Eastern Railroad Discussion > Southern Railway caboose color

I would like to find out the correct red color for a Southern Railway steel bay window caboose, I also need the yellow color for the steps, grab irons, brake wheel etc. Anyone who knows this I would appreciate this information. Could anyone tell me where the Southern shops were that painted their locomotives and cabooses. Maybe I could track down someone who used to work there that could help me with this information. I have a caboose to paint and want the colors right.
Thanks!

From what I recall, I can't see how you could go wrong with standard "caboose red" (bright red like on Burli-Q units) - IMHO. Regarding the specifics on details, I'll defer to an full time Southern fan.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

Are you talking a model or real caboose? Perhaps folks at NCTM could help.

Real caboose!

And I would like to use the exact red and yellow paint the Southern used.

MilwRoad73 Wrote:
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> And I would like to use the exact red and yellow
> paint the Southern used.

Time period?

Steam era used more of a traditional caboose red, but in the fifties, I believe, through maybe the early seventies, Southern used more of a box car red. The brighter caboose red then returned for the rest of Southern Railway's life.

Here are photos of the caboose showing the red color. This is a 1971 caboose.

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If someone doesn't answer this before I return, I'll have the colors for you later this weekend. The guys at Southern Appalachia Rwy Museum in Oak Ridge will have the info; they have 2 Southern cabooses. I'll see or speak to them Sat or Sun.

That is great news. Thank you very much for the help!

Lemme send a quick email or two and I will get the answer for you. If I don't get back to you tonight, I will tomorrow afternoon. I'm on train crew this weekend at the NCTM, and we recently finished up restoration on X648. I should be able to get the exact colors we used for the red and yellow - and I am pretty sure we used DuPont Imron.

-Eric



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/11 14:52 by sou2601.

Thank you Eric! The exact DuPont colors are exactly what I want.

The guys at SARM used Glidden Industrial Enamel in Safety Red and Safety Yellow, appx $20.00 per gallon, and it's a perfect match. It's also a lot easier to use than Imron, which you have to be darn careful with due to possible inhalation hazards.

Thank you so very much for that information!