Colored Steam Locomotives
I thought it would be fun to categorize steam locomotives using a method
that I have not seen done before -- by their color.
Before the 1890s, most if not all locomotives, freight and passenger, were
painted in colors. Some like Jupiter, were very bright while others were
more practical greens and browns. Black locomotives became common after
coal burning engines made grime commonplace, beginning in 1880. This was
done so that they didn't show all the dirt and grime that got collected
during normal use. After 1900, when a railroad line wanted to show off
their locomotive(s), perhaps when used exclusively for passenger service,
they would use special paint schemes to make them look more "attractive".
This, of course, necessitated more frequent maintenance and cleaning and
therefore, was not a common occurrence.
This page shows a number of present day examples of colored steam
locomotives. I'm sure that there are more examples than what I show here.
If you would like to offer other examples, I would be more than happy to
add your information to this page.
Red Steam Locomotives
The Union Pacific Jupiter and the Central Pacific 119 of the Golden Spike National Historic Site
certainly have enough red in their paint jobs to qualify as a red steam
locomotives. These are the original paint schemes for these locomotives.
These replicas were built back in 1980 by Chadwell O'Connor Engineering
Laboratories of Costa Mesa, CA. The Jupiter is also one of the more
attractive steam locomotives you will ever see.
This Raritan River 0-4-0 once operated at the International Toy Train Museum in
Orlando, FL pulling a short tourist train around the grounds. Both the museum
and the locomotive are now gone. Number 3 is currently at the Agrirama in
Tifton, GA. The Agrirama is a Georgia state park showing agricultural history
in south Georgia.
Other Red Steam Locomotives
Green Steam Locomotives
I have seen two green steam locomotives. One is the beautiful Southern Railway
class Ps-4 Pacific number 1401 which is on display at the Smithsonian Museum in
Washington, DC. The other is the Southern Railway class Ms Mikado number 4501
at the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum in
Chattanooga, TN. This is not the original color of 4501. 4501 is a freight
locomotive and therefore was originally painted black. It was painted green to
match that of Southern's passenger locomotives when it was put into excursion
service a number of years ago.
Other Green Steam Locomotives
- The British Railways used green for their passenger steam locomotives.
Their Western Region painted most of their engines green following the
tradition of their predesessor -- the old Great Western Railway.
- The P&LE Berkshires were delivered in Pacemaker Green Paint (a very
dark green).
- The C38 class Pacifics of New South Wales, Australia were painted green. Some were also streamlined. Photo courtesy Nick van Domburg.
- Number 1210 of New South Wales, Australia was painted green. Photo courtesy Nick van Domburg.
- There is a green semi-streamlined class 500 4-8-4 in the Port Dock Museum, Adelaide, South Australia.
- Hr-1 alias Ukko-Pekka, an engine used by Finnish State Railways
mainly on long distance passanger trains to end of 60's. photo
- There are a few other green steam locomotives at the Magic
Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, FL. A few photos are here.
- Texas State Railroad #500
- Tweetsie RR #12 (photo courtesy Ken Riddle)
- Tweetsie RR #190 (photo courtesy Tim Smith)
- Tasmanian (Australian) H & M class locomotives were painted an apple green on delivery from the U.K. and later painted dark green and bright red.
- 18 201 German semi-streamliner built in the former German
Democratic Republic. It was 'patchwork loco' with the main frame, taken from
the 61 002 Streamliner, the trailing wheel, cylinders and cab from the H45
high pressure experimental loco, the tender from a 44 Class freight loco
and a new boiler. It is still operational. Today, it is often used with
two tenders, as there are very few places in Germany to take on either fuel oil or water. This
is one fine looking steam locomotive. (Photo courtesy Dampflokomotiven - Gunters Eisenbahn Seiten)
- Canadian National Railways Hudson #5700
- NARC 1 (formerly painted blue (see below), now in 2000 it is green, photo courtesy Edward Reutling)
- London Northeastern 4472 Flying Scotsman (first locomotive to go 100 mph)
- In Belgium, for most of the last century
(but certainly from the end of WWI), and up to the end of steam (1967),
locomotives were painted green with red & black accents. See the photo of engine
29.013 (MLW 1945), photographed in Antwerp Central Station on an
excursion trip a few years ago.
- Great Northern 4-8-4 2584 is painted black and Glacier Green and is located in Havre, MT.
- Prior to virtually all B&O passenger engines being painted blue many
of their pacifics were done in a light green similar in shade to GN's
Glacier Park -- these were the "President" pacifics.
- Some Southern Railway affiliates did, in fact, paint their freight
locomotives in the beautiful green and gold of Southern's passenger
power. Point in case, the Little River Railroad in Tennessee had at least
2 2-4-4-2 Baldwin articulateds painted in Southern green. Source of
informatin: Ghost Railroads of Tennessee by Elmer G. Sulzer --
available through University of Indiana Press.
- It was hard to tell, but Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotives
(since the K4 class) were painted Brunswick Green. Brunswick Green is so
close to black that many did not notice. The cab roofs and tender decks
of these locomotives were often painted mineral red.
