Northern Pacific wood caboose paint scheme

HRM:

While I can't state for certain that all NP cabooses were this way, I do have a color photo in my "Northern Pacific Color Pictorial - Volume 1" by Joseph W. Shine that shows a black roof on both the main body of the caboose, as well as the cupola.  Cab # 1777, August 10, 1957 coming out of Duluth's Rices Point yard. 

That is the only photo in the book that has a good roof shot.

If you don't have ready access to this book, I can scan the photo for you and send to you. 

You may also want to join the NP Modelers and NP TellTale Groups IO groups, and ask your question over there.    

Regards,

Jerry

Looking further in another color book, "Northern Pacific In Color Vol.1 1949-1959" by Doug Nighswonger, I found NP 1925 where I can clearly see a black main roof, and the upper side of the cupola roof is also black.  There is referenhce to a "1951 paint scheme" in the caption.  This photo was shot in Spokane.

Regards,

Jerry

There's a couple of B&W photos of wooden cabooses in Charles Wood's (1968) "Northern Pacific" that appear to have the roof and sides the same color...probably not much help, but I thought I'd mention it.  

Mark in Oregon

Strummer, I believe you are right that some NP cabooses are painted all one color (boxcar red).  In the shine book, there is a color photo of six cabooses in line in Forsythe MT, can't directly see the roof, but at least four of them do not have the black on the side of the roof panel. 

Regards,

Jerry

@dkdkrd posted:

Here's a bit of perspective that I go through in this hobby when faced with this sort of question...

1. If the answer lies in photographs....we're in trouble. 

Well, photo's tend to be the first source for painting ideas.

2. Also re photos....it was as much the transitional era of photography as it was for railroad motive power.

Not every photograph was taken from ground level.  Folks even in the past did take photo's from some sort of elevation. 

What one has to be really careful of nowadays is Photoshopped photos...  I'm pretty sure the one photo I found of a CP 2-8-0 wasn't really painted CP Action Red with the Multimark on the tender...

3. Relying on memories?.....  Yeah, right. 

I'll agree to an extent.  Memories can be flawed, but perceptions of the past can be reinforced or changed with some research.

4. So, it's up to me to make a rational choice. 

Based on the above perspectives???  Ideally, the best solution is to have painting diagrams for every piece of equipment our favorite roads, but it's not really practical.  The various historical societies may or may not have that information.

5.  It's our railroad...your railroad. 

 The thing to remember is railroad equipment gets repaired and painted multiple times during it's service life.  XYZ RR's cabooses may have been painted freight car red with a black roof when built, but after a trip or two through the shops, they may emerge with a freight car red roof.

Rusty

 

 

@dkdkrd posted:

Here's a bit of perspective that I go through in this hobby when faced with this sort of question...

1. If the answer lies in photographs....we're in trouble.  The underneath and above views of railroad equipment are just not very prevalent.  I mean, think about it?......when the equipment was in service, about the only time you saw the undercarriage was in the mayhem of a major wreck.  The roofs?.....a shot from a bridge or tower, maybe?  

2. Also re photos....it was as much the transitional era of photography as it was for railroad motive power.  Black-and-White was the norm.  Color film was the new kid on the block.  And, let's face it.....the bottoms and tops of railroad cars/cabooses are not a colorful priority for the use of premium-priced color film. 

Actually, because the roof color is extended over the lip on the edge of the roof, it's fairly simple to see the roof color from the side of the caboose, certainly with NP woodside cabooses. It's also fairly easy to see the difference between black and boxcar red, even in a black and white photo.

I haven't seen any photos showing only the roof of the cupola painted black. All the ones I've seen have all black roofs, or else all boxcar red roofs. Most seem to have black roofs.

Thanks for the replies.  I have spent a lot of time building this caboose from styrene (and rebuilding it to fix errors).  Just trying to get it right.  My goal in the end is to have an age appropriate caboose for a time frame when Z6 challengers were used as well as the Lowey north coast limited.

With none of these caboose available in the three rail market, I decided to build my own, inspired by Brother Love’s caboose efforts after acquiring one of his cabs last year.

Progress on the caboose has been slow, but it is starting to come together.  Any additional info others might have, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks

Mike

That looks terrific... 

Mark in Oregon