Union Pacific Railroad Paint Information

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

1890 Standard Color List

• No.6 - Imitation gold
• No.8 - Yellow
• No.29 - Ivory Black
• No.30 - White lead
• No.32 - when mixed with No.30 makes "gold"
• No.34 - Green
• No.65 - Eddie's Lamp-black
• No.77 - English Red Lead
• No.95 - Johnson's Magnetic Paint
• No.97 - Prince's Metallic Paint
• No.98 - Mineral Paint

Locomotives

1880

Locomotives 169 to 174, 185 to 188, and 199 to 203 are delivered in Baldwin style 109 Olive Green and "color" (imitation gold) lettering and striping. Boiler jackets are American Iron with brass bands.

Baldwin Locomotive Works engine specifications, 1869-1938 vol 10 p 200, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University

1885

Locomotives 505 and 545 through 554 are delivered in black with no striping. Boiler jackets are planished iron with brass bands.

Baldwin Locomotive Works engine specifications, 1869-1938 vol 12 p 262, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University

1890

Locomotives are painted under the following specifications:

Priming-Tank, sand box, steam domes, drivers, truck wheels, cylinder and steam chest covers, engine frame, smoke stack and all wrought-irons to be primed with a paint composed of 10 pounds English red lead standard color No.77; 3 pounds Johnson's magnetic paint, standard color NO. 95; 1/4 pound Eddie's Lamp-black, standard color No.65; thinned with priming oil, composed of one gallon, best boiled linseed oil; one qt. turpentine; 1/2 pt. best Japan, and well rubbed out under the brush.

All wood-work, except inside of sash, to be primed with a paint composed of 4 pounds white lead, standard color No.30; 2 pounds Prince's Metallic, standard color No.97; made quite thin with priming oil composed of 2 gals. raw linseed oil, 1 pt. coach Japan, 1. qt. turpentine, mixed.

Surfacing-All nail holes, etc., to be filled with hard drying lead putty, and tank, drivers, all rough irons, and all wood except inside of cab, to be brought to a level surface with a paste filler composed of 5 pounds white lead, standard color No.30; 1 pound Prince's metallic, standard color No.97; 4 pounds whiting, ground thick in coach Japan, and applied with a broad stiff knife, leaving none on the surface.

Second Coat-Tank, outside of cab, sand box, domes, drivers, engine truck, wheels, cylinder and steam chest covers and pilot, to be second coated with a mixture of 5 pounds white lead, standard color No.30; 5 pounds ivory black, standard color No. 29; thinned with turpentine.

LETTERING.

Letters and numbers for Freight Engines- To have two coats of standard color No.8, as per pounce patterns furnished.

Letters and numbers for Passenger Engines- All letters and numbers on cab, sand box, and front end to be in gold, standard colors No.30 and 32. Numbers on tank to be two coats of standard color No.6.

Rods-To be finished the same as the drivers.

Sash-To have double thick glass, outside of sash to have two coats of ground color and grained light mahogany or beywood inside to be filled and finished on the natural wood.

Inside of Cab-To have two coats of green, standard color No. 34, thinned with turpentine.

Tender Frame-To be coated inside before floor is laid, and all joints put together with mineral paint, standard color No.98.

Inside of Tank, etc.- Water space and coal space, top and bottom of tank, outside of boiler under the lagging, and inside of wrought-iron plates on fender frame, to have a good coat of color, composed of 10 pounds red lead, standard color No.77; 10 pounds Johnson's magnetic paint, standard color No.95; thinned with boiled linseed oil, and thoroughly coated, especially the water space.

Finishing- Tank, outside of cab, sash, sand box, domes, drivers, engine truck wheels, steam chest and cylinder covers and number plate, to be finished with two coats of engine finishing varnish.

Inside of Cab and Sash- To be finished with two coats of coach rubbing varnish, and boiler plates, seat boxes, etc. to be painted the color of black walnut, mixed with coach rubbing varnish. Engine frame, smoke-stack, trucks, all irons, chains, injector, air pump castings, to be finished with two coats of ivory black No.29, thinned with engine finishing varnish.

Cab Roof. - Floor of tender and cab, and top and bottom of running boards, to have two coats of standard color NO.98; also the cab roof to have one coat of the same under tin.

-G.W. Cushing, Sup't M.P. & Mach'y.

Specification No.768: Painting Locomotive Engines and Tenders, Union Pacific Railway Company, Office Sup't Motive Power and Machinery, January 1890.

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

1895

Union Pacific begins lettering freight locomotives with aluminum leaf and passenger engines with gold leaf.

Salt Lake Daily Tribune 4 September 1895

Rawlins Republican, 13 September 1895

1903

Steam locomotives and tenders are lettered using aluminum leaf. Cab roofs are CS-13 Carbon Black. Window sashes are painted CS-4 Maroon. The rest of the locomotive, including the channels of the rods, are painted CS-7 Black Varnish.

Union Pacific Specification CS-22: Paint - Numerical List of Paints and their Uses. Adopted December 1903, revised 26 October 1926.

1905

Number plate figures were polished aluminum.

Drawing CA-4492 "Union Pacific System Common Standard Number Plate," 28 January 1905.

Freight Cars

1876

Rawlin's Metallic Paint Company advertises that Union Pacific and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company both use their product.

American Railroad Journal 29 April 1876 p543.

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

1903

Automobile cars, boxcars and stock cars, are painted CS-11 "Metallic."

Refrigerator car sides are painted CS-8 Refrigerator Yellow with CS-11 "Metallic" ends. Metal roofs, metal underframes, trucks and grab irons are painted CS-13 Carbon Black; wood roofs are painted CS-11 "Metallic."

Union Pacific Specification CS-22: Paint - Numerical List of Paints and their Uses. Adopted December 1903, revised 26 October 1926.

1904

Defect card holders on freight cars are painted CS-17 lamp black, regardless of color of carbody, with white lettering spelling "DEFECT CARDS."

Drawing C-420 "Common Standard Defect Card Board," May 1904, revised 21 October 1913.

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.

1903

Cabooses are painted CS-11 Metallic (brown) with CS-13 Carbon Black on trucks and iron work.

Union Pacific Specification CS-22: Paint - Numerical List of Paints and their Uses. Adopted December 1903, revised 26 October 1926.

1907

Fusee boxes in class CA-1 and CA-2 cabooses are painted Signal Red with "FUSEES," "MATCHES," "TORPEDOS" and "UP" lettered in black.

Drawing C-1325 "Common Standard Fusee & Torpedo Box," December 1907.

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"

1903

Passenger cars are painted CS-1 Dark Olive on the bodies, vestibules, and windows; CS-2 Olive Enamel on the trucks, platforms, steps and battery boxes; heater pipes and signal lines painted CS-4 Maroon; buffer faces, diaphragm face plates, handrails and grab irons, and wheels are CS-7 Black Varnish and roofs are painted CS-13 Carbon Black.

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

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.

1890

Machinery used in repair, car and machine shops on the Union Pacific is painted gray. Documentation as to when this practice was implemented has not been found yet.

Railway Master Mechanic, May 1891 p62.

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

Machinery in all Union Pacific machine shops is painted green with brown facings and yellow pinstriping to create a "panel appearance." Wheels and gears are painted red. Cheyenne was the first location to receive these new colors.

Railway Master Mechanic, May 1891 p62.

1901

The depot and freight house in Park City Utah are repainted in a "red, red color."

Park Record, Park City, 23 November 1901

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.

Plain wood seats in depots are painted CS-4 Maroon.

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