Getting Real Column - 4
passed through PFE shops after nearly every trip, so this kind of
repainting schedule could readily be carried out.
Paint schemes
In 1922, PFE introduced the use of railroad emblems or me-
dallions, as PFE called them, SP on one side of the car and UP
on the other, with the SP emblem toward the B end. (Always
a bane of model manufacturers, this meant that the two car
sides had to be separately decorated.) At this time, cars were
a yellow color similar to UP Armour Yellow, as they had been
since 1906. The original UP medallion said “Union Pacific Sys-
tem” in the blue field at the top, and there was a diagonal ban-
ner promoting “The Overland Route.”
The new scheme was applied throughout the fleet, and PFE
records indicate that no medallion-less cars remained by the
end of 1928.
In 1929, PFE changed the color of its car sides to orange. It was
called Light Orange and is indistinguishable from SP’s later col-
or, Daylight Orange. Evidence from PFE shop records indicates
that essentially all cars in the fleet had been repainted by 1934.
In 1936, UP made corporate changes which folded most sub-
sidiaries into the parent railroad, and the word “System” was
then discontinued from the UP medallion. The plain emblem
continued in use until 1942, when UP discontinued the diago-
nal Overland banner.
In the late 1930s, as the Depression eased and the run-up to
World War II began, PFE shops were very active, not only re-
painting older cars, but rebuilding thousands of other cars. By
the start of the war, it is likely that only a few of the UP “Sys-
tem” medallions were still in service.
On June 15, 1946, the two-emblem scheme with the plain,
colored UP emblem was introduced (and both car sides were
identical). In the ensuing several years, the shops were again
very active, catching up with wartime deferred maintenance
and continuing a very large rebuilding program. By 1949,
wood-sheathed cars with diagonal-banner UP emblems would
have been rare.
Class R-40-10 steel cars, built in 1936, would have been due for
repainting by then and many would have lost their original UP
“banner” emblems by 1949.
During 1949, side hardware on PFE cars, painted black since
1906, became the same orange color as car sides, except only
the side sill and center step, which remained black. The color
two-emblem scheme continued, still with each side of the car
identical, and with the SP emblem nearest the car door.
In June 1950, a major change came with the UP medallion be-
coming black and white instead of red, white and blue. The new
UP emblem can be readily recognized even in black and white
photographs because the word “Railroad” was added in the field
at the top. Side hardware remained as in the 1949 change.
“During 1949, side hardware on PFE cars,
painted black since 1906, became the
same orange color as car sides, except
only the side sill and center step, which re-
mained black.”
MRH-Oct 2013
