was looking at another photo the other day and it made me wonder about the
colour of cabooses. We have previously chatted about the paint specs and many
have offered the view that the sides of cabooses (until the modern era) were
basically an mineral red, like boxcars etc. But some have vehemently
maintained they were a more tuscan colour. The question that occurred to me
was this: could it be some cabooses used in mix train service - where they were
routinely coupled to a combine in CP maroon - were painted to match? And might
this be the source of different opinion on colours?
Obviously, plenty of mineral red cabooses travelled on mixed trains, so I'm not
suggesting tuscan cabooses were the practice on mixed trains. I'm just
thinking this may be the explanation for exceptions.
I'm not sure what evidence would persuade me, but thought it might be worth
asking.
Rob Kirkham
