Painting General S.P. Depots

Depot Exterior

Combination #22 Depot

General Paint Color

1. Based on paint research reports from the Southern Pacific depots at Millbrae, Colfax, and Atherton, the following  colors represent an accurate selection of "correct" Southern Pacific depot exterior and interior colors for the period of 1907 through the 1920's. Note the SP Dark Yellow color on the lower part of the exterior walls began to be omitted from depot repainting in the 1920's and 30's.
   

General Exterior Color:

1.               Walls                     - Colonial Yellow
   

2.               Trim, door stiles & rails    - Light Brown
   

3.               Sashes                      - White
   

4.               Roof                      - Moss Green
   

5. 
   

Wall Color

1. SP Colonial Yellow" (door panel and overall upper body color down to the top edge of the SP Dark Yellow color at 1907 Millbrae and 1904 Colfax depots).
   

2. 
   

3. SP Dark Yellow" lower wall color (lower wall trim at 1907 Millbrae depot). For most Southern Pacific depots having the lower wall painted in SP Dark Yellow, the lower wall paint layer usually included sand that was bellowed onto the wet paint surface (multiple layers with a painted overlay). The resulting thick "sand paint" protected the soft wood surface all around the depot from the constant bumping of baggage carts, freight, and baggage.
   

1. According to what Bill Wullenjohn stated on the Niles Depot website, the SP began omitting the dark yellow color along the bottom of depots in depot repaintings in the 1920s and 1930s.
   

2. John Sweetser
   

Solid Tan Color

1. Many depots were repainted in a solid tan color while others were painted in a turquoise or light green color. I doubt there ever was one system-wide standard paint scheme for wooden depots after the phase-out of Colonial Yellow.
   

2. 
   

3. Examples of solid tan depots include Mojave, Suisun-Fairfield (see p. 28 of Dill's "Southern Pacific's Historic Overland Route") and Auburn (see p. 52 of  "Southern Pacific's Historic Overland Route"). Examples of turquoise or light green depots include Tehachapi, Mojave (both of which were repainted turquoise in July 1966), Saugus, Lovelock (see p. 106 of "Southern Pacific's Historic Overland Route") and Battle Mountain (see p. 112 of "Southern Pacific's Historic Overland Route").
   

   Rob Sarberenyi

Benjamin Moore formulas (For Prototype Structures Only)

1. Colonial Yellow:  Premium Ext. latex Deep Base 333-3B OY-9x; RX-14; TG-8
   

2. Golden State Model Railroad Museum’s John Edginton did extensive research and color matching on this.
   

3. 
   

Window Sash and Transom Sash

1. A "warm white" is used for the window sash and transom sash (off-white "Frost #14" Kelly Moore, or equivalent).
   

2. 
   

Wood Roof

1. "SP Moss Green" (for wood roof - from original shingle at the California State Railroad Museum).  Confirmed by examination of original wood roof shingles found during the course of restoration work on the 1910 Centerville and SP Sunol depots (shingles found were painted after installation on the roof - there was paint on the top side only - therefore, shingles were not dipped prior to installation on the roof).
   

2. 
   

3. (*Note - Roofs for the most part were painted moss green. However, a photo on pg. 16 of Soloman's "Southern Pacific Railroad" {1999 edition} taken at Tunnel 6 shows the wooden buildings there apparently had red roofs in 1970).
   

4. John Sweetser
   

5. 
   

Architectural Trim Elements

1. "SP Light Brown"  for the architectural trim elements - window and door surrounds, corner boards, door stiles and rails, door sash, freight deck trim, architrave, porch columns, column bases and caps.
   

1. The SP's official name for the trim color for its wooden depots and other buildings was “Light Brown”. The SP never used a color it called "Samoa Brown." "Samoa Brown" was term and color promulgated by misguided folks at the Centerville Depot website (which eventually became part of the Niles Depot website). "Samoa Brown" isn't close at all to SP's Light Brown. Do not follow the formulas for SP colors in the well-known Niles Depot website because those formulas are wrong.
   

