I have a 40' boxcar to paint in MP's Route of the Eagles scheme. Ed Hawkins
told me the MP color turned more red in the 1950's.Does anyone have a
acrylic based mix for a mid 1950's MP color. I assume Ed has this
information, but I think he is at Cocoa Beach, along with most of this list.

Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY

I just got back from Cocoa Beach and Ed was not there nor have I known
him to ever attend. Hopefully he will show up and be the best to
answer. I do remember using 2 different shades of Accupaint - one for
earlier and one for later eras.

Jerry Glow

--- In STMFC@..., "Brian J Carlson" <brian@...> wrote:

I have a 40' boxcar to paint in MP's Route of the Eagles scheme. Ed

Hawkins

told me the MP color turned more red in the 1950's.Does anyone have a
acrylic based mix for a mid 1950's MP color. I assume Ed has this
information, but I think he is at Cocoa Beach, along with most of

this list.

Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY

On Jan 5, 2008, at 8:18 PM, Brian J Carlson wrote:

I have a 40' boxcar to paint in MP's Route of the Eagles scheme. Ed
Hawkins
told me the MP color turned more red in the 1950's.Does anyone have a
acrylic based mix for a mid 1950's MP color. I assume Ed has this
information, but I think he is at Cocoa Beach, along with most of
this list.

Brian,
As far as I know, actual paint specs and/or paint samples for MoPac's
home-built box cars during the 1950s have never been located except for
a diagram that provides paint specs for the Eagle Merchandise cars.
There are precious few color photos of new 1950s MoPac box cars that
I've ever seen. Therefore, painting information is based mostly on B&W
photos, recognizing the inherent potential errors that can occur by
deducing information from them.

I don't have a formula for an acrylic model paint. For many years I
tried to interest Badger Modelflex to produce a whole line of accurate
steam-era freight car colors, but thus far to no avail. I recommend
using the same color that Branchline Trains used on their MP 40' box
car models by creating your own mixture of your preferred type of
paint.

Photos of MoPac's DeSoto-built box cars during 1953-54 show that the
roofs were coated with black car cement. I am uncertain when this
practice was begun or when it ceased. Regardless of the original roof
color, photos show that the roof coating tended to start peeling rather
quickly (within a few years) eventually leaving a bare galvanized
surface on the flat portion of the roof panels. Repainted cars
typically received freight car red on the sides, ends, and roof.
Regards,
Ed Hawkins

OK, thanks Ed, I have a few BLT MP cars, I'll use them to create a paint
match.

Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY

--- In STMFC@..., "Brian J Carlson" <brian@...> wrote:

Brian, I have a grab iron I pick up in the late 60's from a junk

pile in the local yard. The color is dead on Polly Scale D&RGW Freight
car red. James Hickey



OK, thanks Ed, I have a few BLT MP cars, I'll use them to create a paint

match.

Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY

Hmm, I happen to have a bottle of that from another project, I'll have to
check it against the BLT cars. Thanks.

Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY

Brain, Did a little more checking on that paint. The grab iron and
some paint chips are off MPX 3506. I missed the heck out of the date
it was Aug. 28, 1988. James Hickey

--- In STMFC@..., "Brian J Carlson" <brian@...> wrote:

Hmm, I happen to have a bottle of that from another project, I'll

have to

check it against the BLT cars. Thanks.

Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY
----- Original Message -----
From: "jthirtysix" <jamesh@...>
To: <STMFC@...>
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 8:42 PM
Subject: [STMFC] Re: MP boxcars paint color

--- In STMFC@..., "Brian J Carlson" <brian@> wrote:

Brian, I have a grab iron I pick up in the late 60's from a junk

pile in the local yard. The color is dead on Polly Scale D&RGW Freight
car red. James Hickey