Boston & Albany Paint Information
Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index
Freight Cars
1872
Grain cars painted "flame-colored yellow or orange" with black lettering and ironwork.
The National Car Builder, May 1872, pg. 7
Passenger Equipment
1872
Drawing-room car "Massasoit" was painted an olive brown with gold leaf scrollwork and lettering surrounded by gold leaf tracery.
The Springfield Daily Republican (Springfield, MA), 3 June 1872
1873
Wagner drawing-room car "Shawmut" painted "rich olive" and striped in gold leaf. "Wagner's Drawing Room Car" and "Boston and Rochester Through Line" painted in black on both ends of the car.
The Springfield Daily Republican (Springfield, MA), 7 May 1873
Passenger coaches painted yellow.
1880
Passenger cars repainted from yellow to olive color.
The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 26 October 1886
Director's car painted olive "with little ornamentation" except for a single gold stripe around each panel.
The National Car Builder, July 1880, pg. 123
Passenger cars painted "dark olive brown color."
| The Railroad Gazette, 3 December 1880, pg. 647
Passenger cars assigned to the "New York and Boston Express Line" painted olive with crimson and gold embellishments. The names of each car are painted on the side in a black field.
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), 6 December 1880
1882
Passenger cars painted "olive shade."
Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT), 26 June 1882
Smoking, baggage, passenger and drawing room cars built new at the Alston shops were painted green.
The Springfield Daily Republican (Springfield, MA), 24 June 1882
1888
Sleeping cars painted "standard dark brown" with gold leaf ornamentation.
The Railroad Gazette, 13 July 1888, pg. 457
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 17 July 1888
1890
Combination cars painted standard dark brown with no gold leaf ornamentation.
The Boston Herald (Boston, MA), 12 March 1890
1895
Passenger cars assigned to the "New York and Boston Express Line" painted light olive and decorated with gold leaf following a Pullman standard pattern.
The Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA), 27 September 1895