Philadelphia & Reading Paint Information

Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index / Philadelphia & Reading Railroad TOC

Freight Cars

?-1892

P&R hoppers and gondolas painted red.

Post-1892

P&R hoppers and gondolas painted black.

The Pottsville Daily Republican (Pottsville, PA), 19 September 1892

1892

Another source implying (erroneously?) that all P&R main and leased line freight, gondola, and coal cars were to be painted black with white lettering.

Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 19 September 1892

1896

P&R coal cars painted black.

The Pottsville Daily Republican (Pottsville, PA), 5 September 1896

Passenger Cars

There are two contradictory chronologies of P&R passenger paint.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s account:

? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted yellow.

? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted green.

? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted vermilion.

? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted a brownish-red.

1868 to 1880: P&R passenger cars painted a “neutral color, approaching that of a fawn.”

1880 to 1887: P&R passenger cars painted olive green.

The Daily Republican’s account:

? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted amber.

? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted Indian red.

? to ?: P&R passenger cars painted green.

1872 to 1887: P&R passenger cars painted olive.

1876

P&R parlor cars painted a “handsome drab color.”

The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 10 October 1876

1880

P&R passenger cars painted olive green with crimson and gold striping. Oval panels painted crimson with gold lettering. Trucks painted crimson, striped with black and gold.

The Reading Eagle (Reading, PA), 18 April 1880

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), 8 May 1880

Two “mahogany” passenger coaches, the appearance of which “both inside and outside, is entirely different from any cars ever seen on any railroad.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), 27 October 1880

1887

P&R passenger cars start to be painted yellow.

The Lancaster Examiner (Lancaster, PA), 7 December 1887

1887 to 1892

P&R’s passenger cars are described as being painted lemon above and below the belt rail, with the rail and frieze board painted orange. Lettering in gold, shaded with Tuscan red. Platform and trucks painted “mouse color.” Cars striped in gold and Tuscan red.

The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 25 November 1887

The Daily Republican (Pottsville, PA), 20 December 1887

1888

P&R passenger cars described as being orange and gold.

The Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, PA), 18 February 1888

P&R passenger car interior described as being painted a “lemon color, and relieved by striped and shading of a deep orange hue.”

The Brooklyn Citizen (Brooklyn, NY), 23 March 1888

P&R passenger cars described as being a light orange.

The Gazette (York, PA), 23 May 1888

1892

P&R passenger cars start to be painted a shade “similar to that of the Pullman parlor cars - a dark brown or plum.”

The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 22 January 1892