Blue Engines

Thu Sep 12 09:26:57 EDT 2024

Blue SD40's.  The SD40's came to the N&W in 2 batches. 1580-1609 in 1966
and 1610 -1624 in 1971.  1580-1609 in blue and 1610 -1624 in black NW.

Ed Painter, member #70, a native of Narrows, VA

On Mon, Sep 9, 2024 at 12:25 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> 1580 was absolutely delivered in blue.  I saw it and shot it multiple
> times during the 70’s. It was always dirty but when you were close to it on
> the ground there was no doubt it was blue.  The SD40s were initially
> delivered in blue with the later units were delivered in black NW.  I don’t
> have my N&W diesel data and books where I am today.  When I get home later
> this week I’ll look up my data on paint on SD40s as delivered.
>
> Ed Painter, member #7, a native of Narrows, VA
>
> On Sun, Sep 8, 2024 at 3:48 PM NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <
> nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
>> Ken
>> Based on the timing of the announcement of the new paint scheme & the
>> last comment of your response it seems that  the 1580 was delivered in
>> blue. I cannot find any online photos of the 1580 in “Pevler blue”, but
>> that could be attributed to “user error”. 🤷‍♂️
>> Thanks
>> Herb Edwards
>>
>>
>> Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
>> <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aol-news-email-weather-video/id646100661>
>>
>> On Sunday, September 8, 2024, 6:51 AM, NW Mailing List <
>> nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>>
>> Carl
>>
>> N&W announced in the March 1966 N&W Magazine with a front cover photo,
>> depicting No. 2704 and passenger car No. 1723 in the new N&W No. 23 blue
>> and gold scheme.
>>
>> The caption reads:
>>
>> "FRONT COVER of this issue shows two units of Norfolk and Western
>> equipment which have been painted in our new standard colors for
>> locomotives, passenger cars and "head end cars N&W No. 23 acrylic blue
>> enamel and gold. The colors are highly pleasing to the eye and give our
>> equipment an attractive and lively appearance.
>> N &W equipmenl is being repainted with the new colors as it goes through
>> our shops for repairs. So far, twelve locomotives and eight passenger
>> equipment cars have been repainted. Two passenger locomotives, seven
>> freight locomotives, one passenger coach and seven head end cars have been
>> repainted at Roanoke Shops, and three freight locomotives have been
>> repainted at our shops at Decatur, Ill. "
>>
>> The blue scheme came from the President Herman Pevler, hence the name
>> “Pevler Blue”, but the blue chosen by the N&W is not the same as the Wabash
>> blue, it is indeed darker, as was stated in some internal correspondence
>> the Wabash blue was “about two shades lighter” than No. 23 blue.
>>
>> The blue paint was not a success, as painting methods for preparation
>> work, particularly on the western end of the system resulted in poor
>> cleaning and adhesion of the new paint, allowing in a fairly short time
>> from the paint to come off, and reveal the older schemes below. With the
>> poorer paint technology combined with poor prep work, the blue paint began
>> to fade almost immediately, and washed out from a very dark blue to a badly
>> weathered, faded blue.
>>
>> The paint, for the most part, has been difficult to match today, as paint
>> formulations changed dramatically 10-15 years ago, and the old formula of
>> blue results in a dark brown paint today. The Archives did not have what
>> are called color drift cards for the No.23 blue. Drift cards are factory
>> made color samples to be used to test match the actual color as applied.
>>
>> The No. 23 blue is difficult to match on a model, as your indoor lighting
>> does not represent it correctly and the reasons of scale, it will appear
>> much too dark if using actual color.
>>
>> The color is being correctly matched today, and will or has been applied
>> to recently donated SD-40 No. 1580, which will make its premier sometime
>> later this year.
>>
>> Best
>> Ken Miller
>>
>> > On Sep 8, 2024, at 1:09 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hello – When did the N&W paint their locos blue?
>> >
>> > Carl Barna
>> > Emmaus, PA
>> >
>> > ________________________________________
>> > NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
>> > To change your subscription go to
>> > http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
>> > Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
>> > http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
>> To change your subscription go to
>> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
>> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
>> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
>> To change your subscription go to
>> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
>> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
>> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
>>
> ________________________________________
> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
> To change your subscription go to
> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20240912/a1c6bf0a/attachment.htm>