A Little Color, Please

A LITTLE BY COLOR, RON PLEASE FLANARY he late 1950s and all of the 1960s companies and the pride their employees were clearly not the best of times felt for the strategic transportation mission T for the American railroad industry. they delivered in their respective service The ascendancy it enjoyed in the earlier areas. years of the 20th century had largely dis- But, these early paint schemes were sipated by the time of the Great Depres- spawned in less expensive and more la- sion. Except for the resurgence during bor-intensive times. The L&N scheme, for the national emergency of World War II, example, used lacquer paint, which dried and a brief time in the post war economic faster (necessary with the multiple layers renaissance period, the industry would and masking these schemes required) but slowly see its share of interstate freight was much less durable than enamel. The and passenger traffic decay. The reasons scheme meant longer periods in the shop have been more thoroughly documented rather than hauling revenue traffic, and in countless theses on the subject, but the more frequent encores for repaints. Time wholesale disappearance of passengers, is money, and the corporate bean coun- mail, and express; the emergence of the ters at the company’s headquarters at 908 Interstate highway system; and growth in West Broadway in Louisville were feeling trucking and barge services were the ma- the pressure on all fronts to squeeze more jor factors. The overbuilt “Rust Belt” of the from every dollar in view of the mounting Northeast was hardest hit, but railroads pressures from other modes of transpor- in virtually every region of the country had tation. to economize and do more with less. L&N was not alone in this rush to mo- In August 1957, Louisville & Nashville tive power painting austerity. Missouri Railroad found itself with a 138-unit in- Pacific; New York Central; Gulf, Mobile & crease in its motive power fleet thanks to Ohio; Atlantic Coast Line; Southern Pa- a merger with the smaller and corporately cific; and Southern Railway are just a few controlled Nashville, Chattanooga & St. roads of that era that retreated to “quick- Louis. In that year, L&N’s own diesel fleet ie” locomotive paint schemes. Southern had evolved from an Alco HH660 and an abandoned its pleasing dark green for EMC SW1 in 1939 to a diverse fleet of EMD, Alco, Baldwin locomotives, and even Above right: Train 55’s connection from a pair of small GE units (but nothing from Corbin, Kentucky, to Norton, Virginia, is Fairbanks-Morse). As with virtually every running quite late, and thus the Cum- company at the dawn of mass dieselization, berland Valley dispatcher has elected to L&N relied on the stylists at one of the ma- annul the schedule and run it as an extra jor builders (in this case, EMD) to come up freight. On this May morning in 1967, with an attractive paint scheme for its new the southbound freight rolls through the locomotives. For L&N, EMD suggested an big cut at Appalachia, Virginia, behind a attractive black (for freight power) or blue mixed bag of Alco and EMD units. (for passenger units) basic body color, ac- cented by a cream-colored nose mask trail- Right: You could still smell the fresh ing down the side in a pine-tree pattern, enamel paint on L&N F7A 1828 at Ap- and trimmed in orange with yellow-gold let- palachia as it paused briefly while doing tering and a crimson and yellow-gold varia- station work on Train 66 on Saturday, tion of L&N’s 1886-era herald. Switchers May 29, 1965. The unit — an ex-Nash- stuck with more basic black. ville, Chattanooga & St. Louis engine The NC&StL units also wore EMD-de- picked up by L&N when acquired the signed paint schemes — Confederate blue former “Dixie Line” by merger in Au- and gray for its dual-purpose cab units gust 1957 — sports what was arguably and a mineral red and gold livery for most the best-looking iteration of the several of its Geeps and yard switchers. There was L&N gray and yellow paint schemes of little debate these alluring paint schemes the 1960s and 1970s. — Both Ron Fla- made a positive statement about the two nary photos 42 RAILROADS ILLUSTRATED MARCH 2010 43 black, and ACL ditched its Champion-era L&N’s jointly leased (with Atlantic Coast and the Scotchlite lettering and heralds purple and silver for black with silver and Line) Clinchfield Railroad. Kendall was were replaced by less elaborate painted yellow. The “Friendly” SP said goodbye to there in 1950, just over a year after the versions. Again, the drive to decrease out- the “black widow” scheme for freight units CRR took delivery of its