Historic Railroad Paint Color Index

Introduction

This page is a mirror of the document: 19th Century Railroad Paint Color Research Compendium.

This is a compilation of raw primary source documentation regarding paint and lettering of North American railroads. While the focus is on the 19th Century, 20th century sources are added when found.

Data is arranged alphabetically by railroad name with an individual page for each.

For more information about railroad paint scholarship, paint photography, and the science of color, see Historic Paint.

Street railways and private owner car lines that do not have enough information to warrant their own page can be found under the "Street Railways" and "Private Owner Car Lines" pages.

Jump to letter: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

A

American Railway Express

Americus Preston & Lumpkin Railroad

Androscoggin Railroad

Ann Arbor Railroad

Atchison & Nebraska Railroad

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe

Atchison & Charlotte Air Line Railroad

Atlanta & La Grange Railroad

Atlantic & Great Western

Atlantic & Gulf Railroad

Atlantic Coast Line

Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio

Augusta Gibson & Sandersville Railroad

B

Baltimore & Ohio

Bangor & Aroostook

Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad

Bellaire & South Western Railway

Blue Line Fast Freight

Boston & Albany

Boston Concord & Montreal

Boston Hartford & Erie

Boston & Lowell Railroad

Boston & Maine

Boston & Providence Railroad

Boston & Worcester Railroad

Boston Concord & Montreal

Boston Hartford & Erie

Boston Revere Beach & Lynn

Brattleboro & Whitehall Railroad

Buffalo & Susquehanna

Buffalo New York & Philadelphia

Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburgh

Burlington & Lamoille Railroad

Burlington & Missouri River

Butte Anaconda & Pacific

C

Camden & Amboy Railroad

Canada Atlantic Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

Canada Southern Railway

Carolina Central Railroad

Carson & Colorado Railroad

Cayuga Lake Railroad

Central Pacific Railroad

Central Railroad of Georgia

Central Railroad of New Jersey

Central Transportation Company

Central Vermont Railroad

Chattaroi Railway

Cherokee Iron Company

Chesapeake & Ohio

Cheshire Railroad

Chicago & Alton Railroad

Chicago & Atlantic Railway

Chicago & Eastern Illinois

Chicago & Lake Huron Railroad

Chicago & North-Western Railway

Chicago Burlington & Quincy

Chicago Great Western Railroad

Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul

Chicago Rock Island & Pacific

Chicago St. Louis & New Orleans

Chicago St. Paul & Kansas City

Chicago St. Paul Minneapolis & Omaha Railway

Cincinnati Hamilton & Dayton Railway

Cincinnati Indianapolis St. Louis & Chicago

Cincinnati Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad

Cincinnati Southern Railway

Cincinnati Van Wert & Michigan

Cleveland Akron & Columbus

Cleveland Cincinnati Chicago & St Louis (Big Four)

Cleveland Columbus Cincinnati & Indianapolis

Cleveland Mt. Vernon & Columbus Railroad

Cleveland Mt. Vernon & Delaware

Cleveland Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling

Colorado Midland

Colorado & Southern Railway

Columbus, Sandusky & Hocking

Colusa & Lake Railroad

Concord Railroad

Connecticut River Railroad

Connecticut Western Railroad

Connotton Valley Railroad

Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley

Cumberland & Pennsylvania

Cumberland Valley Railroad

D

Dakota Southern Railroad

Delaware & Hudson

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western

Delaware Railroad

Delaware Western Railroad

Denver & Rio Grande

Denver Pacific Railway

Denver South Park & Pacific Railroad

Denver, Texas & Fort Worth Railroad

Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad

Detroit Lansing & Northern Railroad

Detroit Saginaw & Bay City Railroad

Duluth & Iron Range Railway

Duluth South Shore & Atlantic

Dunkirk, Warren & Pittsburgh Railway

E

East & West Railway

East Broad Top Railroad

East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad

Eastern Railroad

Elmira Cortland & Northern Railroad

Erie

Erie & Wyoming Valley Railroad

European & North American Railway

F

Fairhaven & Southern Railroad

Fitchburg Railroad

Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad

Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad

Florida Railway & Navigation Company

Fort Madison & North Western Railroad

Fremont Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad

G

Georgia Railroad

Gettysburg Railroad

Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad

Grand River Valley Railroad

Grand Trunk Railway

Great Northern

Great Western Railway of Canada

H

Housatonic Railroad

Houston & Texas Central Railroad

Hudson River Railroad

I

Illinois Central Railroad

Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Railroad

Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad

Indianapolis Bloomington & Western Railway

Indianapolis Decatur & Springfield Railway

Intercolonial Railway

International & Great Northern Railway

Iowa Eastern Railroad

J

Jackson & Sharp Company

Jackson Lansing & Saginaw Railroad

Jacksonville Pensacola & Mobile Railroad

Jacksonville Southeastern Railway

Jacksonville Tampa & Key West Railway

Jamestown & Lake Erie Railway

Jefferson Madison & Indianapolis Railroad

K

Kansas City Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad

Kansas City Pittsburgh & Gulf Railroad

Kansas Pacific Railway

Kennebec & Wiscasset Railroad

Keokuk & Des Moines Railway

L

Lake Erie & Western Railway

Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway

Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railway

Lawrenceburg & Upper Mississippi Railroad

Lehigh Valley Railroad

Ligonier Valley Railroad

Long Island Railroad

Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad

Louisville & Nashville Railroad

Louisville Cincinnati & Lexington Railroad

Louisville New Albany & Chicago Railway

Louisville New Orleans & Texas Railway

M

Macon & Brunswick Railroad

Macon & Western Railroad

Maine Central Railroad

Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad

Marietta & North Georgia Railway

Memphis & Charleston Railroad

Merchant's Despatch (MDT)

