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Reading Topic #4145
LAST EDITED ON Feb-13-03 AT 09:53 PM (EDT)
Due to the recent release of the freight gs-4, a question has come into my head...Why were GS-4's used for FREIGHT service?and why are they black? wouldnt it have been cheaper to leave the nice paint?
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They were painted black during WW2 and used for freight service during that period. Possibly because there were not enough locomotives to help with the increased volume of traffic that occured during the war years.Cheers
David
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David
Right on all counts anything capable of moving wartime tonnage was used,in fact any locos built during that time had to be dual service.
The black paint job was due to the fact that that nice bright orange livery would have made an inviting target for any Japanese bombers in the area
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then you might as well paint everything black, cause most cars are colorful
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Back in the 1940's, colorful paint was more expensive because the pigment material was difficult to make. Color pigments of the time were also not very durable and very prone to fading. On the other hand, black paint used 'carbon black' as pigment, which was both cheap and durable. The dull red paint on boxcars used 'iron oxide' as pigment, also cheap and durable. Steam locomotives were generally black, since the exhaust soot would show up ugly on any other color of paint. Brightly-painted steam engines required a lot of cleaning after every trip.Railroad service was very harsh on paint, due to lots of cinders, soot, sulfur dioxide (acid rain) and other bad stuff put out while steam was in use. Brighter colors on freight cars were not popular until better pigments, and diesel locomotives, were developed after WWII.
Dan
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