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Civil war Railroading
Palmer wants help from anyone interested in railroads during the Civil War and asks:
“I am a Civil War re-enactor and I am adding a Civil War scenario to my layout. This will include a 1860 era loco and several U.S. Military Railroad cars. I have not been able to find any information about the color scheme used by the U.S.M.RR. All the photos I have found were black & white. I would appreciate any help.”
Comment below.
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION
I think you’re on to something here. As you’ve discovered, photography during the 1860’s was only black and white. I would start with Wikipedia.org and search for Civil War Railroad. You’ll get a lot of choices that you can follow for specific roadnames. Unless some wonderful historian documented colors in text, you probably won’t have a lot of success.
That leaves the door open for your personal interpretation. Darker colored coaches were likely in a dark muted green (i.e. Pullman) or a Tuscan red.
Check out the scenic railroads like Durango & Silverton, or Cumbres & Toltec, as they still are in their colors of the early days. You probably will find something you like.