2. John Sweetser
   

3. 
   

4. There seems to be few restored SP depots in California with Light Brown replicated correctly, as well as Colonial Yellow for that matter. Exceptions would be the Campo depot of the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum and the Goleta depot of the South Coast Railroad Museum. You might check with these two organizations to learn what their sources were for the paint they used. I know that the South Coast Railroad Museum used a high-quality latex paint mixed at a paint store in Santa Barbara. The Light Brown on the Goleta depot isn't 100% correct but this would only be noticeable in a close-up inspection. What intrigued me about the painting of the Goleta depot and several nearby outbuildings was that even though latex paint was used, the paint appears to have a sheen to it, just like the natural sheen found in the oil-based paints the SP used back in the day.
   

5. John Sweetser
   

Brown trim color variants include:

1. "SP Amber" (1st painting of the Millbrae depot in 1907)(a spicy brown mustard color). Also found as an original trim color at the 1904 Colfax depot.
   

2. 
   

3. "SP Light Brown" (second and subsequent paint trim color used at the Millbrae depot, post 1907).------
   

Benjamin Moore formulas (For Prototype Structures Only)

1. Light Brown: Premium Ext. latex Ultra Base 333-4B OY-6x8; RX-1x12; BK-2x; WH-3x
   

2. Golden State Model Railroad Museum’s John Edginton did extensive research and color matching on this.
   

Depot Interiors

1. Materials and colors varied as to type and location. Standard color scheme for the interior waiting room and offices was known as 'interior green'. Sometimes known as a 'sea-foam green' which was a light color. The trim was white. Bathrooms were gray with black trim. There were also variations. Off white trimmed in black. Floors were wood (T&G) and if upgraded were natural concrete troweled very smooth. Some stations had red coloring added to the concrete for a reddish floor.
   

2. 
   

3.               Waiting Rooms & Offices - Interior Green, Sea Foam and White
   

4.               Toilet Rooms                      - Gray
   

5.               Baggage Room          - Black and Cream
   

Interior colors (Southern Pacific depots)

1. Older SP depots interior walls *and* ceilings were often beaded T&G. This was a common treatment in common standard depots - the 22, 18 and others. Similar wall and ceiling cladding in non-standard depots along lines acquired after circa 1870 by CP or SP.
   

2. 
   

3. The interior colors of latter-days coincide with the "Colonial Yellow", amber and brown exterior colors with green color stain-dipped shingled roofs.
   

4. 
   

5. Earlier interior color schemes were far less consistent. There was quite a bit of red-shellacked T&G walls with off-white painted T&G ceilings. Wood T&G floors were variously well-varnished or red-stained and varnished. Seems to be a loose tie-in to the later red-stained concrete floors of newer depots.
   

6. 
   

7. Freight depot interiors and interiors of combo depots' express/baggage and mail rooms were evenly whitewashed (or white milk-painted) wood, with support posts painted semi-=gloss black up to about 6 feet from the floor. Ceiling trusses were often also whitewashed (and often heavily graffitied with pencil, chalk, and sometimes with black express crate labeling paint by agents and those who hung out).
   

8. 
   

9. The depots at Arbuckle and Santa Clara CA have still yielded the best evidence per my comments above.
   

10. Kevin Bunker
    

1. Interior colors of the waiting room and offices were painted in a combination of “Interior Green”, “Sea Foam” and white. Toilet rooms were gray, while the baggage room was to be painted in black and cream.
   

Interior Colors  (Millbrae depot)

1. "SP Cream" (used at 1907 Millbrae and 1904 Colfax depots; sometimes called beige - entire waiting room including walls, doors,, door surrounds, window and transom sash, ceiling, and trim elements painted in the single cream color).
   

2. 
   

3. "SP Dark Red Brown" (wainscot in baggage room)
   

4. 
   

5. "SP Putty" (upper portion of walls in baggage room, including interior of doors in baggage room).
   

