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PAINT COLORS FOR PRR LOCOMOTIVES AND TENDERS

As of October 8, 1929

DARK GREEN LOCOMOTIVE FINISH

*All Locomotive Wheels, *Trailer Truck Frame, Pilot, Wooden Pilot Beam, Cylinder Head and Steam Chest Casings, Cylinder Jackets, Boiler Jacket (including inside Cab), Headlight, Bell Frame, Sand Box, and Dome, Air Resivoirs, Running Board Facing Strips, Cab Exterior, including Doors, Valve Motion (Painted Parts), Tender Cistern Exterior: Sides, Back, and Front End (except Coal Space), also Molding Strip between cistern and frame, Tender Frame (wood)

BLACK

*All Locomotive Wheels, *Trailer Truck Frame, Steel Pilot Beam, Pilot Beam Braces, Round Number Plate: background, Engine Truck (except wheels), Frames and Braces, Hand Rails, Running Boards and Brackets (except facing), Steps, Pipes and Fixtures, Brake Rigging, Deck Plate, Tender Frame (steel), Tender Steps, Tender Trucks and Wheels, Tender Coal Space

NOTE: *Dark Green and Black were Optional for Locomotive Wheels and Trailer Truck

FRONT END PAINT

Smokebox, Stack, Firebox (exposed portion), Ash Pan

FREIGHTCAR COLOR

Wood Cab: Roof above Rain Gutters (repainting when only one coat is applied)

Tender: Top of Cistern, including rear of Coal Space)

MIXTURE OF THREE PARTS FREIGHT CAR COLOR AND ONE PART BLACK

Wood Cab: Roof above Rain Gutters (repainting when two coats are applied)

Steel Cab: Roof above Rain Gutters (repainting when only one coat is applied)

MIXTURE OF EQUAL PARTS FREIGHT CAR COLOR AND BLACK

Wood Cab: Roof above Rain Gutter (new cabs) Steel Cabs: Roof aboe Rain Gutters (new cabs and repainting when two or three coats are applied)

SASH COLOR

Cab Window Sash (side and rear)

INTERIOR CAB GREEN Cab Interior, including doors and seat boxes

ADDITIONAL COLORS USED IN THE LETTERING AND STRIPING



BUFF LETTERING COLOR

Freight and Switching Locomotives: ALL Lettering on Locomotive and Tender.

Round Number Plate: Numerals and Border

GOLD LEAF

Passenger Locomotives: All Lettering on Locomotive and Tender, Striping on Locomotive Wheels, Cab and Tender. Round Number Plate: Numerals and Border, Keystone Number Plate: Numerals and Border

WHITE COLOR

Passenger Locomotives: Striping on Locomotive Wheels, Cab and Tender

CHOCOLATE STRIPING COLOR

Passenger Locomotives: Striping on Tender

TOLUIDINE RED

Keystone Number Plate: Background

Note- Gold Leaf was used on all Keystone Number Plates, including those on M1 and M1a Locomotives in freight service.



DESCRIPTION OF COLORS

DARK GREEN LOCOMOTIVE FINISH

Was a mixture of Green and Black which was so dark that it usually appeared Black

FRONT END PAINT

Was a heat resistant black graphite paint to which some aluminum powder was added. The shade of this "silvery-black" color varied at different shops and engine houses.

FREIGHTCAR COLOR

Was a standard PRR Freight Car Red as used on all Freight Cars.

SASH COLOR

Was a Brilliant orange-red which was called "dark orange" on Passenger Car window sash. It was a mixture of Venetian Red, Chrome Yellow and White.

INTERIOR CAB GREEN Was an ordinary medium Green

BUFF LETTERING COLOR

Was a very light yellow. It was a mixture of Chrome Yellow, White, and a small amount of Venetian Red.

GOLD LEAF

Was Genuine Gold Leaf made of real Gold Leaf.

CHOCOLATE STRIPING COLOR

Was a Light Brown. It was a mixture of Indian Red, Chrome Yellow and Black.

TOLUIDINE RED

Was a bright Scarlet Red

Last edited by rplst8

@harmonyards

Pat, I have updated the list again per Bob stating that the orange is correct in the tender, so I listed engine and tender colors are okay

List of upgrades/to do list for the S2

Thanks Dave!….I was gonna do some work on this baby today, but alas, the Hudsons were a callin’ ……..I did get up with John, and got the electronics we want, including that special smoke feature board that popular consensus says we do,……the day job is gonna be tight this week, but I’ll see if I can pick away at some smaller details to keep the “train a rollin” …….ugh, that was weak…..🤣🤣

Pat

@Ed Kelly posted:

Good thread!  My only objection is to the idea of putting the speaker in the tender.  Generally, in an O gauge loco, there is room in the boiler for the speaker and since that is where the sound comes from, that is where the speaker should go.  Otherwise, it sounds weird.

