Thursday, June 3, 2010

Blue Is Going Out of Style

(Photo by Ray Pieschuk)

I'm usually the last person to notice fashion trends, so it was sort of a shock to realize that there has indeed been a definite change over the years when it comes to preserved CA&E cars. Back in the eighties, seven of the 18 passenger cars were painted in some form of the blue paint scheme (aka "Early American") but this number is now down to three! And one of those is unlikely to run in the near future.


If that isn't a fashion trend, what is?

I can assure you, however, that the 308 and 309 will remain blue, regardless of fashion. And thanks to Ray for the great aerial photo above!


UPDATE: Tom Hunter sent us the below photo of the 317 taken in May 2010 showing its current condition; thanks, Tom!

5 comments:

Zach said...

I notice that the 434 is painted in a different blue than the Early American. Were any Steel cars painted that way in service?

David Wilkins said...

What car is the third blue car? The 315 at Rockhill is sort of still Blue, on the ends, though it appears they are in the midst of a residing and backdating job. The 317 at South Elgin?

Anonymous said...

317 in South Elgin is still blue.

Anyone know what the current status of that car is ? Cosmetically it appears in much better shape than the 316, but work is being done on the 316 and not the 317....mechanical issues ?

And blue will never go out of style, it's just that Red and Aurora Grey are the "new" blue.
John C

Randall Hicks said...

Answers, I have answers:
Zach: that picture is deceptive, it really isn't the way I remember it. It was actually too dark a blue. The 434 has since been repainted in the final red and grey scheme, and they did an excellent job.
David and John: The 317 is the third car, of course. The picture I stole from the FRTM website must be pretty old. Right now the 317 is partly disassembled for siding replacement. The 316 is being restored first, but I don't know all the reasons.

Joe S. said...

Randy, where have you been, blue has been going out of style for a while now. Just look at all the IT equipment that was formerly blue. The 308 and 309 may be the only pieces of equipment left in blue paint, except for the West Towns 141.