References

1. Info on the SP No. 22 Combination Depot,            (*see RMC 10/91)
   

2. 
   

3.                                                                                                (*see also: SP Structure Colors guide to painting SP Structures)
   

4.                                                                                                (*see also: Depots of the Southern Pacific System for images of various SP structures)
   

5.                                                                                                 Trainline No. 113, Fall 2012
   

                                                                                http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2012/10/modeling-sp-structure-colors.html

1. Investigate the paint scheme of your depot through archival research of historic photographs taken between 1912-1914 by Southern Pacific photographers. This extensive "X-file" collection of depot photographs is now part of the Union Pacific Museum Collection in Omaha, Nebraska. To obtain more information about the Union Pacific Museum Collection and this photo collection, visit their web site or write to: Keely Rennie Tucker, Museum Curator;
   

2. Union Pacific Railroad Museum Collection;
   

3. 200 Pearl Street; Council Bluffs, IOWA, 51503.
   

4. 
   

5. 271-5513; Fax (402) 271-6460;
   

6. e-mail karennie@up.com.
   

7. Hours are 10am - 4pm, Tuesday through Saturday.
   

Painting S.P. Buildings & Equipment

General Info

1. The classic Southern Pacific colors of many structures remained the same for decades: body color yellow with brown trim, and green shingle roofs. This scheme applied to passenger and freight stations, towers, section buildings, and miscellaneous roadway buildings.
   

2. 
   

3. In "later years -- the '70s and '80s -- a lot of SP buildings were painted "non-standard" colors. Example: Photos of the Tehachapi depot from the early '80s showing it painted off-white with bright green trim. the Mojave depot, was a bright shade of buish-green in the same era.
   

4. 
   

Matching Paint Color

1. Trying to match a paint viewed out of doors barely ever matches that paint when viewed in doors due to lighting variations and such. Pick what looks good to your eyes. My first and second rules of SP modeling apply here;
   

1. 1)When modeling anything SP, have a color photo, or, rely on my second rule;
   

2. 2)Make certain that no such photo exists to cause problems later. My guess is you will be pretty safe no matter what you do. Oh, and if that is not enough rule sort of stuff for you, my number three is a real humdinger;
   

3) Judicious weathering covers a multitude of sins.

1. John Huey
   

2. 
   

3. 
   

Color Numbers & Descriptions

1. Following are the color numbers and names, with descriptions.
   

2. 
   

3. No. 1 Outside Body (similar to SP Colonial Yellow?)
   

4. To be used on all buildings of the better class and, where necessary, as an inside trimming with No. 3.
   

5. 
   

6. No. 2 Outside Trimming (similar to SP Brown)
   

7. To be used in connection with colors No. 1 and No. 4.
   

8. 
   

9. No. 3 Inside Body (similar to SP Cream?)
   

10. To be used for Offices, Waiting and Living Rooms.
    

11. 
    

12. No. 4 Metallic (similar to SP Dark Brown?)
    

13. To be used on the as the body color on all buildings constructed of rough lumber, on engine houses, shops and water tanks.
    

14. 
    

15. No. 5 Pumps and Machinery (similar to SP Moss Green?)
    

16. This color to be used on such working parts of pumps and machinery as will
    

17. permit of painting. It shall be of a deep Chrome Green.
    

18. 
    

19. No. 6 Switch Targets and Semaphore Signal Blades (looks like Signal Red?)
    

20. 
    

21. Rob Sarberenyi
    

Modeling Building Paint Color

Modeling Specific Buildings Paint Color

Paint

Colonial Yellow Wall Color

1. The S.P. painted the outside of the buildings in Colonial Yellow, Color Drift #201 in the Common Standard No. 22 list of colors. To paint structures use:
   

Star Brand

1. Use the RGS depot buff color, which is not too far from the SP's Colonial Yellow. It's from Star Brand.
   

2. Tony Thompson
   

1. You can use Star Brand's RGS depot buff on laser kits (AL&W Lines) with success. However, spray the parts with a filler-sealer first (on both sides) and then air-brush the depot buff. For air-brushing, a mix of at least 50 percent Star Brand's thinner works best. It is very definitely too thick out of the bottle for brushing.
   