- The Rutland Railway's Mountains as delivered from Alco in 1946 were painted green.
- SNCF 241P16: boiler, cab and tender: green, wheels: black (Currently located at the Mulhouse French National Railroad Museum)
- 141R: depending of their "home base", some were painted green, with either red or yellow accents.
- Cincinatti Southern 29 at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn, TN.
- Austrian 0-6-2 #395-104 at the Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE
- 6060 Mountain (4-8-2), Rocky Mountain Railway Society, Stettler, AB.
- 6400 Streamlined Northern (4-8-4), National Museum of Science and Technology, Ottawa.
Blue Steam Locomotives
The most famous blue steam locomotive in the USA is perhaps the Gulf,
Mobile & Northern class P-1 Pacific number 425 that used to operate in
excursion service on the Blue Mountain & Reading out of Hamburg, PA.
Here is a shot of it under steam back in 1993.
Another very famous blue steam locomotive is the British Railways No 60022
'Mallard' (holder of the world steam speed record). This engine, with most
of its class, was painted Garter Blue. During the war it was painted
black and for a few years during British Railways days was in BR passenger
livery of Brunswick Green. It is now preserved in its original Garter Blue
by the National Railway Museum, York, England.
Another not so well known blue steam locomotives is in Elizabethton, TN.
It is a fireless steam locomotive from the North American Rayon plant
located in Elizabethton. Apparently the plant had a large capacity steam
generating system and they would fill this thing up every morning and it
would go all day doing duty shuffling cars about. It is now located at the
Visitor Center on US 19E two blocks from the town's famous Covered Bridge.
Other Blue Steam Locomotives
- Thomas the Tank Engine
- Several of the Texas and Pacific 700 class Pacifics were painted in MoPac blue with wide light gray stripe to match the Eagle passenger cars.
- The S class Pacifics of the Victorial Railways (Australia) were painted royal blue with yellow striping. Alas, all were scrapped.
- Texas State Railroad #200
- The Central of New Jersey pacifics that pulled the Blue Comet were painted two-tone blue.
- Chinese SL-7 (former Manchurian, now at Sujiatun Steam Locomotive Museum
- London Northeastern 4468 Mallard (set worlds speed record of 126 mph on July 3, 1938)
- SNCF 232U1: blue with yellow accents, wheels: black (Currently located at the Mulhouse French National Railroad Museum)
- The Wabash Bluebirds (before the diesels took over the name) which were 700
series Hudsons that were rebuilt in the Decatur Illinois shops from Mikados in
1943 and 1944 were painted dark Wabash blue with a gray stripe and semi
streamlined (running board shroud).
- The AT&SF "Blue Goose" (number 3460) was the only streamlined steam
locomotive that the AT&SF owned. It ran between Kansas and Denver in the
1930s. It was painted eggshell blue and silver.
Orange Steam Locomotives
This one is easy. Everyone has heard of and has seen pictures of the famous
Southern Pacific Daylight class GS-4 Northern number 4449. In my opinion, this
is the most attractive streamlining ever applied to a steam locomotive. The
colors used when 4449 was dressed up in the Freedom Train livery would also qualify this as
a red, white or blue locomotive.
Yellow Steam Locomotives
This is the only surviving streamlined Hudson. It is C&O number 490 and on
display at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Museum in Baltimore, MD.
South of Zephyrhills, FL on highway 301 is a place called Festival Park. In
the park sits this 0-4-0T+T. This 1907 Vulcan was built as Florida Phosphate
2, and in 1933 was sold to Dantzler Lumber (near Tampa) and renumbered
1147. After its career was over, it was placed on display in Lowery Park
in Tampa. It was later moved to the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum in
Parrish. My guess is that was recently moved to its present location. I
don't know if the tender was really part of this locomotive or not (it
already has a tank). Also, the smoke stack is not authentic. Perhaps both
the tender and balloon smokestack were added by Dantzler Lumber and they
fired it with wood instead of coal. I have been told that there is another
yellow steam locomotive in Mishawaka, IN.
Other Yellow Steam Locomotives
- One of the Busch Gardens (Tampa, FL) steam locomotives is painted yellow.
- I have been told that there is a yellow steam locomotive in Mishawka, IN. However, I do not have any steam listed in Mishawka. Can anyone confirm this?
- The Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge 2-8-0 at Gunnison, Colorado has been re-painted to its 1955 era yellow and silver "BumbleBee" paint scheme.
Gray Steam Locomotives
Other Gray Steam Locomotives
- Texas State #201
- GN 2584 (Photo courtesy Allen Dale)
- UP 8444 (Photo courtesy Allen Dale)
- CB&Q Hudson (4-6-4) #3007, currently on display at the Illinois Railway Museum.