first F-units in an of-service time in the paint booth was the and what was indisputably one of the most EMD-designed scheme of basic gray with principal motivating factor. This variation attractive paint schemes of all time — the yellow nose mask and lettering. Although took its final, fatal plunge to simplicity in Daylight livery of two shades of orange — the Clinchfield’s numerous tunnels and 1974 when the yellow nose mask was de- for its passenger units. In their place came coal-dominant traffic base were harsh on leted altogether — resulting in an early day the gray and scarlet paint scheme most the cleanliness of the lightly colored diesel “stealth” scheme. remembered by SP aficionados — not too fleet, there was little doubt a clean CRR As L&N’s corporate owner Seaboard bad of a replacement, but no match for the F-unit was quite striking. Under Kendall’s Coast Line Industries moved to consoli- predecessor colors. leadership (and presumably influenced by date its various railroad components — Returning to L&N, the 1957 merger his five-year stint as Clinchfield’s general SCL, L&N, Clinchfield, Georgia, and the (along with the drive toward lower cost manager), L&N fielded a test unit in 1962 West Point Route — into a single “family,” and greater efficiency) drove the Kentucky- (a repainted low nose GP18) in a slightly the company launched the Family Lines as based carrier to field a few “guinea pig” different variation of CRR’s colors. The a common marketing brand. In 1977, the units in test schemes. Ultimately, a dread- L&N gray was a little darker and with a attractive French gray with red and yellow ful all-black for freight and all-dark blue slight blue cast, and the CRR’s yellow was ribbons usurped L&N’s gray and yellow- for passenger was adopted. These “dip” replaced by more of an imitation gold on gold as well as the corporate colors of the schemes were relieved only by the appli- the L&N unit. The venerable but rather other members of the “family.” Individual cation of reflective 3M Scotchlite yellow- antique-looking steam era herald was re- reporting marks remained until two years gold lettering along the sides and small placed by a modern italicized version with after CSX Corporation’s formation, when variations of the old L&N herald — a small cleaner graphics. Everyone except the die- the SCL-controlled lines were merged into round metal version on the nose of cab hard purists liked it. Seaboard System. In a rush to eradicate units, and a more conventional rectangu- For a time, the new scheme was so all traces of the past, many units had their lar design on the cab sides of hood units. popular that two series of new steel bay L&N reporting marks crudely painted These somber schemes were slathered on window cabooses wore a similar gray, with over. For L&N, it was the end of 132 years all repainted power beginning in summer red lettering and yellow trim scheme. Tra- of existence as a corporation. 1958. dition eventually won out, however, and While this photo feature makes no at- By 1962, some key upper manage- subsequent new “hacks” and repaints tempt to document all the many variations ment changes in the company resulted in were painted bright red. of L&N locomotive schemes during its a revisiting of the earlier decision to adopt Beginning with the delivery of its first more “colorful” era, it does help explain such a drab corporate image for its loco- GP30s in 1962, L&N initiated a repaint the marked increase in Kodachrome film motives. While there is no specific docu- program for its entire fleet. As with all purchases by railfans in the South after mentation to substantiate the reasons, paint schemes, it evolved over time, with 1962. The several varieties of gray and it’s clear that company president William lettering and number placement refined. yellow-gold that held sway from 1962 un- H. Kendall, who moved up to the job in By 1972, however, the bean counters til 1977 made pressing the shutter worth- 1959, was a former general manager of gained a foothold in the process again, while again. Above: The 107 members of L&N’s Alco RS-3 fleet wore the gray and yellow scheme quite well. During a break be- tween assignments at Loyall, Kentucky, in the summer of 1965, engine 124 of this group idles quietly at the sanding and fueling area. In an hour, a crew will come calling to use the 124 on the after- noon Loyall–Varilla mine run. Left: On May 10, 1967, Southern subsid- iary Interstate Railroad’s First Hill crew is safely in the clear at Dorchester Junc- tion, Virginia, as northbound through freight No.

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