I am building a couple of Central Of Georgia 1895 era forty ton wood boxcars in one inch scale. They are really cool cars with six truss rods, lumber doors in the ends and individual tongue and groove siding. I found the drawings in the 1906 car builders dictionary. I would like to paint and letter the cars correctly, but can't find any info on color and lettering. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Jack

-- Jack Hans Bodenmann (Jbodenmann@charter.net), January 28, 2004

Answers

Jack,

That sounds like an interesting project! The Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society has two pages of drawings for a 30- ton "ventilated fruit car" built in the Macon Shops by the Central Rail Road of Georgia (predecessor to the CofGa) in May 1895.

A CofGa standard color listing dated January 1, 1901 (printed in the July-Sept 2000 issue of THE RIGHT WAY) specifies "Special Red (Standard Freight Car Paint)" as the body color for all freight cars. "White" is listed for all lettering and numbering on freight cars.

The color listing didn't include samples, so there's no definitive information about the exact color of "Special Red (Standard Freight Car Paint)." However, it was probably comparable to the color we call "box car red."

The lettering was most likely in the arched style, with the word "CENTRAL" arched over the word "OF", both of which were above the word "GEORGIA."

Allen Tuten President Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society, Inc.

-- Allen Tuten (Allen@cofg.org), January 28, 2004.