The base, or primer, coat color under red paint is pretty important, I think,
partly due to the red's translucence. It's been said that in order to get B&M
engine maroon to look right, it must be applied over imitation gold primer,
since the real B&M units were painted that way. And I think that the appearance
of Lehigh Valley Cornell red had a lot to do with the fact that it was applied
over black rather than gray or yellow/gold.
Do we know what color was under the CPR maroon/tuscan? Perhaps yellow, since
that was the trim/lettering color? Or was it gray?
Walt Lankenau