Ed

That’s gonna be a tall order Ed, and likely ain’t gonna happen, …..in order for the sound to be robust, the speakers ( in this case, there’s gonna be 2 ) need an enclosure, that enclosure needs to send the sound out for the best sound, ……with everything else going on in the boiler ( smoke units, lighting, wiring, weights, etc,..) there ain’t gonna be a whole lotta room,….. just about every modern 3 rail locomotive has the speaker(s) in the tender,…..with the occasional stereo sound with one in the boiler…..we can’t get too carried away, or the price point will be that of a small mortgage,…..I’d like to be able to offer the model at a decent price point for all those watching out there in TV land….😉

Pat

Last edited by harmonyards

I would imagine most of the engines that do have speakers in the engine and tender, the ones in the engine are probably dang small or there is extra room in the boiler. The likes of the Big Boy, Challenger, I think the Class A and maybe EM-1 are the only ones I think that could apply. Anyone have an idea if that is a correct assessment?

Your assessment is correct. From what I have seen most small locomotives do not have a boiler speaker and only in the tender. Most of the in boiler speakers are left for the big ones. Such as the VL and Legacy Big Boys, VL Class As, and VL Challengers. The EM-1s are the only ones left out. I do not know however if MTH does something different but that is what Lionel has done.

Ryan and Dave had talked about the dual speakers at length in the Challengers and Big Boys. That I do remember from the catalog shows. The Class A Ryan I believe was explaining it at York when they unveiled it. He did say that some other engines they had thought about the possibility of speakers in the engine, but just not enough real estate to make it work they would either sacrifice something else, or the size would be too tiny to do anything good.

The tender is cavernous, it’s definitely getting twin speakers, and an enclosure,….that’s a given on modern upgrades, …..

one more thing that bugs me, the black on all the trucks, ( tender trucks, pilot & trailing trucks ) ……it’s too glossy IMO, ….we want this to reflect a model, not a toy, so while we have all the wheel sets out, I’ll blast the trucks down to bare metal, and shoot them a nice contrasting satin black,….I think that combined with all the blackened wheel sets will make it pop, and drag this model into this century……..I did look at the marker lights on the front of the engine ( thanks for the clarification on this PRR people ) although they are the correct cube type, there’s no provision to light them as I can see, ….fortunately, I have the correct square stock brass that matches the size of the ones on the model now, so I’ll fabricate a new pair of lamps we can light up as you guys have suggested…….

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

That’s gonna be a tall order Ed, and likely ain’t gonna happen, …..in order for the sound to be robust, the speakers ( in this case, there’s gonna be 2 ) need an enclosure, that enclosure needs to send the sound out for the best sound, ……with everything else going on in the boiler ( smoke units, lighting, wiring, weights, etc,..) there ain’t gonna be a whole lotta room,….. just about every modern 3 rail locomotive has the speaker(s) in the tender,…..with the occasional stereo sound with one in the boiler…..we can’t get too carried away, or the price point will be that of a small mortgage,…..I’d like to be able to offer the model at a decent price point for all those watching out there in TV land….😉

Pat

I always wondered how good the later Lionel steamers sounded when they put a speaker in the boiler and the woofers in the tender. I liked the concept anyways. I never tried it myself. A G scale steam engine might be a fun place to try.

Pat, et al,

I have a bunch of locos from 2-8-0's up to a 2-8-8-2 and everyone has the speaker in the boiler. Admittedly, the decoder goes in the tender.  Some of the speakers are cell phone speakers and they sound so loud that I have to turn down the volume.

This is for Pat: Which Pittman is in the S-2?  Is it a 9000 series, perhaps a 9233 or a 9234 or some other Pittman?

Thanks,

Ed

@Ed Kelly posted:

Pat, et al,

I have a bunch of locos from 2-8-0's up to a 2-8-8-2 and everyone has the speaker in the boiler. Admittedly, the decoder goes in the tender.  Some of the speakers are cell phone speakers and they sound so loud that I have to turn down the volume.

