[PRCo] Re: PRCo's Low-Floor Color Scheme

[Jim Holland]

Good Morning!

> tsquare wrote:

> The first low-floors were delivered in dark red
> paint.  When did PRCo adopt "traction orange?
> What was the first series of low-floors delivered
> in orange?

> Tom

	Enclosed below are some discussions on this very topic in August--2000.

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Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 11:29:38 -0400
From: "Fred W. Schneider III" <fschnei at supernet.com>
Subject: Re: PRCo  Paint
Sender: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Reply-to: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org

	Somewhere in this house is a copy of the Pittsburgh Railways paint book
... the car-by-car record of all paint work, inside, outside, partial,
complete, colors.   But it is a very large document (meaning 14x17) and I
can never remember where I hide it from one use to the next.
	Cars were maroon in the earlier years of PRC but I don't know if that goes
all the way back to 1902.  Just like West Penn changed from green to orange
as a result of an accident, PRC determined that orange might also prevent
accidents.
	I believe that all cars through the 4900s came in maroon, certainly the
4200s, 4300s, 4700s, some 4800s, and the 6000s were maroon.  The low-floor
trailers were maroon.
	The builder's photos of 5200 show an orange car.  Interestingly, the
builder's photo of 5200 also depicts how weak those cars were ... the
diagonal crease across the front body plate behind the door was already
evident; the front platform was sagging even before it was loaded on a flat
car for shipment to Pittsburgh.
	Some service cars may have never received orange paint ... I think 3487 at
Arden, which had been the Charleroi line car, may never have gotten to the
paint shop during the orange car era. For certain, it was photographed
outside Charleroi car house during the 1940 NRHS convention trip and it was
in maroon paint then.  The trim color on it is silver but I cannot vouch
for its authenticity.

	My suspicion is that the orange or yellow paint began with the 5000s.

	I believe that all the interurbans got red and gray (note that the low
3700s were originally maroon) with some getting cream later in life if gray
wasn't available.

> Jim Holland wrote:

> Greetings!

>         Just looking at a photo from the Ed Lybarger collection
> used in the 1992 PTM calendar of an 3700 series Brill
> interurban in downtown Washington shortly after delivery. 
> The photo caption indicates that the
> car was painted *maroon.*
>         Apparently this was the *standard paint scheme*
> for all equipment very early in the 1900s.  I would
> assume the equipment had a black roof and
> this photo shows a little gold trim on the front dash. 
> Were other colors used for trim and how?
>         How long did this paint scheme last and when
> did the *PRCo--"Yellow"-(Orange)* debut?

>         From all current indications, the interurbans
> (3700--3714 and 3800--3814) were not painted in *Yellow.* 
> Possibly just before the debut of the 3800s, the 37s were
> painted red with cream/white window area and black roof
> while the 38s came with red and gray window area.
>         Does this sound correct?

> James B. Holland

>         Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
>     To e-mail privately, please click here: mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
> N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/

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Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 14:45:11 -0400
From: "Edward H. Lybarger" <twg at pulsenet.com>
Subject: RE: PRCo  Paint
In-reply-to: <39981062.CF5488D2 at supernet.com>
Sender: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Reply-to: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org

	The original of the PRCo paint book is, of course, here.  If you say 1925,
that will be close enough.  The 3750s were, I believe, the first new cars
to come in orange.

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Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 17:40:25 -0400
From: "Dietrich, Robert J." <bob.dietrich at unisys.com>
Subject: RE: PRCo  Paint
Sender: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
To: "'pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org'" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Reply-to: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org

Folks:

	I'm looking at Traction Heritage Vol. 1 No. 6 "Selections from 1925
Electric Railway Journal".  The article is titled "Standardizing Rolling
Stock in Pittsburgh" - yea, right.  I quote:

	"Commencing with the first of these new cars received last year a change
was made in the exterior color from red to orange.  Use of the new color
scheme is being extended, and eventually all the low-floor cars will be
orange and the old types red."

	The cars shown were 5400s.  This seems to correspond with Fred's and Ed's
statements.

Regards.

Bob

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James B. Holland

Holland  Electric  Railway  Operation....... 
___"O"--Scale St.-Petersburg Trams Company Trolleycars and...
______"O"--Scale  Parts  mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net

______Pennsylvania Trolley Museum http://www.pa-trolley.org/
___Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.nmra.org

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