Paint Schemes Of The PC:
LOCOMOTIVES:
*Was It Brunswick Green, DGLE (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel), or Black?*
Well, from a lot of extensive research thru photos and documents, it can be said with 100% accuracy that the Penn Central used DARK GREEN a n d BLACK to paint their locomotives-where the PC generally called the dark green "Brunswick Green", and not (usually) "DGLE". Both names were actually used for the same paint color, just the term "DGLE" comes from the ex-PRR, because that is what PRR's official name of this green paint was.
Sometimes both Brunswick AND black were painted on one same locomotive, when PC did their partial re-paint jobs where they applied only new PC lettering. Check out some of the GG-1's in colored photos. You can clearly see where they re-painted in certain areas. For example, black on the whole side of the locomotive, but NOT on the noses of the car body, and the roof and noses were left still in original ex-PRR dark green. It wasn't only the GG's that received this partial re-painting. Also this isn't to say that PC only used black to do partial re-paints. They also used the dark green as well, on re-painted areas. The PC documents actually stated they were "suppose" to use Brunswick on all locomotives, but again, this rule was not always followed.
"Ok, So What Is The Proper NAME Of The 'Dark' Green That Was Also Used By PC?"
Again, some original PC documents dated around 1968-1969 stated the name "Brunswick Green" for the "proper" name of the dark green DGLE ex-PRR paint. So "Brunswick Green" would be the proper name-then again, other PC documents could state it as being "DGLE". So, either name, or just use the generic name of "very dark green". PC had at least 2 paint manufacturer's that made this dark green paint, and also could have had slightly variations in tint, keep in mind. So it could be said that PC called the former PRR DGLE paint "Brunswick Green", under "official" PC terms.
Remember, with the Penn Central, nothing was really "official" on anything. They were "suppose" to do certain things, but each department on the railroad had their own ways or variations of doing things-either by choice, orders, or by what was available at the time to use, to get the job done (supplies. etc.).
Well, what should you paint your PC engine that you want to decal? Paint it either color, and you'll mostly likely be correct. If you are wanting it to be exact, go thru some colored pictures and look for the dirty engines. Usually the dirty engines that have a dirty light yellow and/or a light dirty-green color most likely are candidates for being in actual ex-PRR dark green or PC Brunswick Green. Dirty black engines usually have a grayish look to them. Black and white photos are more difficult to distinguish between black or Brunswick, because the actual color of the faded-dirty areas are not seen. And note, that the DGLE/Brunswick Green had it's own variation in tint.
A NOTE ABOUT DGLE/BRUNSWICK GREEN TINT VARIATIONS: It is true, some of the units painted in DGLE/Brunswick had variations in tint. Some looked more black, and others looked more of the green. Just check out photos. And remember, photos CAN be trusted! Not all are faded. What better way to actually get proof besides seeing it in-person or having actual original paint chip samples-if that can even be accomplished these days.
Lettering of PC Locomotive:
-Body=black
(or earlier units also painted PC with a very dark black-green, similar
to what the PRR units were painted. This paint looked pretty close to
black, and when faded, the greenish tint of the color was more
noticeable).
-numbers/letterings=white; [locomotives usually used square vinyl stick-on pre-made "PC Worm" logos (white logo over black background)--smaller size of logos were usually placed on the end-noses of the locomotives, & larger sized logos applied to sides of locomotives; roadname "PENN CENTRAL"(white lettering over black background) applied to some sides of the locomotives, and numbers (white) were usually placed under the cab side windows. These large vinyl die-cut decals were applied by being sprayed with a special liquid solution (or water), slid into place, then dried].
The PC had MANY variations of their locomotive paint schemes. Such as:
1 variation of the scheme had the previous marked railroad logos and numbers painted out usually in black (or gray on NYC E units), only the PC nose logos applied, the numbers changed under the cab windows, but no road name or other logos applied to the sides. This was a cost-saver paint scheme approach.
