Hi everyone, I just saw a picture of U.P. ALCO PA diesels and the hood color was green. The top of the diesel itself was gray, but this was the part just in front of the windshield. Was that a mistake or was it a non-glare paint? I am a Milwaukee Road fan so when they switched to UP colors were there hoods green also? I thank in advance all of you that reply.
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Union Pacific used non-glare green paint just in front of the windshields on their Alco PAs and FAs as well as on their EMD F3s, E8s and E9s.
The Turbines all had green noses too Some low nose hoods as well.
In the late 1940's and early 1950's the UPRR used dark green paint atop the nose, to minimize glare .
Somewhere in the middle to late 1950s, they started adding some kind of aggregate abrasive (coarse sand?) to the green paint, to provide less chance of an employee losing his footing and becoming injured. When that happened, the paint color was still the same green, but it tended to collect dust and soot, and sometimes tricked the eye, and appeared to be more grey than green.
Another UPRR unique green feature was the transparent green panel at the top of its cab unit windshields. From the times when I was aboard UP E8 and E9 units, it appeared that the upper edge of each windshield was masked off and painted with a transparent green paint, to reduce possible annoyance when traveling toward the rising or setting sun. It was paint - not plastic film.
Hot Water, do you remember the windshield paint from your EMD work (and other work) on the UP?
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