This is for Pat: Which Pittman is in the S-2?  Is it a 9000 series, perhaps a 9233 or a 9234 or some other Pittman?

Thanks,

Ed

It’s definitely a 9000 series Ed, ….I think it’s a 34, but I’ll be sure to make note of it when we go in for the kill,….I really didn’t pay no never mind which one it was, ….step 1 was to see if this thing ran smoothly, and was worthy of doing an upgrade without a boat load of mechanical work,…..I was pleasantly surprised how well she behaved just slapping a rectifier in there and let her run……it cruised just fine with out an electronics package …….this means any package we put on this, …..it’s just icing on the cake,…..but I’ll make sure I note which Pittman is installed in this engine …..

Pat

Let’s dive into the popular consensus mods!…..first order of business, get rid of that light silver on the smoke box, …..y’all said it needs to be darker, so let’s make it so!….I’ll use my proprietary graphite blend which I know is way darker than what’s on the model as delivered,…..step 1 is to bathe the shell, soft brush, & dawn dish soap. Next, mask it up, 1/4” fine line tape, & 3/4” mask …..aluminum foil is my favorite paper mask, …the real real cheap stuff from the dollar store is the best IMO, …it’s like paper that crumbles up, but stays put,….it’s also super cheap,….note I’ve also scuffed the old smoke box color with fine gray scotchbrite, …I like a mechanical bond for paint, …no worrying about flaking off…..beings this smoke box silver is so light, best we lay down a black base coat. Before the black base coat has a chance to completely cure, I’ll shoot the proprietary graphite color ….that will give me the chemical bond between the two coats ……after this reply, I’ll carry the pieces outside so y’all can really see the difference before I shoot the smoke box front ….small details on the front are simply touched back up there’s so few of them, no need to go bananas,…..

also note, for the “markers” on the front, the cube type housing were present, and we can light them up as they should be, so before painting, we made the necessary holes, and test fitted LED’s BEFORE painting …..nothing like a perfect paint job, only to realize you need to put a power tool to it!…..no bueno!….figure that junk out first!!

Pat 84914FB0-2EB0-418D-9AF1-4C28425C82FC44854D6A-76CC-4A68-8B40-DDAF14BD00797E63FC16-409E-4B96-A0C2-214E3E142A2B47A33CEE-D190-4DB7-9347-494E8AB67D2F6E0795A6-C451-4FDE-AABB-36EE2F691A1E32B4DC19-624D-487A-A3A1-7099FF2AFC67

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Today, we’ll also tackle all those chrome wheels!…..there’s a lot of chrome on this locomotive, ……I’m sure if we went to a car show, we’d get first place for bright work,…..but we ain’t at a car show, so let’s fix that!…….first thing to do is pass the wheel sets through the glass cabinet, ….the fine media happily munched on all that chrome plating, and knocked them back down to plain steel, …..after a wash in warm soapy water, into the black oxide dip,……a 10 minute soak, and they come out nice & black…..then a soaking in penetrating oil so the oxide will suck up the oils, and rust proof them…that was a lot of wheels!!….

Pat 4F546452-EF17-4C33-9B9B-F8F00E839ABB7358C57F-7AC1-4A2A-A62E-25928F36BC571D1B3357-48EA-467F-A0DE-C5EE7B8D9FF9F5AD636F-181F-410D-B59B-0262B5C64935

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Holy Toledo Pat, that dark graphite looks great. That color really gives that sinister Pennsy look. I was looking at the before and after, it is a good contrast seeing it go from the silver to great dark color. I like how you got that silver off that handwheel making it the red that we usually see on some high end models. Another class act job Pat.

Along with the umpteen billion wheel sets I darkened, I also darkened the drivers, they had too much chrome going on too,…..…can anybody spot the subtle add on detail I did on the chassis that’s not present on the model as delivered?……thanks big time for those of you that have sent me research info on this locomotive!……it’s a lot of help!!……

Pat 5DAE0422-8259-468B-B048-341FAEA78CE1

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Last edited by harmonyards

Y’all give up too easily!…..😁……so here’s another hint, what’s in this image that’s plainly not in the first images, ….you can see them plain as day, because they’re chrome as all get out, ……..you guys will get it this time,…….it’s an important feature that should be on every scale steam locomotive,……another hint, MTH didn’t start doing it till late PS2 …..like late, late PS2 ….

Pat 0852172F-39C7-432F-A6FA-6C6A1D286B71

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