Or the PC would paint only the nose(s) of predecessor railroad units black, apply the nose logo(s), and leave the original number on the sides of the locos, or also only repaint where the numbers were changed with PC style number fonts, and only paint out the pred. railroad's roadname, stripes, etc. This scheme has been named the "Dip" or "Black Dip" scheme, because it gave the affect as if the nose of the locomotive only was dipped in fresh paint, with the rest of the unit still with it's original dirty/faded pred. RR's paint. They were able to get away w/ this, because the NYC units were originally black, and PRR units were usually a very dark black-green, that looked black anyway (or close enough), or looked faded black. Some of the earlier painted PC units were also painted this same dark-green the PRR used on their locomotives.
Other Variations of PC Locomotive Paint Schemes Were:
1) Spelled out roadname on sides of unit, no side "worm" logos, numbers on cab sides of unit, nose logos applied;
2) Mid-sized logos placed on sides of loco (either near end or in middle of side), no roadname on sides, numbers on sides, & small logos on noses;
3) Large logos placed on sides, no roadname on sides, small logos on noses;
4) No logos, no roadname on sides, numbers only applied to sides (or pred. railroad's original font numbers left on sides), & small logos on noses only;
5) Small logos on sides-same size as usual nose logos (as with some switcher locomotives), numbers on sides of cab; (even a few of the C-series ALCOS had a variation of this scheme, with a nose-sized small logo applied to the side of the unit, near the top rear; also an ALCO FA-1 locomotive had the small logo applied to the upper middle side of the unit, no road name, and rear side applied numbers; have seen 1 F7A unit applied with same type of scheme same as the FA-1 unit; and another F7A unit with same variation, except the small logo was applied to the rear middle side of the unit.
6) Numbers under cab windows, with small logo under the numbers, no other markings on engine (as with some switchers also). Many of the PC's F-units, U-boat GE's, some EMD SD45's, GP9's, SD9's, and many switchers showed most of these variations.
7) The newer units PC bought had usually the full schemes applied (large logos, numbers, end logos, roadname).
8) Also, some units had the PC logos applied that had the red "P" and white "C", and the other variation with the white "P" and orange "C".
9) Another variation, found on a PC SD-45: small nose logos as normal, regular PRR style block white numbers on cab sides as normal, but also a MID-sized PC logo (normally used on F7-A & B units) placed on the long hood side of the locomotive, near the cab, on the duct extension (where PRR had put 1 of their keystone logos on these units), and no other side markings. Unit 6224, as seen in a picture dated 1971. How's this one for a model project!
And a note on PC locomotive nose logo sizes...by viewing many pictures, it has to be noted that PC had at least 4 different sizes-types of nose logos used on locomotives. They were: bigger and fatter nose logo-as seen on early PC painted 6-axle GE units; short and long style-as seen on some ALCO's; normal size as seen on any units; tiny size as seen on some GP35's, GG-1's, and other units. PC's "mid-sized" logos also had at least 2 different sizes--1 being more longer and slightly taller and the other being more shorter-as seen on Baldwin locomotives, etc.
-PC's loco number boards varied as well. They had white numbers over black background, or black numbers over white background. They also had square-style numbers, or the more rounded and common style of numbers, or the very small block style numbers (as on ex-PRR FP-7's).
-Locomotive Handrail/Grab-iron paint mostly were per a standard engine yellow, or white.
