Pittsburgh Railways Orange

[Fred W. Schneider III]

We've had discussions before about what color was orange.

I found where I buried my copy of the PRC paint book.  Pittsburgh
Railways purchased orange paint from Pratt and Lambert, Simplex En,
Ball, there was a Ball Brush Laquer noted.  Also Vitralux, Dupont, and
Pittsburgh Paint & Glass.  There is one beginning with M that looks like
Minimax.  By the late 1930s they seem to have pretty much standardized
on the Dupont product.

I think this might tell us that there could have been some variability
between what color is orange.

There does not appear to be a standard paint interval but in the 1920s
four-years between complete paint jobs was probably most common, with
some cars as frequently as once a year (without more detail, one could
not rule out that one-year was not simply a varnish over the previous
paint).  It was also not uncommon to paint a car, and then scrap it the
next year.  Example six of the 3600s were painted within one year of
retirement and after fourteen others in that fleet had already been
burnt.

The standard color orange was never applied to wooden cars.  Cars
numbered through 3619 continued to receive red paint until they were
scrapped.

The paint shops did scattered orange cars as far back as 1924.  Just a
few examples:  Car 4754 received orange October 26, 1924. Car 4801 was
painted orange on April 20, 1924, followed by 4803 on April 27, 1924.
Most 4700s, 4800s, and 4900s were repainted orange in 1924 and 1925 but
some still recieved red paint in 1926.
Orange paint was first applied to 4200s in 1925

It appears that, once the low-floor cars were either all orange or
mostly orange, attention turned to the high floor cars.  On Feb 28,
1927,  4017 was the first of its class in orange. There after all 4000s
received orange except for one odd car, which may have been a touchup.
The last 4000 to receive red paint was 4051 on July 31, 1927; when it
was repainted January 11, 1930, all the 4000s had been repainted
orange.  Of the 4100s, orange painting began in 1927 and the last seven
cars were done early in 1930.   Note that some 3400s were rebuilt with
large rear platforms and sliding front doors to look like the 3500s and
4000s, but these all stayed red.

Now, folks, you want the real jolt.  Cars 3700, 3702, 3705, 3708, 3712
and 3713 received orange paint in 1928, only to be repainted scarlet and
gray in 1929 and 1930.  I'm inferring that some cars may have initially
received gray trim to compliment the old dark red 3711 in 1930 may have
been such an example. However, the paint book is unclear.

Of course, we know that all the 5000s came in orange paint.

If someone needs information on one specific car for a model, I'll look
it up.


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