2. Bill Baker
   

Floquil

1. 15 drops- Floquil Armour Yellow
   

2.     1 drop- Roof Brown
   

3. or mix 50% Floquil RR133- SP Armour Yellow and 50% RR11- Reefer White
   

1. For another Colonial Yellow formula using old Floquil lacquer, try:           or try this Colonial yellow recipe.
   

2.     6 parts Floquil Armour Yellow                                                                     1 part reefer yellow
   

3.     1 part Floquil Rail Brown                                                                            2 parts depot buff
   

4.     8 parts Floquil White                                                                                   6 parts reefer white
   

5.     Add 2 more parts white for faded paint.
   

    David Willoughby

1. Here’s a good match for Colonial Yellow using Floquil paint:
   

2. 25 parts Reefer Yellow
   

3. 20 parts Reefer White
   

4. 10 parts Reefer Orange
   

5. 2 parts Roof Brown
   

   John Totten

1. I'm not at all a fan of Floquil paints for use in anything other than weathering equipment.
   

2. Rob Sarberenyi
   

Light Brown Trim color

1. Was Light Brown, Color Drift #202 use;
   

2.   7 drops- White
   

3.   5- Armour Yellow
   

4.   4- Roof Brown
   

5.   1- Tuscan Red
   

6.   1- Boxcar Red
   

7. 
   

8. For another Light Brown (trim) formula using old Floquil lacquer, try the following:
   

9. 3 parts Floquil Rail Brown
   

10. 1 part Floquil Roof Brown
    

11. 1 part Floquil Box car red
    

12. 1 part Floquil White
    

13. Add up to 4 more parts white for fade
    

14. David Willoughby
    

1. For another Light Brown (trim) formula using old Floquil lacquer in half a bottle, try the following:
   

2. 2 part Floquil Roof Brown
   

3. 1 part Floquil White
   

4. Add a few drops of yellow for fade
   

5. The mixture is not quite as close to its color drift as the Star Brand paint is, but nevertheless is very close. They they capture the SP flavor accurately.
   

6. Tony Thompson
   

1. Use Poly Scale #505041 French Chestnut Brown as a good (to my eye) representation of Light Brown (a slightly faded color for buildings and rolling stock). The paint was suggested by a fellow P48 modeler who has done some very nice SP structures.
   

2. Gene Deimling
   

Shingled Roofs Moss Green

1. Were stained Moss Green, Color Drift #208 use:
   

2.         New Roof- Floquil Dark Green right out of the bottle + little roof brown
   

3. Old Roof- Floquil Light Green + Roof Brown
   

4. 
   

5. Another formula using old Floquil lacquer, try the following:
   

6. Moss Green (roof):
   

7. 8 parts Floquil Weyerhauser Green
   

8. 2 parts Floquil Armour Yellow
   

9. 1 part Floquil White
   

10. Add 1 more part white to fade
    

11. Omit white for a "dirtier" look.
    

12. David Willoughby
    

1. For another Moss Green (roof) formula using old Floquil lacquer in half a bottle, try the following:
   

2. Floquil Dark Green
   

3. Add a few drops of yellow for fade
   

4. The mixture is not quite as close to its color drift as the Star Brand paint is, but nevertheless is very close. They they capture the SP flavor accurately.
   

5. Tony Thompson
   

6. 
   

7. Some roof replaced with Asphalt shingles some green, others red or grey
   

8. Buildings had wood shingled roofs. They predominated until 1953.
   

9. Brick buildings were not painted.
   

10. 
    