Known PC Locomotives That Had The Red "P" Logo Type Applied Were:
*ALCO Unit: FA-2 1350; EMD Units: F7A 1646, 1665, 1707, 1709, 1713, 1734, 1760, 1773, 1792, 1796, 1839; GP20 2110; GP30 2189, 2198, 2201, 2203, 2204, 2205, 2209, 2211, 2213, 2220, 2226, 2232, 2234, 2235, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2246; GP35 2252, 2254, 2263, 2267, 2282, 2291, 2294, 2317, 2329, 2337, 2375, 2381, 2382, 2383, 2385, 2386, 2387, 2389, 2395, 2398; *ALCO Units: RS27/DL640 2404, 2405; C425 2422; *GE Units: U25B 2647, 2650; *EMD Units: GP40 3001; GP9B 3802; E8A 4247, 4249, 4254, 4292, 4312; FP7 4347, 4367, 4370; *GE Units: E44 4422, 4440, 4442, 4443; GG1 4862, 4902, 4906, 4915, 4932; *ALCO Unit: RS3 5461; *EMD Units: SD35 6018, 6020, 6023, 6035; SD40 6070, 6093, 6095; SD45 6122, 6125, 6133, 6139, 6162; *ALCO Units: C628 6304, 6312; *GE Unit: U33C 6557; *ALCO Units: RSD7 6809; RSD15 6812, 6814; RSD12 6861, 6865, 6867, 6868, 6870, 6871; *EMD Units: SD9 6912; GP9 7029, 7045, 7075, 7077, 7080, 7097, 7160, 7126, 7142, 7231, 7232, 7243, 7245, 7265, 7415, 7444, 7502; *ALCO Units: RS11 7650; RS12 8085; *EMD Units: SW1 8413, 8523, 8539, 8558, 8587, 8596; NW2 8674; SW1200 9020, 9021, 9023, 9025, 9034; SW7 9035, 9077, 9080; SW9 9117; *ALCO Units: S2 9779, 9806, 9812, 9825; S4 9822; RS1 9921, 9924, 9925, 9933.
Known PC Locomotives That Had The Orange "C" Type Logo Applied:
*EMD Units: GP40 3170, 3171, 3172, 3173, 3174, 3175, 3176, 3177, 3178, 3179, 3180, 3181, 3182, 3183, 3184, 3185, 3186; *ALCO Unit: RS3 5585
PC should have had more units painted w/ the orange "C" logos. Or maybe even tried a green "C" logo version. What it amounts to is that the PC had about any paint scheme variation thinkable applied to their units (and other equipment). Many variations to make their "simple" standard paint scheme fresh (to those who think it was boring). Plus to keep the PC modeler busy.
ABOUT PC's RED/BROWN LOCMOTIVES: Penn Central also FULLY REPAINTED a few locomotives painted in Tuscan Red. These were a few E8A's and E7A's. They also just re-lettered some of these units that still kept their original PRR Tuscan Red or Brownish paint. Yes, PRR even had variations in their Red/Brown colors used on their E units. 1 looked more reddish, the other looked more brown. They are both correct.
M of W EQUIPMENT:
Motor Cars ("Speeders"):
-Body=bright or dark yellow or
orange/yellow;
-with black, silver, or yellow underframe;
some motor cars were applied with small square vinyl sticker logos, that had green background with white worm logo & "Penn Central" underneath the logo, or clear background and black worm logo & lettering, or yellow (or clear) background with black worm logo and lettering, or black background with white worm logo & lettering--or no lettering and just worm logo (similar to the type applied to noses of locomotives, but smaller). Also these logos came in many sizes to about as big as a person's hand, to larger sizes. Numbers were either painted onto the cars on the front, or sides, or both with black paint & stenciling, or black stick-on vinyl lettering, in same places.
Please note that a lot of motor cars the PC acquired from the merged railroads, still wore predecessor paint schemes (NYC, PRR, etc.), and never received PC markings/numberings, as with a lot of other freight equipment. Some motor cars still wore previous railroad yellow paint & number boards, but had a tiny PC logo stencil spray-painted in white somewhere on the car. Many variations depended on the employees and the areas of the railroad system.
Other MofW Equipment:
Such as passenger cars, box cars, tenders (ex-steam engine coal/wood tenders that came from the PRR, NYC, or NH, and made into water or fuel tenders for work trains), and other equipment, were painted yellow (bright or dark yellows were used), with silver or black roofs, or a green car body similar to NYC green, with black or silver roofs. Yellow cars had black lettering, and green cars had white lettering usually. Many variations on these included just marked as "PC" in Arial font or other fonts style lettering, by the number of the car. Others, such as old passenger cars, received the PC small logo, with the road name spelled out underneath the logo, and numbers applied.
Again, many of these cars received many variations of the so-called "standard" PC MofW paint scheme.
