SP Passenger Car Interior Colors - August 1950 Assignments

There's been a lot of discussion of late on the various forums about the interior colors for SP passenger cars.  I've been in contact with Bob Zenk, who is an extraordinary researcher on the minute details of SP's passenger cars, including their interiors.  He also rode many of these cars in the 1960s, and personally made some notes of which cars had what schemes applied during that time.  He's been kind enough to share this information so I could write this article to help the rest of the modeling community build and paint our models to be more accurate.

SP Passenger Car Interior Color Drift Control Samples - Bob Zenk collection

As most of us model around the 1950 timeframe, plus or minutes a few years, I'm focusing this researching dive on the August 1950 SP Interior Color Standards.  Tru-Color paint makes a basic color for many of the SP 'schemes', which if we wanted to - could be changed and custom mixed to create the multi-color interior applications inside the model cars, but with this information we should be able to at least get the right basic color inside our carbodies and aisle walls which are seen through the windows.

This is a 'working' page, so I will be making further corrections and additions and I get more information.

August 1950 Color Drift Control Samples from Bob Zenk collection

Great thanks and appreciation to Bob Zenk to share these color drift control samples from the SP's own published documents.

SP Interior Apricot Scheme - Bob Zenk Collection

Applied to some LW and HW cars, note special comment about the vestibules on the LW cars.  Most HW cars listed by class, some by number - see below for car & class detailed breakdown.

SP Interior Green Scheme - Bob Zenk Collection (Note typo on "72-D-2/3/4/6/7/8/9" must be "77-D-...")

Applied to some LW and HW cars, note special comment about the vestibules on the LW cars.  Most HW cars listed by class, some by number - see below for car & class detailed breakdown.

SP Interior Blue Scheme - Bob Zenk Collection

Applied to only LW Cars, note special comment about the vestibules on the LW cars.  See list below for breakdown of details.

SP Interior Gray Scheme - Bob Zenk Collection

Applied to only LW Cars, note special comment about the vestibules on the LW cars.  See list below for breakdown of details.

SP Interior Yellow Scheme - Bob Zenk Collection

Applied to only LW Cars, note special comment about the vestibules on the LW cars.  See list below for breakdown of details.

Crunching the Data

SP Color Comparison (SP Lark Grays, Armor Yellow - Interior Colors) - Bob Zenk collection

As with my previous articles on SP Diner and Lounge Timeline Graphics, this color information doesn't lend itself to the same type of display, but I'll go by car class and type and what scheme each car is in.  Some are listed only by class, others by specific car number.

I have plugged all the info from the various color schemes into a spreadsheet, so I'll format it here for the more basic cars.  The SP's articulated cars (Triple-unit food and lounge cars and Artic Chair cars) will be shown in screen captures from the spreadsheet.

HW SP Car Classes

72-IC-series "Subs"

72-IC-1 (SP 2085-2124) "Subs" Apricot Scheme

72-IC-1 (SP 2125-2144) "Subs" Green Scheme (2 shown, not listed by number)

72-IC-2 (SP 2145-2154) "Subs" Green Scheme

72-IC-3 (SP 2155-2159) "Subs" Green Scheme

60-C & 60-CC - series "Coaches"

60-C-1,2,3 - Apricot Scheme

60-C-4 - Green Scheme (some may be A/C Chairs)

60-C-5,6,7,8,9,10 - Apricot Scheme (some may be A/C Chairs)

60-CC-1,2 - 8x Green Scheme - 8 shown, not listed by number (some may be A/C Chair or non-A/C ADLs)

60-CC-3 - ??? - not shown in this selection of color drift information.

I'm classifying these here as 'coaches' because most of these cars did not receive the A/C and chair seating upgrades.

72-C-series "Deluxe Chair" 

72-C-1 - (SP 2070-2072, 2073, 2077) - 2x Green Scheme

72-C-1 - (SP 2070-2072, 2073, 2077) - Apricot Scheme

72-C-2 - (SP 2312-2315)-  Green Scheme

72-C-3 - (T&NO 862-871) - Apricot Scheme

72-C-4 - (SP 2002, 2011) - Apricot Scheme

72-C-5 - (SP 2012-2021, 2316-2330) - Green Scheme

I'm classifying these as "Chair cars" because most of these class cars were fully upgraded and rearranged into "Chair" or "Deluxe Chair" interior configurations by 1940.

ex-72-CB-2 "Deluxe Chair" 48-seat

Ex-T&NO 72-CB-2, baggage-coaches converted to single-vestibule Chair cars and A/C in 1936.  Assigned to SP numbers in 1947.

