Boston & Maine Paint Information
Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index
Freight Cars
1890
Boxcars painted Lead color, also known as slate. Roofs of boxcars, flatcars and coal cars painted mineral brown. All lettering is in yellow, with ironwork painted black.
Portland Daily Press, 29 July 1890
"Lead Color" was given as being a mix of Keg Lead (white) and lampblack.
The carriage painters' illustrated manual, 1877
1897
All freight cars except cabooses, refrigerator and line cars, are repainted to Mineral Brown (a new shade, slightly darker than the color used previously) with white lettering. The trucks and ironwork is also brown. Reefers, cabooses and line cars have black ironwork.
Railroad Car Journal, December 1897
As the result of a boxcar accidentally being lettered "Boston & Mitane," the railroad adopted a new outshopping stencil that identified which paint shop was last to paint each car, using the first three letters of the shop's name (Lawrence, Salem, or Somerville). Stencil was six inches across.
Railroad Car Journal June 1897
Passenger Equipment
1871
Passenger cars painted light straw and "richly striped and ornamented"
The Boston Traveler (Boston, MA), 16 May 1871
1873
A new Wagner parlor car was painted wine and striped in gold leaf.
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), 9 July 1873
1882
Parlor cars painted dark maroon.
The National Car Builder, August 1882, pg. 89
1884
Parlor cars painted lake with gold ornamentation.
The National Car Builder, July 1884, pg. 81
1885
Passenger car "Magnolia" painted deep crimson
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 22 May 1885
Baggage cars repainted from yellow brown to Tuscan Red.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 14 February 1885
1886
Two new parlor cars painted dark cherry with gold ornamentation.
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), 3 June 1886
Passenger and baggage cars painted light straw. Interiors finished in mahogany with black walnut trim.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 7 September 1886
1890
Baggage cars repainted from Tuscan Red to yellow.
The Beverly Citizen (Beverly, MA), 22 November 1890
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 29 November 1890
1891
Passenger cars assigned to the Lowell, Eastern and Western divisions are painted dark olive green with gold lettering.
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 26 November 1891
1892
New passenger cars built this year are all painted olive green with gold striping.
The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 10 March 1892
1893
One source claims that B&M passenger cars are painted white giving the railroad the nickname "Ghost Line." This is dubious.
The Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, PA), 24 February 1893
Pullman coaches used on the B&M painted "regulation Pullman Color"
The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 14 September 1893
1897
The last yellow car is repainted "dark," completing a six-year repainting process.
The Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, ME), 2 October 1897