Union Pacific Railroad Paint Information

Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index / Union Pacific Railroad Paint Information

Locomotives

1891

General Master Mechanic Middleton issued "stringent orders" forbidding engine stacks from being painted red. Red stacks were not a railroad standard but were a very popular practice among engineers, so it is not known which Union Pacific locomotives had red stacks and for how long.

Salt Lake Daily Tribune, 23 January 1891

Freight Cars

1883

Union Pacific specifies a light green color (Pantone 617C) for refrigerator cars of all types and patents with a darker green fascia (Pantone 392) and mineral red (Pantone 483C) roofs, underframe and trucks. Lettering in black. This paint scheme would have applied to all of Union Pacific's subsidiary railroads, including the Denver South Park & Pacific.

Sherwin-Williams Union Pacific Paint Catalog, collection of Randy Hees

See also C&SNG Discussion Forum

1893

Rawlins Red paint is the standard freight car color.

Alliance-Independent (Lincoln, Nebraska), 13 July 1893.

1896

Iron and other metal parts on rolling stock painted with Hanion Brothers & Co. "Antoxide" paint (black).

Railroad Car Journal August 1896

Cabooses

1887

A majority of the Union Pacific cabooses have donned a bright yellow coat. The remainder will be given a similar coat as soon as possible.

Cheyenne Daily Leader, September 24, 1887.

1901

The work of painting cabooses the standard color of red is progressing rapidly and many cabooses are now seen on the road of this color.

Cheyenne Daily Leader Wednesday, October 30, 1901.

Passenger Equipment

1866

Director's car "Omaha" was painted a rich wine color.

Fort Wayne Daily Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana), 30 May 1866

1868

First and Second Class passenger cars and the paymaster's car are painted a wine color.

The Gold Hill Daily News (Gold Hill, NV), 22 January 1868.

1870

Passenger cars painted "Quaker Drab."

Railroad Gazette, 22 October 1870, pg. 73.

1894

Passenger coaches painted light yellow.

1895

Passenger cars repainted to Van Dyke Brown.

The Kansas City Journal (Kansas City, MO), 28 October 1895

"First Car Finished," The Salt Lake Tribune, 5 May 1899"

Buildings

1881

The Ogden Utah depot (shared with the Central Pacific) introduced time boards to be placed on the platforms next to each train indicating when it would depart. These were painted red with yellow lettering.

Ogden Herald, 14 July 1881

The recently completed Union Pacific (Echo & Park City Railway) depot in Park City Utah was painted Lead color.

Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 3 March 1881

1889

Western Union Company replaced the two pole lines on Union Pacific right-of-way between Omaha and Ogden with a single pole line. The poles were painted white.

Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 19 March 1883.

1891

The interior of the Logan, Utah depot was finished in oiled natural wood. The roof was painted mineral brown.

Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 13 March 1891

1910

Railroad buildings adopt Common Standard 22 specifications: CS 201 Colonial Yellow exterior walls, CS 202 Light Brown trim, CS 210 and CS 211 Slate Color for roofs. Interiors are painted CS 203 Cream from the wainscotting to the ceiling, CS 202 Light Brown on wainscotting, and CS 213 Gray Floor Paint on porches and other floors exposed to weather.

On buildings where smoke discoloration is a noticeable problem, building exteriors are painted CS 11-A Dark Brown with black window sashes.

Union Pacific Specification CS-22: Paint - Numerical List of Paints and their Uses. Adopted December 1903, revised 20 January 1923.

1946

Two-tone gray scheme with white trim is adopted for depots.

1956

Building exteriors are painted white with light green windows, trim and lower walls.

1968

Remaining wooden buildings are painted white with black windows.

Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index / Union Pacific Railroad Paint Information