Erie Paint Information
Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index / Erie TOC
Freight Cars
1876
Listed as a user of “Iron Clad” metallic paints starting in 1876 (this does not necessarily mean it was used on cars).
Poor’s Manual of Railroads, 1876/1877
1878
NYLE&W boxcars painted dark brown.
The Harrisburg Daily Patriot (Harrisburg, PA), 30 September 1878
1880
NYLE&W lumber car painted red.
Buffalo Morning Express (Buffalo, NY), 20 May 1880
1887
NYLE&W boxcar bodies and trucks painted with Prince’s Metallic Brown; all ironwork of body and trucks painted black.
The National Car and Locomotive Builder, February 1887, pg. 19
1892
Milk Cars painted bright yellow.
Middletown Times Press, 28 January 1892
1895
Erie grain and produce cars painted white, with a “gold shield on either side bearing the word ‘Erie.’”
The Weekly Press (Paterson, NJ), 5 December 1895
1897
Erie boxcars painted mineral brown, with black ironwork. Erie grain cars painted yellow. Black paint not used, except in the “Erie lettering within the white diamond painted on the car sides. Entire cars, including iron, painted mineral brown or yellow depending on the service.
Railroad Car Builder, February 1897
1898
Boxcars painted white.
The Akron Beacon Journal, 17 January 1898
Cabooses
? to 1874
Erie cabooses painted a “dark red or brown color.”
1874
Erie cabooses begin to be painted a bright red.
The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis, NY), 29 September 1874
1875
Erie caboose painted red with large numbers painted on the sides.
The Paterson Daily Press (Paterson, NJ), 4 February 1875
1898
Erie caboose used on Robert Peary’s Arctic Expedition painted a “brilliant red.”
The Shepherdstown Register (Shepherdstown, WV), 28 June 1900
Passenger Cars
1869
Erie drawing-room car “Pacific” painted “a light straw color, delicately striped.”
The Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY), 3 May 1869
Erie drawing-room cars “Atlantic,” “Pacific” (the car described in the article above), and “Metropolis” painted a “delicate corn color,” featuring little exterior ornamentation. Platform mountings silver plated.
The New York Times (New York, NY), 18 June 1869
1870
Erie passenger cars start to be painted a rich, reddish brown, instead of the yellowish hue used before.
The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis, NY), 14 April 1870
1873
Erie Pullman Palace cars painted a rich brown with gold striping and “figures of neat design.” The names of the cars, “Corning” and “Avon,” are painted in ovals on the car sides.
The Chicago Evening Post (Chicago, IL), 2 May 1873
1875
Erie passenger cars known to be painted maroon with gilt trimmings.
The Daily Gazette (Wilmington, DE), 30 September 1875
1880
NYLE&W passenger coaches painted “bright red.”
The Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, NE), 3 June 1880
1881
NYLE&W combination cars painted maroon.
The National Car Builder, October 1881, pg. 117
1883
NYLE&W Pullman sleeping coaches painted a “rich olive brown.”
New-York Daily Tribune (New York, NY), 21 June 1883
NYLE&W emigrant coaches painted yellow.
The Evening Gazette (Port Jervis, NY), 11 August 1883
1892
NYLE&W passenger car wheels painted red.
The Youngstown Evening Vindicator (Youngstown, OH), 13 February 1893
1897
Erie day coach, Pullman sleepers, and buffet car painted dark olive with gold trimmings.
Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, NY), 21 April 1897
1900
Erie passenger cars painted “a very dark color, nearly black, and handsomely decorated.”
The Scranton Tribune (Scranton, PA), 9 February 1900
1901
Erie passenger coaches painted the “Pullman standard color, which has been adopted by the Erie as its standard color for passenger cars.”
The Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, MI), 1 June 1901
1902
Erie postal cars painted olive green, the “standard color of the road.”
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), 5 July 1902
1903
Erie passenger coaches painted a “dark brown, the same color as the regular Pullman cars.”
The Evening Tribune (Hornell, NY), 30 November 1903
Locomotives
1874
The maintenance of polished brasswork and decorative paint is discontinued; Erie adopts a “dark color” to paint all metal surfaces on locomotives, which saves $300 per engine.
American Railroad Journal, 19 December 1874, pg. 1603