- French PO RR Pacific: "artillerie" (gunnery) gray. One, 231 ALCO built restored in original colors (Currently located at the Mulhouse French National Railroad Museum)
Gold and Silver Steam Locomotives
Other Gold and Silver Locomotives
Brown Steam Locomotives
I haven't seen any existing brown steam locomotives. However, Union Pacific's
Omaha Shops shrouded two locomotives in 1937. The 7002 locomotive was built to
pull heavy passenger trains over the Rocky Mountains, with massive 6-foot wheels
driven by 4,000 horsepower. The 2906 was one of 10 P-13 Pacifics built for the
UP by Baldwin in 1920. They were shrouded primarily to serve as relief power
for the dieselized Cities streamliners between Omaha and Ogden or
Denver. Pacific 2906 and Mountain 7002 served between 1939 and 1941 on the
Forty-Niner, a heavyweight, all-Pullman streamliner departing five
times a month from Chicago to San Francisco, site of the Golden Gate Exposition.
The locos bore UP's prewar streamliner colors of Armour Yellow, Leaf Brown, and
Scarlet. The 7002 ended its spectacular 32-year career as a rescuer engine for
stalled locomotives.
Other Brown Locomotives
- Some Australian Queensland Rail C17 4-8-0s were painted brown and green.
- UP 2906 (photo courtesy Allen Dale)
- UP 7002 (photo courtesy Allen Dale)
- French NORD RR: all compound express locomotives. Nicknaned the "Chocolat". One, 231 restored in original colors. (Currently located at the Mulhouse French National Railroad Museum)
Other Web Pages with Colored Steam Locomotives
The Union Pacific Jupiter and the Central Pacific 119 of the Golden Spike National Historic Site
certainly have enough red in their paint jobs to qualify as a red steam
locomotives. These are the original paint schemes for these locomotives.
These replicas were built back in 1980 by Chadwell O'Connor Engineering
Laboratories of Costa Mesa, CA. The Jupiter is also one of the more
attractive steam locomotives you will ever see.
This Raritan River 0-4-0 once operated at the International Toy Train Museum in
Orlando, FL pulling a short tourist train around the grounds. Both the museum
and the locomotive are now gone. Number 3 is currently at the Agrirama in
Tifton, GA. The Agrirama is a Georgia state park showing agricultural history
in south Georgia.
I have seen two green steam locomotives. One is the beautiful Southern Railway
class Ps-4 Pacific number 1401 which is on display at the Smithsonian Museum in
Washington, DC. The other is the Southern Railway class Ms Mikado number 4501
at the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum in
Chattanooga, TN. This is not the original color of 4501. 4501 is a freight
locomotive and therefore was originally painted black. It was painted green to
match that of Southern's passenger locomotives when it was put into excursion
service a number of years ago.
The most famous blue steam locomotive in the USA is perhaps the Gulf,
Mobile & Northern class P-1 Pacific number 425 that used to operate in
excursion service on the Blue Mountain & Reading out of Hamburg, PA.
Here is a shot of it under steam back in 1993.
Another not so well known blue steam locomotives is in Elizabethton, TN.
It is a fireless steam locomotive from the North American Rayon plant
located in Elizabethton. Apparently the plant had a large capacity steam
generating system and they would fill this thing up every morning and it
would go all day doing duty shuffling cars about. It is now located at the
Visitor Center on US 19E two blocks from the town's famous Covered Bridge.
This one is easy. Everyone has heard of and has seen pictures of the famous
Southern Pacific Daylight class GS-4 Northern number 4449. In my opinion, this
is the most attractive streamlining ever applied to a steam locomotive. The
colors used when 4449 was dressed up in the Freedom Train livery would also qualify this as
a red, white or blue locomotive.
This is the only surviving streamlined Hudson. It is C&O number 490 and on
display at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Museum in Baltimore, MD.
South of Zephyrhills, FL on highway 301 is a place called Festival Park. In
the park sits this 0-4-0T+T. This 1907 Vulcan was built as Florida Phosphate
2, and in 1933 was sold to Dantzler Lumber (near Tampa) and renumbered
1147. After its career was over, it was placed on display in Lowery Park
in Tampa. It was later moved to the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum in
Parrish. My guess is that was recently moved to its present location. I
don't know if the tender was really part of this locomotive or not (it
already has a tank). Also, the smoke stack is not authentic. Perhaps both
the tender and balloon smokestack were added by Dantzler Lumber and they
fired it with wood instead of coal. I have been told that there is another
yellow steam locomotive in Mishawaka, IN.
I haven't seen any existing brown steam locomotives. However, Union Pacific's
Omaha Shops shrouded two locomotives in 1937. The 7002 locomotive was built to
pull heavy passenger trains over the Rocky Mountains, with massive 6-foot wheels
driven by 4,000 horsepower. The 2906 was one of 10 P-13 Pacifics built for the
UP by Baldwin in 1920. They were shrouded primarily to serve as relief power
for the dieselized Cities streamliners between Omaha and Ogden or
Denver. Pacific 2906 and Mountain 7002 served between 1939 and 1941 on the
Forty-Niner, a heavyweight, all-Pullman streamliner departing five
times a month from Chicago to San Francisco, site of the Golden Gate Exposition.
The locos bore UP's prewar streamliner colors of Armour Yellow, Leaf Brown, and
Scarlet. The 7002 ended its spectacular 32-year career as a rescuer engine for
stalled locomotives.