Tru-Color

1. There has long been debate (and modeling effort) about how to model SP standard structure colors (Colonial Yellow, Common Standard color 201; Light Brown, CS color 202; and Moss Green for shingles, CS color 208). Tru-Color Paint is now announcing model paints for these colors. I also had paint matches sent to me by modelers Peter Hall and Gary Ray, which I checked against Bowles drift panels.  have already made brush samples, which compared VERY well, but I want to verify the same for the airbrush I have written about all this in my blog, and for those interested, you can see the post at this link:    
   

2.                                                                     http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2013/02/modeling-sp-structure-colors-part-2.html
   

3. Tony Thompson
   

4. 
   

References

1. Most answers regarding the modeling colors for Espee structures can be found here
   

2.                                                                        http://www.urbaneagle.com/sp/spcolors.html
   

3. Rob Sarberenyi
   

4. 
   

5. Numerous modeling references to colors and other topics can be found on:
   

6. Richard Percy's Espee Modelers Archive.        http://espee.railfan.net/espee.html
   

7.                                                                        http://espee.railfan.net/structures.html   
   

1. What Percy lists are mixes from published articles, which differ significantly from each other (I've tried a few of them) and are not notably close to the SP paint chips, esp. yellow. One can readily lighten brown colors to get toward SP"s Light Brown.
   

2. Tony Thompson
   

Painting Specific S.P. Buildings

Depots

Centerville Depot

Centerville Depot Disclaimer

1. To put it mildly, the color information on the Centerville Depot website sucks big time. Their Colonial Yellow is too light and their light brown trim couldn't by any stretch of the imagination be considered a light brown. The architect for the restoration of the Centerville depot chose not to replicate the depot's original interior paint colors. Instead, the architect substituted an interior color scheme, albeit attractive and functional, that is not historically accurate for Southern Pacific wood depots.
   

2. 
   

3. I have done at least a dozen paint strata tests and color analyses on as many SP and affiliate companies' depots. All of these depots were built between 1876 and 1905, and *every* one of them had the "SP Amber" exterior wainscot color. The Centerville Depot website only states that SP Amber was used as a trim color. That's not exactly the same as a wainscot.
   

4. John Sweetser
   

5. 
   

Goleta Depot

1. Two-Story Combination Depot No. 22     Built Circa 1901-02 
   

1. One former SP depot that has been repainted fairly accurately is Goleta near Santa Barbara. Its Colonial Yellow is indistinguishable from a paint sample I got from the SP Bakersfield Buildings & Bridges Dept. back in 1965 while the light brown trim on the depot is only a bit off from a trim sample I also have. Unfortunately, Goleta may be in the minority as far as accurately-painted restored SP depots go, the influence of the Centerville Depot website being too pervasive.
   

2. John Sweetser
   

Paint

1. Color scheme for depot is correct for 1940s and later era (which omits the SP Dark Yellow wainscot color). However, the roof shingles should be in SP Moss Green color. In addition, the two roof signs on each end of the depot (which display the elevation and miles to San Francisco) are usually associated with the earlier paint scheme that included the wainscot color. Otherwise, a perfect exterior restoration of a standard design SP wood depot. 
   

2. 
   

Niles Depot

1. Do not follow the formulas for SP colors in the well-known Niles Depot website because those formulas are wrong.
   

2. John Sweetser
   

3. 
   

Oceano Depot

1. Two-Story Combination Depot No. 22 
   

Paint

1. Correct paint color scheme for 1940s and later period (which omits the SP Dark Yellow lower wall color trim). However, the roof should be in the SP Moss Green color. As of December of 1999, the rear of the depot had not been repainted. No roof signs on depot. Otherwise, an excellent restoration of the depot. 
   

2. 
   

Two Story Replica of Combination Depot No. 22 

1. Built 1994.
   

Paint

1. Painted to represent circa post-1940 color scheme Several color errors - window sash should be white, composition roof should be painted SP Moss Green, door panels would look better if painted SP Colonial Yellow, and the depot roof signs are incorrect and not to specifications for the post-1940 time period.  
   

2. 
   