FREIGHT CARS & CABOOSES & PASSENGER CARS:
Freight Cars:
Most freight cars (box, gons, covered hoppers, flats, etc.)were painted all green, with white lettering. There has been many discrepancies about the "right" color of green used. Hundreds of original PC pics (not from faded & old pics), proves that the PC used MANY different shades of greens! Not always turquoise/teal green (blue-green). Some were more a lawn grass green (similar to some BN freight car green as seen in a pics of a newly-painted PC box car in 1976!), and some other shades of greens. Box cars were usually all green, with white lettering. Some of the very 1st PC painted cars were teal, with black lettering.
As with the schemes used, again, PC had some variations--some used large PC logos, others very small, others, mid-sized. Some with and some w/o the roadname spelled out. Also cars received different style of number fonts--Arial, and others.
Gondola cars were normally green, with white lettering. Flat cars were normally green with white lettering.
Coal Open Hopper cars were normally black, with white lettering.
Covered Hopper cars were either green with white lettering, or gray with green lettering or black lettering.
Auto rack cars were either all green with white lettering, or had the gray/aluminum panels added to the sides, with the area (usually a square steel panel)where the logos were applied with green or black background, and white lettering usually. The lower part of these Trailer-Train auto racks were usually brown or yellow w/ Trailer-Train white or black lettering.
These are descriptions the PC mainly used, but they had many variations in colors used, lettering applications, etc.
CABOOSES:
PC Cabooses of all styles received different shades of green for the car body-at least 3 different shades of greens were used [NOTE: PC DID have some bay window style cabooses that were painted a actual BLUE, and not what some people view as green/teal; they also had a few BROWN cabooses w/ yellow lettering (used for mail trains), and BLACK cabooses w/ white lettering (black cabs were usually for certain coal trains)].
-Some cupola cabooses were all green, or some were with a green body (including cupola) w/ black roof, or green body with black cupola and roof.
-Underframes and trucks, were usually black, with usually green platforms.
-Side grab irons were yellow (some were even green), and usually end grab irons were all green.
-Steps were either green or yellow (or green with yellow ends).
PC's cabooses also received many variations of lettering styles. Lettering was usually white.
Lettering variations were:
With the roadname spelled out at the top centered edge of the roof on each side under the cupolas, or off to the right side (of the bay window on bay window cabs, or along the top edge of the bay window). Some cabooses received large numbers, and some received smaller numbers (larger numbers were identical to the PRR-style loco numbers; smaller numbers were similar to PRR-style freight car number styles or were NYC freight car style). Numbers were either applied to the lower left sides of the cabooses, or lower right sides. Also, some cabooses received the large PC logo, such as on the right side of some bay window cabooses. And some cabooses received a mid-sized-small PC logo applied to the exact middle of the car between the windows on cupola style cabooses, with no roadname applied. Another variation would also be a small white (also red "P" & orange "C" logos were used) logo, with the roadname spelled out in small white letter below the logo applied to the lower left side of the caboose.
Also, with the "roadname scheme", some cabooses received the larger version of the roadname (almost same size as used on larger locomotives), applied at the roof line on side of caboose body, but off to the right side (such as on some ex-LV cabooses), or the same larger roadname applied to the lower center of a caboose between the 2 side windows, and large roadnumbers applied center below the roadname in the other more rounded style of numbers that were also applied to locomotives cab sides.
Once again, the PC had many variations in styles of letterings used on their cabooses, as with different shades of greens. Some were very teal looking, and others were more of a swamp-olive grass green, and some more of a neutral grass green.
PC PASSENGER CARS (non-MofW):
Head-End Cars were usually painted all green, or green body, black roof, black underframe and trucks, with white lettering. Lettering styles were either with roadname spelled out centered along roof line on sides of car, with small slanted white numbers on lower center side of car (with or without a white underline below numbers-and some even had a small white star by the number), with or without small or mid-sized PC logos on the side of car body at each end of car. Or same logo applications, but no roadname, or different style of numbers used.
