EMD and GE cab interior colors

[Deleted]

Were cab interior colors specified by the railroad or were they simply the colors that the manufacturer chose?

I know that EMD has used three colors. Green, gray and beige. I believe EMD started with green. When did they start using gray and beige?

I have only seen green in GE locomotives.

I ask because it is very difficult to find photos of interior colors. I am getting started on a MoPac GP35. it is an ex C&EI unit and am guessing it has a green interior. The MoPac u30C I am working on I am also guessing it had a green interior. The MoPac SD40-2 I built had a gray interior. The prototype was built in the early 1980's.

I am guessing the GP7/9/18/20/30/35 all came with green interiors. I think the SD40's did too. Again, just guessing.

Brian

[iomalley]

Well, I find the best way, in this hobby anyway, to find out is to build a model, say definitively that it's a certain colour, and you'll draw a nay-sayer out of the swamp to prove you wrong...hopefully with accompanying photos.

[Deleted]

Sean, that is pretty much the way. Probably how it will be with these models.

[cpcnguy]

Brown seems to be the standard colour nowadays. But I suppose your looking for older units. I know CN's SDs were beige and brown, as we're their geeps, but obviously after they were rebuilt. But I'm sure those colours weren't standard. When I worked for the shortline, most of the old geeps were usually grey, which came from many different railroads in the states.

[fr8kar]

Brian,

I had to take an SD40-2 to the roundhouse today and because of the holiday, got a pretty good wait at the derail and blue flag. The locomotive was formerly BN 8020, built in 1978 according to the blue card. It had quite a bit of the beige paint worn off the interior exposing the green underneath. I took a chip from the interior wall/roof joint and cleaned it up at home with some isopropyl alcohol. The best part about this chip is that it has the beige on one side and the green on the other.

I compared both sides to some of my paints and came up with Model Master Radome Tan as a very close match to the beige color. The green comes out close to RAF Interior Green, but it looks to me like there's a little more yellow in the EMD green, but not much more. The value and saturation are very close to what is inside the Model Master bottle, so I'd use that as a starting point.

Both sides of the chip (it was curled up a bit exposing both sides) were a great deal darker before the cleaning, so take that into consideration for weathering. Obviously the beige was applied by BN or BNSF, but it looks similar to the beige I see in other EMD diesels. I am pretty sure the green was original since it was exposed metal underneath.

[tjmfishing]

RAF Interior Green is what I use.

[AJ Kleipass]

Aircraft interior green would seem a logical color for post-war locomotives as there is the potential for a great quantity of war surplus paint.

And, in theory, the color blend could have continued long after the surplus was used up because the mix was probably very economical to make.