

gives the general arrangement drawing no. 58215-C. It's quite possible

this drawing is in the Pullman collection at the Illinois Railway

Museum.



At the same time AC&F built emergency box cars for CNW (and one car for

CMO), and the bill of materials for the galvanized Murphy roofs on

these cars specified them as unpainted. Hope this helps.

Regards,

Ed Hawkins