Meriden & Cromwell Railroad

Michigan Central Railroad

Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway

Milwaukee Lake Shore & Western Railway

Minneapolis St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway

Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad

Missouri Iowa & Nebraska Railway

Missouri Kansas & Texas Railway

Missouri Pacific Railway

Mobile & Ohio Railroad

Montgomery & West Point Railroad

Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad

N

Nashua Acton & Boston Railroad

Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad

Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway

National Despatch Line (National Car Company)

Naugatuck Railroad

Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad

New Brunswick Railway

New Jersey & New York Railway

New Jersey Midland Railway

New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company

New London Northern Railroad

New Orleans & Mobile Railroad

New Orleans Fort Jackson & Grand Isle Railroad

New York & Harlem Railroad

New York & New England Railroad

New York Central

New York Central & Hudson River Railroad

New York Chicago & St. Louis (Nickle Plate)

New York New Haven & Hartford Railroad

New York Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad

New York Providence & Boston Railroad (Stonington Line)

New York West Shore & Buffalo Railway

New York Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad

Nickel Plate Line (Fast Freight)

Norfolk & Western Railroad

Norfolk Southern Railroad

Northern & Central Vermont Line (Fast Freight)

Northern Alabama Railway

Northern Central Railway

North Eastern Railroad

North Missouri Railroad

Northern Pacific Railroad

O

Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad

Ohio & Little Kanawha Railroad

Ohio & Mississippi Railway

Ohio River Railroad

Old Colony Railroad

Oregon Short Line

P

Pennsylvania Railroad

Pere Marquette Railroad

Philadelphia & Erie Railroad

Philadelphia & Reading

Philadelphia Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad

Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon Railroad

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie

Pittsburgh Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway (Pan Handle Route)

Pittsburgh Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway

Pittsburgh Shawmut & Northern Railroad

Plant System

Portland & Kennebec Railroad

Portland & Rochester Railroad

Private Owner Car Lines

Providence & Worcester Railroad

Pullman

Q

Quebec & Lake St. John Railway

Quebec Montreal Ottawa & Occidental Railway

R

Red Line Fast Freight

Redondo Railway

Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad

Richmond & Allegheny Railroad

Richmond & Danville Railroad

Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad

Rio Grande Southern

Rio Grande Western

Roanoke & Southern Railway

Rochester & Syracuse Railroad

Rome Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad

Rutland Railroad

S

Saginaw Tuscola & Huron Railroad

San Diego, Cuyamaca & Eastern

San Francisco & North Pacific Railroad

San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railroad

San Pedro Los Angeles & Salt Lake

San Pete Valley Railway

Sandusky & Columbus Short Line Railway

Sandy River Railroad

Savannah & Charleston Railroad

Savannah Florida & Western Railway

Savannah Griffin & North Alabama Railroad

Seaboard Air Line Railway

Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railway

Selma Rome & Dalton Railroad

Shenandoah Valley Railroad

Silver Springs Ocala & Gulf Railroad

South Bound Railroad

South Carolina Railway

South Pacific Coast Railroad

South Pacific Coast Railway

Southern Central Railroad

Southern Pacific Railroad

Southern Railway

St. Joseph & St. Louis Railroad

St. Lawrence & Ottawa Railway

St. Louis & San Francisco Railway

St. Louis & Southeastern Railway

St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway

St. Paul & Pacific Railroad

St. Paul Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway

Street Railways

Susquehanna Railroad

T

Texas Midland Railroad

Tiffany Refrigerator Cars

Toledo & Central Ohio Railway

Toledo St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad

U

Uintah Railway

U.S. Navy Pearl Harbor Supply Depot

Union Oil Company of California

Union Pacific Rail Road

Union Pacific Railway

Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway

Union Tank Line

Utah Central Railroad

Utah & Northern Railway

Utah Railway

Utah Western Railway

Utica & Schenectady Railroad

Utica Ithaca & Elmira Railroad

V

Virginia & Truckee Railroad

Virginia Central Railroad

W

Wabash Railroad

Wagner Palace Car Company

Washington City Virginia Midland & Great Southern Railway

Washington County Railroad

West Jersey & Atlantic Railroad

West Shore Railroad

Western & Atlantic Railroad

Western Maryland Railroad

Western Railway of Alabama

Western Union Railroad

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad

White Line (Fast Freight)

Williams Valley Railroad

Williamstown Railroad

Wilmington Columbia & Augusta Railroad

Wilmington & Northern Railroad

Wilmington & Reading Railroad

Wilmington & Weldon Railroad

Wilmington & Western Railroad

Windsor & Annapolis Railway

Wisconsin Central Railroad

Y

York & Cumberland Railroad