Nickel Plate PA 190 Question

The restored NKP #190 is definitely NOT painted "silver" and blue. She is painted per original NKP prototype colors of blue and white.

I'm pretty sure Doyle McCormack's got the correct color.

Rusty

I realize that yes they are now painted White & Blue. But in the video They are clearly Silver and Blue. They first show up in the video at 2:45-2:53 and then again at 3:28 - 3:45. This time the narrator says "6 conveniently Silver and Blue passengers trains". And again at 16:11 they show the side of a passenger car and they are not white but clearly silver. My question at some time the color had to be switched from silver to white. Was it because silver paint in those days did not hold up well? When was it changed? This is a 1950's video.

I am not questioning Mr. McCormick

1) He spells it McCormack.

2) Have you tried the NKP Historical Society? I will, however ask him about the "silver" color the next time I talk to him, as he was raised on the NKP since his dad was a Dispatcher for NKP.

Sorry to about the spelling of McCormack. Must be autocorrect because it changed it again and I had to edit this post.

Here is a picture I found

Lead unit silver, trailing unit white. Not sure what the date is. I was in hopes that there was a NKP expert on this site. Maybe units prior to 190 were delivered in silver?

It's pretty hard to trust colors on old, unrestored movie film.

As to "6 conveniently silver and blue passenger trains," the passenger cars were silver with blue roofs above the letterboard.

Here's a web picture of NKP PA's taken in 1957:

There's another thing to consider, some colors look different under different conditions.  This could be the case with the NKP locomotives.  Without an official painting diagram or paint chip, it can be anybody's guess.

For example: the color Burlington used on their F-units was officially called "imitation aluminum," which many model railroad manufacturers took as silver in the old days.  The color could look from beigish, to gray, to white, all depending on lighting.  I have models that match the EMD paint chip and they're the devil to photograph to look "right" sometimes.

Rusty

Pictures of 190 while here for the "Streamliner" Event last year.

Ron

OK, here is your answer from "The Man Himself", as I just got off the phone with him:

The first order of NKP Alco Pa units were indeed painted "Nickel" per NKP specifications, with the actual paint being Metallic Silver. This first order was delivered in December 1947. The NKP management quickly discovered that the "Nickel" paint weathered terribly, especially during washing with the caustic soaps of that ear, and subsequently was "deemed un-exceptable".

The second order of Alco PA units (4?), were received in March 1948 and were painted in the new non-metallic "Aluminum Gray" color. The previous order of PA units, and all passenger equipment, were repainted into the new non-metallic "Aluminum Gray" color, which looks like white, but isn't. As additional info, the NKP did not start receiving stainless steel passenger cars until the 1950s.

Doyle McCormack's PA #190 is painted in the correct NKP "Aluminum Gray", and when a paint panel of white is held next to it, the difference can clearly be seen.

Interesting history of the units.

I guess similarly the Southern Rwy. used their "imitation aluminum" on their engines which was probably an off-white also.

Very interesting...  It's cool how things like color schemes evolve over time.

Thanks,

Mario

Hot Water,

Thanks for getting the answer. I had a feeling it was because the silver colors were bad in those days. I know having a 1966 vette that was originally silver and was painted the correct Red for the day before I bought it. I have always wanted to take it back to silver but my father in law who is a corvette expert is always against it because the silver was always a poor color back in the day.

When you're standing next to it, you can clearly tell it's not a simple gloss white (yes, I'm gloating as I've seen 190 several times, even before Doyle got started with the restoration, man, what a hulk she was then!)

As for his name not being spelled right, I'd assume he gets that all the time...

Well, my face is red...    Or is it "imitation red?"

Resty

I saw this earlier but couldn't respond. No reason to doubt Mr. McCormack at all, but if it is a help to some, Kevin Holland's excellent book "Nickel Plate Road Diesels" would be a second source that would verify that info. The PA's are fascinating to me.

I also want to say, MTH did a fine job on the Rail King PA's a few years back (I know, by no means a prototypical model, but hey its what I can afford). The paint, depending on the light, will give that white appearance, but it definitely has a metallic silver tint to it.  

Remember, the "Aluminum Gray" is a NON-METALLIC paint, since the original metallic silver would not hold up under caustic soap washing processes used in the late 1940s. Thus all models of NKP Alco PA units should not be painted with a Metallic Silver color paint, unless the modeler is specifically modeling December 1947 thru March/April 1948.