Any MR fans? While I mostly collect and operate eastern roadnames the MR had some of the neatest passenger cars - and the orange-maroon colors on the electrics were very nice as well.
I noted in pictures and video, as well as O-gauge train cars, that M.R. passenger cars had gray and black roofs, maybe even white as well. Also, the maroon and orange side colors varied. Was this done per division of the RR, or by era, or what else?
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It all depends upon the era. The first streaming cars came out in about 1936 with the Atlantic loco. There were several series after that. And after the war there were more. And then of course when the UP changed their passenger service from the CN&W to the MR, the MR repainted everything in UP yellow and gray. You really need to buy some MR books to follow all the changes.
Yes, I need to dig out my MR books from my pseudo library on trains - they're all over my the place since moving in 2011.
Paul, if you haven't already I recommend getting "The Milwaukee Road Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment, Volume 1"
As I recall the Milwaukee changed the orange and maroon scheme in 1948, about the time it got it's first passenger diesels. I think that's when the gray roofs changed to black?
BTW, never saw anyone refer to it as "MR" before. "MILW" would be more common.
The "Road" also painted their passenger car roofs a medium brown color, prior to 1935 when the first series of Hiawatha cars were introduced. construction on these started in 1934 and they were the first full length, lightweight streamlined, passenger cars ever built. (They were also the only lightweight passenger cars that were built with vestibules at both ends.) This production run of some 40 cars was originally planned to have the brown roofs, but that color scheme just didn't look right on them. And, besides the Class "A" Atlantics were to be a prominent medium graym so that became the roof color of choice until about 1950, when they changed the color to black.
I always thought that the Milw's orange and maroon was just the most beautiful color scheme ever used, and when they changed to U.P. Yellow and red with gray roofs, in 1955, the Milwaukee lost it's identity and began it's long, painful journey into oblivion.
Paul Fischer
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