Model Railroading > B&O blue vs C&O blue

How much difference is there between B&O blue
and C&O blue ????

Thanks

JLSeale

It depends on what period you're modeling.

Pre-1963, before the C&O took control of the B&O, C&O Blue was called Enchantment Blue and B&O Blue was called Royal Blue. Some have claimed that Enchantment Blue was slightly lighter and richer than Royal Blue. From looking at photos, this seems to be the case but there is an inherent danger in using old photo's as reference material for two colors that were a very close to being a match to begin with.

Post-1963, after the C&O took control of the B&O, loco's from both roads began getting the solid blue dip treatment, with the C&O opting for Federal Yellow noses. In my opinion, new post-merger locos (GP30's through GP/SD40's) were delivered in Enchantment Blue. However, from what I have read over the years, as older pre-merger loco's were shopped, they may have been painted in either Enchantment Blue or Royal Blue or perhaps a mixture of both - it all depended on what the shop forces had in stock at the time.

Now, is Enchantment Blue the same as Chessie Blue? Some will say yes, some will say no. In using the eye test, I see no discernable difference in photos, especially when weathered.

To go full circle, the current CSX paint scheme appears to be nothing more than a modernized version of the post-merger C&O paint scheme.

As a post-merger B&O modeler, I have always used Enchantment Blue as my base loco color. Perhaps another fellow modeler out there can give a more definitive answer to the question?

In essence--your results may vary.

As blue is a color that has a notorious tendency to fade, I really think the whole discussion can't resolve much.  As soon as either C&O Enchantment Blue or B&O Royal Blue hit the sun and rain, they started to shift.  Add grime, diesel exhaust, different cleaning compounds,  different lighting conditions, and the fact that people see colors differently, and the issue resolves into nothing much more than how many angels can you fit on the head of a pin.

 If a color looks right to YOU in YOUR layout lighting conditions, anything else is beside the point.

Art House



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/16 07:12 by aehouse.

Colour and shade are largely in the eye of the beholder. Printing inks fade, photos fade,paints fade,  Models fade - which leaves agreeing or dis-agreeing about colours, and shades of paint, rather like "whose God is the True God"? Pick a colour that suits your eye and go with it. Essentially Art House is absolutely right.