73-C-1 "Deluxe Chair"

73-C-1 - 5x Green Scheme

74-CC-1 "Deluxe Chair"

74-CC-1 - 4x Apricot Scheme (4 shown, not listed by number)

Note: On the 73-C-1 and 74-CC-1, I'm not sure what the 'rest' of the cars in those classes' interior paint scheme was using at the time.

Ex-EPSW HW Coach & Chair

Note: These cars were a mix of upgraded "Chair" cars and a few cars still in their 80-seat "Coach" configuration.  These cars also had a mix of interior and exterior fitted A/C ducting... but that's another whole discussion of the car's exterior.

Ex-75-O-1, Coach/Chair

SP 2348 - Green Scheme

SP 2349 - Green Scheme

(ex-Solarium-Lounge Observation, converted to 82-seat Coach in 1942, iirc converted to Chair car in post-war years.)

Dining Cars

The SP kept the interior colors for the diners split up by class, not by car number.  This makes it pretty easy for us modeling these cars!  For more car history and exterior painting details, see my Diner Timeline article.

Unfortunately, the Interior Color Card doesn't really have any info on thie Green Scheme Diners for sure, as it seems to have a typo or mixed consist statement.  I'm assuming the general list of dining cars is meant to be in the Green Scheme, except for the ones listed specifically as Apricot Scheme.

77-D-2

My MDC kitbashed SP 10096, which I'm repainting into SP 10910 version in Dark Olive Green.

Most 77-D-2s exterior painted TTG in 1942, still TTG into 1950.  SP 10094 seems to have stayed in DOG the whole time it bounced around.  There's a major bit of ambiguity regarding the later portion of the history.

The SP 10094 converted to Cafe-Lounge 10900 in 8/36 and leased to T&NO as T&NO 931.  Converted to Diner in 4/44, converted to Lounge in 8/50, then to Diner again in 1/51.  

77-D-3

SP 10098-10100 exterior painted TTG in 1942 and still TTG through 1955 conversions to Hamburger-Grills.

77-D-4

Note: SP 10115 and 10117 were painted into Daylight colors in 1947 and June 1950 respectively and lasted in this exterior scheme into 1955 when converted to Hamburger-Grills, 10115 being repainted to Yellow.

Note: SP 10116 exterior painted TTG in 2/47 and remained TTG into 1/57.

The 77-D-4s were the last 'Arch Roof' series of Diners built for the SP.  Starting with the 77-D-6 all future Diners were clerestory roof cars.

77-D-6

Note: SP 10038 and 10040 were painted in Daylight colors for service on the 1946 San Joaquin Daylight, and retained the Daylight paint into the 1950s for protection service.

Some cars retired in 1954, most retired in 1956 and 1957.

77-D-7 & -8

Most retired in 1954, one in 1955, last in 1956.

77-D-9

Note: SP 10148 exterior painted Daylight in 1946 for San Joaquin Daylight service, repainting Daylight into October 1954 when retired.

All returned during 1954.  Two cars converted to Baggage-RPOs for Owl.

80-D-1

All retired in 1954 and 1955.

Ex-EPSW Diners

SP 10123-10125 - All in Green Scheme.

Two of these cars before 1950 were already exterior painted into Two Tone Gray scheme.

Oddball SP Diners

SP 10180 - Green Scheme - non-standard Diner (iirc)

        - I'll have to look up where this car came from again.

SP 10181 - Green Scheme - ex-Cafe-Lounge/Diner - 

        - 72-O (ex-wood, rebuilt to all-steel) 72-O Observation → 10903 → Diner 9/43

SP ex-72-D-3, ex-Cafe-Lounge, to Diners

These two cars (SP 10011 and SP 10014) were still classified as Diners in SPHTS Vol.4 Dining Car book during the 1950 time frame.  However, the interior color drift cards don't list these cars specifically, which is rather strange.  The rest of these Cafe-Lounges are shown in Green Scheme, so I may venture that these cars were in that scheme or maybe out of service or held in reserve,resulting in them not polled in the Drift Color card data.  

HW Lounge Cars

72-O (ex-wood rebuilt), 75-O-1, 75-L-1, 80-L-1

Mix of earlier SP HW Lounge Cars.  I'll have to dig up my notes on exactly what window configuration 2924-2928 were, but not really important for the interior color for this post.

75-CS - Lounge "Late - Tall Window" Version

SP 75-CS Lounge cars, TCY and GGD V2.0 have made models.  GGD V2.0 cars are the "Late - tall window" version.

Note: SP 2929 painted into Daylight exterior colors for protection service on San Joaquin Daylight about 18 months from 2 or 3/47 into late 1948 when SP 10311 was burned at Kingsburg wreck, rebuilt and put into service by 1949.  SP 2929 returned to Dark Olive Green by early 1949.