3. Southern Pacific "Colonial Yellow" 
   

4.     Door panel and overall upper body color down to top of SP Dark Yellow lower wall color. 
   

5. 
   

SLO Depot

Paint

1. The color of stucco depots such as the one at SLO according to Coast Line Pictorial Book says that in 1954 it was "the standard cream and brown" (page 137). 
   

2. 
   

3. The SLO depot was not painted with any of the colors shown there. The brown at SLO is not the "light brown" which is paired with Colonial Yellow on wood depots.
   

4. Tony Thompson
   

5. 
   

Tolleson, Az. Depot

Modeling Building Color

Paint                                                               

Floquil Paint

1.        Walls - 1 part Reefer Yellow #31 + 2 parts Depot Buff #87 + 6 parts Reefer White #11
   

2.        Trim - 1 part Roof Brown #70 + 1 part Depot Buff #87
   

3.        Roof - Lark Light Grey #131
   

References

1.                                                                                                  (*see  Western Prototype Modeler Jan/Feb 1976)
   

2. The author says that the custom mixed color for the walls, fades and weathers to a shade similar to Floquil Mud #83. You might as well use Floquil 83 and be done with it.
   

3. 
   

Woodland Depot

1. The restored Woodland depot is painted with the band of vertical siding above the doors and windows painted a different shade of yellow than the horizontal siding below.
   

2. 
   

3. On page 68 of Beebe's "The Overland Limited" is an early 1900s photo of the Oakland 16th Street depot that has the verticle siding below the roof painted a darker shade than the horizontal siding below it. This applies to the baggage room wall above the door in the photo as well as the two-story portion of the depot, where the verticle siding is even wider than on the baggage room.
   

4. 
   

5. This being a black and white photo, one can't really tell if the verticle siding is the same color as the standard 6-foot wide band of paint that starts at ground level, which was dark yellow. On the restored Woodland depot, the two bands have been painted the dark yellow color.
   

6. John Sweetser
   

7. 
   

8. 
   

Painting  Support Buildings

Shop & Support Buildings

Modeling Paint Color

Mineral Brown

1. 1) SP freight cars and wooden shop buildings were not painted the same color. Anyone who claims they are just hasn't been around those old buildings.
   

2. 
   

3. 2) Wooden shop buildings had a marked reddish hue that SP freight cars did not have.
   

4. 
   

5. 3) The shop buildings color was a widely-used standard color on the SP. It wasn't just a San Joaquin Division thing.
   

6. 
   

7. 4) SP records poorly document the mineral red colors the SP used not only for buildings but also for right-of-way signs.
   

8. John Sweetser
   

9. 
   

10. Most buildings painted this color were entirely utilitarian and got really dirty and/or faded. It is not essential to know an exact color. Moreover, in the 1920s I would doubt that SP agonized over color fidelity for such buildings, and most any BCR paint will suffice for a model.
    

11. Tony Thompson
    

Mineral Brown Paint Color Timeline

1. This color is a function of the date.
   

1899

1. Match paint from 1899 is close to Hershey bar brown.
   

1920

1. It slowly moves to a redder shade (still a brown tone), particularly with the change to enamel paint (c.1920's, from linseed oil based paints).
   

2. Randy Hees
   

3. 
   

4. The SP color seemed to go from browner to redder (or perhaps more maroon in shade) over time, so if you want to reproduce that, add a little Roof Brown to Boxcar Red for the 1920s.
   

5. Tony Thompson
   

1947

1. About 1947 the color changed to Freight car red.
   

2. Randy Hees
   

3. 
   

Paint

Mineral Red

Tamiya

1. XF64 Red Brown + XF68 NATO Brown
   

Handcar Shed

Modeling Building Color

Paint

Floquil Paint

1.        Walls - SP Armour Yellow #133
   

2.        Trim - 2 parts Roof Brown #70 + 1 part SP Armour Yellow #133
   

3.        Roof - Depot Olive #44
   

References

                                                                                                    (*see Western Prototype Modeler Sept/Oct 1976)