Other Pass. Cars (coaches, Pullmans, observations, etc.) usually received the same as the head end cars, except the corrugated cars were not usually painted green (although a few were painted in green or partial green), had black roofs (or were just dirty), black underframes and trucks (or dirty silver), with numbers applied to sides of cars near each end of the cars, or with a centered lower number on sides of the cars, roadname applied same place as head end cars, and the same for the logos. Logos were either applied on separate metal square panels, or directly on car. Logos, roadnames, and numbers were either black over unpainted background, or white over black background. Some cars received the full roadname, logos, and numbers scheme, or logos and numbers only, or roadname and numbers only. Numbers on these passenger cars were usually slanted, but some have been straight as well.
Also, some passenger cars retained their original paint, such as ex-PRR cars, in their Tuscan-red PRR colors with yellow/yellow-orange stripes and lettering. PC simply painted out or removed the PRR logos, and added yellow/yellow-orange PC worm logos.
PC had painting variations with their passenger equipment, just like the rest of their equipment.
PIGGY-BACK VAN (SEMI) TRAILERS:
The
PC had different sizes and variations of piggy-back van trailers. Some
were outside braced, others smooth side with corrugated-type sides.
They came in many lengths too.
But the main paint schemes used on these trailers were:
I.-BODY-teal green or silver, ROOF=teal green or silver, UNDERCARRAIGE & WHEEL RIMS-usually teal green or silver. -Logos were either white over teal green background square, or teal green logo over white background square(or off-white). The logos mainly were a large PC logo, with the roadname directly underneath the logo. The same logo style and colors were also found on the front of the trailer in a smaller size, and a smaller size yet on each top part of the rear 2 doors.
II. Outside-braced trailers were older, and were either painted in silver or teal green. The smooth side trailers mainly built by Fruenhauf, usually were silver only (body, roof, underframe, rims) and newer (built in the 1970's). The logo was usually white die-cut vinyl, with the roadname in black die-cut vinyl letters underneath the logo, stuck over a teal-green painted square, on each front upper sides of the trailers. The front end had a smaller version of the logo & roadname, and the doors a smaller version yet. Usually the end logos had the green background being actual vinyl, instead of being painted on the trailer.
BUILDINGS and OTHER STRUCTURES:
Along the PC system, many buildings and structures existed. Interlocking, hump yard, and other yard towers, shanties, freight houses, depots, tool sheds, roundhouses, car/locomotive repair shop, office, and other buildings, water towers, and bridges. Not all, but a lot of these things were painted actual PC greens (teal, teal-green, and other shades of green). Either being the whole buildings/structures being painted this color, or just parts (trim, doors, etc. and the rest gray or other colors). It's likely this "green-colored buildings/structures" idea was carried over from the NYC's practices. Because the NYC did paint the same things green along the system.
FOR MODELERS WHO WANT THE SHADES OF PC CABOOSE and FREIGHT CAR GREENS: (..but don't feel like paying for pre-mixed OVER-PRICED model paint! Cheaper brands of paints CAN do just as good of a job-we aren't running our models outside in the weather-at least we shouldn't!) --try mixing cheaper brands of "grass green" or "lighter green" with a little bright yellow or orange yellow. Eventually it will turn more towards a drab olive green shades PC used. Add some brown to the greens to make the more darker greens PC also used. PC had at least 3 or so different shades of these greens used on their cabooses, and experimenting finds that you can get about every shade close, depending on how much yellows you add to the bright greens, etc. Try it!
Also to get more faded shades of PC greens used, just add some white until it comes to the shade that looks good to you.
PC SIGNS were installed all across the system as well. From advertising locomotive/car repair facilities, "No Trespassing" signs, to marking bridges. The PC had promotion in mind obviously.
THE STYLE OF LETTER FONT PC USED:
There is a font out there called "Square Bold Extended" (this may be Windows' own name for it though) that can be used on most Windows operating systems and comes with bold and normal settings (this font you have to download. But before messing with your computer, check your local computer stores and ask them where you can get this font and how to put it into your computer properly). This is the slanted font PC used for lettering (on their locomotives, some freight cars, signs used at stations/facilities, etc.), and even this same font was used for some numbers (as used on passenger cars, station signs, and even FM loco). PC also used other font styles for numbering of locomotives, freight cars, pass. cars, and cabooses. (Still doing some research on the proper names of these other fonts-anyone have any info on the other font styles, please send an email-from the "Pics" page).
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