Various 'late' 75-CS Lounges were also painted in TTG for SF Overland Limited and Golden State Limited service and SP 2933 continued in Red/Silver for Golden State in 1947-1953, then SSS after that.

SP 2935, 2936, and 2946 rebuilt with different (non-standard) window configurations.  SP 2946 named "Oliver Millet" for Del Monte service for over 20 years.

75-CS Lounge with center "Tavern" arrangement

My SP 2976 "Lark" protection lounge, kitbashing from MDC/Roundhouse parts.

These cars were painted TTG from 1942/46 into the mid-1950s, assigned to SF Overland Limited and protection for Lark Club.  SP 2980 repainted to Daylight exterior in 1959 for San Joaquin Daylight protection service.

HW Cafe-Lounge Cars

Note: SP 10904-10906 (ex-EPSW cars) out of service by 12/50, so those cars had a very short continued lifetime with this data.

Note: T&NO 931 probably should have been the reporting marks on the SP 10094 in August 1950 when converted to Lounge, but would have gone back to Diner in January 1951.  Nothing on the car history in the SPHTS Vol.4 book shows no indication the car came back to the Pacific Lines.  This interior painting cards is the first place where it shows typos for car classes as "72-D-2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9" which can't be right, but where they trying to say more like "72-D-3" then " 77-D-2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9" - meaning the C-L's of different flavors? and then the 77ft cars. - But maybe there's fudge room in this area of the data.

Note: SP 10912, 10913, 10915 returned to Cafe-Lounge service in Feb and March 1950, and stayed in C-L service into 1953/54.  SP 

The SP's active Cafe-Lounges were always in flux during the 1940-1955 timeframe.  It's pretty clear that the SP just lumped these cars into the "Green Scheme" interiors.  These cars were of several differing construction and classes, but during 1950 they were all classified as HW Cafe-Lounge cars.  Some of the cars could probably have been changed on short notice back and forth from full Diner to Cafe-Lounge, and Lounge configurations by swapping furniture during layovers as traffic and demand for the cars changed.

HW Club Cars

Note: SP 3078 and 3079 set up as Baggage-Club cars, regularly used on the Senator or Statesman, etc on the Sacramento-Oakland.

Note: SP 3208 regularly assigned to Argonaut, working regularly with pooled CRIP (Rock Island) Baggage-Club cars and mid-train SP lounges.

LW & "Daylight"-type Car Classes

The SP's Lightweight "Daylight" type cars also used the Yellow, Blue, and Gray schemes, note that most of these cars have the specially painted vestibules as well, as noted with the "*"s next to the scheme.

77-CB-1 & 79-CB-1

The 77-CB-1s were the 1937 built cars and the 79-CB-1s were the newer 1941 built cars.  By 1950 the 77ft cars were assigned to the San Joaquin Daylight and the 79ft cars were on the Coast Daylight.

77-C-3, , 64-ACM/ACW-1/2 - LW 1937 Chair Cars

The 1937 cars were used on a mix of assignments by 1950.  Many cars exteriors were painted in various schemes before the 1950 standardization on Daylight colors for 'pool' cars.  Several cars were still assigned to specific trains, such as Cascade, etc. requiring special schemes.

79-C-1/2, 66-ACM/ACW-1/2 - LW 1939 & 1941 Chair Cars

This gives us the information needed to when renumbering our BLI or MTH Daylight cars, showing that some of the cars had significantly different colored interiors than their sister cars.

77-PR-1 & 79-PR-1 Parlor Cars

Note the SP 3301, one of the two 77-PR-1s was considered destroyed and remains scraped after the wreck at Kingsburg in Feb 1947.  Some of the parts were reused in construction of the first SP Dome-Lounge SP 3600 in 1954.

LW Diner, Lounge, Club, & Tavern Cars

LW Observation - Parlor Cars

These cars generally were assigned to trains, but 2950 and 2951 were extra for use on special assignments.  Note that BLI and MTH cars were mistakenly lettered as SP 2950/2951, but are physically the 1939/1941 cars of 2952-2955.

Also note that the exterior of SP 2954-2955 were repainted with wider Daylight Orange stripes to match the 1949 Shasta Daylight cars.

In Closing

I will be doing more in-depth use of this blog page when I start working on painting my Golden Gate Depot V2.0 car interiors, etc, which will be done as a 'regular' blog post, and this page will be kept as a 'Reference' document, along with my other Index Pages.

Thanks again to Bob Zenk for his collection of color drift cards for making this page possible.

Jason Hill

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