Maine Central Railroad Paint Information

Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index / Maine Central Railroad TOC

Freight Cars

? to 1898

Maine Central freight cars painted green.

1898

Maine Central freight cars begin to be painted a dark red (similar to that used by the Boston & Maine), with lettering in white.

The Lewiston Saturday Journal (Lewiston, ME), 1 January 1898

The Republican Journal (Belfast, ME), 6 January 1898

Passenger Cars

1868

Maine Central passenger car painted straw.

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 21 August 1868

1870

Maine Central passenger car painted straw.

The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 6 July 1870

1879

Maine Central passenger cars painted a light yellow and gilded.

Maine Central mail cars painted red or lake and gilded.

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 20 October 1879

1881

Maine Central postal cars painted lake with silver and gilt trimmings.

The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 31 August 1881

1882

Maine Central Pullman sleeper, “Bangor,” painted a rich olive, with carmine, gilt, and black trimmings. Lettering in gold leaf, shaded with drab.

The Bangor Daily Whig and Courier (Bangor, ME), 23 June 1882

1884

Maine Central Pullman sleeping coaches painted dark brown and richly gilded.

The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 7 April 1884

1885

Maine Central Pullman cars painted a “fine umber shade.”

The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 13 June 1885

Maine Central postal car painted dark red.

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 16 March 1885

Maine Central baggage cars painted a “rich red,” with trimmings of old gold.

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 11 June 1885

Maine Central combination car painted yellow and dark red.

The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 30 November 1885

1890

Maine Central passenger cars painted “the standard Maine Central straw color.”

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 15 March 1890

1891

Maine Central passenger cars begin to be painted olive green.

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 9 December 1891

1892

Maine Central sleeping cars painted a “dark green color which the Maine Central adopted a year or more ago.”

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 14 December 1892

1893

Maine Central passenger cars and baggage cars painted seal-brown.

The Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), 20 May 1893

Maine Central baggage cars painted dark green.

The Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), 10 August 1893

1894

Maine Central passenger cars painted the “Pullman color.”

The Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, ME), 10 December 1894

Reference / Historic Railroad Paint Color Index / Maine Central Railroad