Blue Line Fast Freight: Paint Information

Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index

See also Red Line Fast Freight Paint Information

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy

1867

CB&Q Blue Line cars were painted blue.

The Troy Reporter (Troy, KS), 7 March 1867

Chicago & North-Western

1873

C&NW Blue Line cars built in this year were painted blue.

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), 12 October 1873

Great Western Railway of Canada

1866

Painted blue with white lettering.

Ottawa Daily Citizen (Ottawa, ON), 16 November 1866

1873

Painted ultramarine blue with white lettering drop shaded in black.

1873 Great Western Railway of Canada freight car specifications, Library Archives of Canada

Michigan Central

1867

Box cars painted blue.

Dodgeville Chronicle (Dodgeville, WI), 6 June 1867; see Railroad History No.141, 1979

Refrigerator cars painted white.

Dodgeville Chronicle (Dodgeville, WI), 6 June 1867

1869

After the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, Michigan Central relettered its cars to say "From the Atlantic to the Pacific" instead of "From the Atlantic to the Mississippi."

Chicago Evening Post, (Chicago, IL), 20 July 1869

New York Central & Hudson River Railroad

1867

Painted blue with yellow lettering.

The Quebec Mercury (Quebec City, QC), 9 January 1867

1876

Painted blue with white lettering and black ironwork.

Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 May 1876

Railway World Vol. 20, 1 July 1876

1880

Painted blue with white lettering, black ironwork and brown roofs.

“The Cost of Painting Freight Cars as Affected by their Color," Railroad Gazette, 10 December 1880

Philadelphia & Reading

1882

Painted blue.

Reading Times (Reading, PA), 30 October 1882

Toledo, Canada Southern & Detroit

1879

Painted blue.

The Semi-Weekly New Era (Lancaster, PA), 3 May 1879

Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index