Another early forties GMC chip chart, this time from Sherwin-Williams. I could just slap Ferrara Blue on the B&O and the slightly more indigo-looking 2063 Boatswain/Fruehauf/Dietz and Watson Blue on the C&O and Chessie System but that would be too easy. LOL GMC Dusty Gray and 93-503 Suede Gray are very close to each other, BTW...

Some random notes this morning...

Eric has 54292 Imitation Gold listed for both the CNJ and B&O so I'm keeping the 93-242 GMC Canary/Dodge Brite/Kraft Yellow in play for that color. It does look good with Ferrara Blue on the above chip chart, though.

1935 is generally considered to be the year Bando Blue was adopted by the B&O. That was also the year they received #50 from EMC/EMD so there may be a correlation there.

Ferrara Blue is still light enough to be used effectively in combination with black.

The C&O's Enchantment Blue is Ditzler/PPG 13000 which I still haven't been able to cross-reference as of yet. If I could still access the Sherwin-Williams site, I'd probably have that one by now.

That late CNJ red could be any one of a number of bright reds since by the early seventies there were plenty to choose from. Swift Red would be the more traditional choice.

As far as general railroad colors go, the Reading tended to lean toward the lighter ones.

Gray chips never seem to match up even if they're supposed to be the same color. The closest match to the Northern Pacific Transport Gray card from the NPRHS is WE5725 from the fan deck. The Transport Blue looks like Federal Truck Dark Blue, 93-6014.

That chip from PaintRef I was looking at for the NP's Loewy Light Green, 93-29609H, turns out to be the old International Harvester Mogul engine color...

So then I started thinking again... LOL

International Light Green a.k.a. Light Green #1 is DuPont 93-5939...

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/paintdetail ... nt=93-5939

Here's what it looks like on a couple of alternative example 1937's, paired with the Dark Green on the D15...

International sold quite a few trucks to the Railway Express Agency back in the day so both the Light Green and Dark Green, DuPont 93-5940, are still in the running for the 1940's REA green. This is a 1941 Ford, however...

International Dark Green matches up pretty well with REA truck restorations on photos so far but until I gather those up, here's a cool old ad from 1938...

International Dark Green is still listed as a fleet color as of 1950...

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/paintdetail ... nt=93-5940

These two are very close picture-wise. Here we have a 1937 Dark Green IH with alleged original factory paint and a nice and shiny International REA resto...

This 1948 International lasted long enough to be repainted into the 1950's 93-6202 Green although there isn't much of it left...

Here is original factory 93-2063 Boatswain Blue on a 1937 Chevy...

This is the last version of Packard Blue before it became a metallic in 1946 using the same pigmentation. The DuPont number is 246-34535 as shown here on a 1941 110...

General Motors code WE5868 is the Pennsylvania Railroad's Toluidine Red...

Packard Blue is the color CNJ used on the Blue Comet, express between Jersey City and Atlantic City via Winslow Junction.

Phil Mulligan

Then we'll have to go all the way back to 1929 and look at the original Packard Blue, Phil. The DuPont numbers are 246-1001, 246-30295, and 93-1503.

IM949 is the Ditzler/PPG Intermix code...

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/paintdetail.cgi?ppg=IM949

When this color was first used on automobiles, it was known as Berkshire Blue on Pontiacs, Princess Blue on Nashes, and Graham-Paige Blue on Graham-Paiges...

The CNJ-ACRR Blue Comet was inaugurated February 21, 1929; it would been painted in the original Packard Blue.

Here's a 2020 Railway Age article:

https://www.railwayage.com/news/new-jer ... est-train/

The CNJ engine has two cab signal boxes because it needs to read PRR's pulse code system on the NY&LB and (after 1934) PRSL, and CNJ-RDG's inductive loop system on CNJ's Southern Dicision and RDG's ACRR (before 1934)

In the 1930's CNJ camelback 4-4-2 592, now at the B&O Museum, sometimes pulled the Blue Comet. None of the Blue Comet engines or cars were streamlined.

As to cab signals. RDG changed the cab signals on the Bethlehem Branch to PRR's pulse code system when it was electrified, and when ACRR and WJ&S were merged into PRSL in 1934, they retained the WJ&S (PRR) route between Winslow Jct and Atlantic City which had the pulse code system.

Phil Mulligan

I just noticed PaintRef very recently added 1928 Dodge to the Packard Blue list or else I must've missed it somehow. LOL I might be orbiting way out into the Oort Cloud with this one, but suppose the entire Blue Comet paint scheme was derived from 1928 Chrysler colors...