When did passenger car trucks change from gray to aluminum paint?
While PL&N drawings have not yet been located, we have found builder’s photos of the Pullman-built Dome Chair cars taken in November 1959 with gray trucks. Photos of the 5007-5016 Lunch Counter Cafe Lounge cars delivered in April 1959 show aluminum (not silver) trucks. We would like to hear from anyone with PL&N drawings that show dates for this change. Note that this is quite a while after locomotives were changed to aluminum trucks, beginning in 1953 with Turbine No. 57. (Q&A 303, The Streamliner, Volume 13, Number 3, page 37, and Volume 13, Number 4, page 38) When did UP stop painting passenger cars green? In March 1952, UP announced that all passenger cars would be painted yellow and gray regardless of train assignment. The announcement spelled the end of not only the green (officially Dark Olive) paint scheme but also the attractive two-tone gray scheme as well. Since passenger cars were painted every tow or three years, green cars would be quite rare after about 1955. Since many
