This discussion came up a long time ago and we didn't come up with a
conclusive answer as to how many G3s were painted in the passenger
maroon, grey and gold scheme. I think they all came out of CLC in
Doug, I was using stencil drawing H-53-L-717 Rev. E as the source for road
numbers.
she is definitely in passenger colours. It would be interesting to see
a builders photo of any G3e to G3j in freight colours when new. There
According to the stencil drawing the semi-streamlined G3’s were delivered like
so:
G3ef – Tuscan red and gold leaf
G3g – 2378-2387 and 2400-2417 black and imitation gold
G3g – 2388-2399 Tuscan red and gold leaf
G3h – black and imitation gold
G3j – Tuscan red and gold leaf
Revision note B, dated Sept. 19, 1941 says the G3ef’s were repainted to black
and imitation gold
Revision note C, dated Nov. 7, 1941 says the G3g’s were repainted to black and
imitation gold
Revision notes D and E were related to change of crests and added reference to
other drawings.
passenger colours. One might think that wartime austerity would not
allow for any extra expense but look at 2414 as an example. Built in
Unlike to day where the price of gold floats in the market place the price of
gold was fixed. If I remember correctly gold was set to around $24 or $26 an
ounce in the 1940’s. Quite a bit different than today’s price!
I don’t have paint and lettering costs for a steam engine but I have some
construction reports for passenger cars from the mid to late 1940’s.
For example, it cost $327.88 to completely paint and letter a 2200 series coach
between 1945 and 1948. Of that cost, $8.11 was for gold leaf and $6.84 for
clear coat.
Gold leaf is a recoverable and can be recycled. So the actual cost was
probably less than $8.11 when you factor in recovery.
According to standard practice of the time passenger equipment was clear coated
once or twice a year depending on the quality of the gloss finish.
A passenger car’s paint lasted between 7-9 years. Anyone knows how long does a
steam engine’s paint last? How many times would equipment have been gloss
coated over the paint’s lifetime?
It seems to me the first place to cut cost would be to stop clear coating as
frequently.
Jeff
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