Hopper Paint Schemes in the 1970s

[NW Mailing List]

I remember well, it seems like all the hopper trains I saw included several
NKP off-set-side cars and a generous number of VGN hoppers. I don't recall
ever seeing a Wabash hopper. Of course the N&W cars were most prevalent,
probably as you suggest. -Ed Burnett, Lynchburg, Virginia

On Tue, Sep 9, 2025 at 12:00 PM NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

> An interesting thing about hopper paint.  N&W in the 70's utilized paint
> from seven manufacturers. On the hopper's side was a circle showing date
> painted and paint used.  Example: PPG - SW and others.  Harry Bundy
>
> On Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 07:41:35 AM EDT, NW Mailing List via
> NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Marty,
> I grew up along the Pocahontas District M/L in the 70’s and 80’s.  I saw
> the passing of many coal and hopper trains.  I think your hypothesis about
> the prevalence of the half-moon paint scheme on hoppers in the 70’s is
> mostly correct.  As I recall the trains never really had a uniform
> appearance.  There was a continuous blend of paints schemes which included
> the 1971 NW, 1964 half moon, pre-1964 steam era, Virginian and NKP.  The
> most common car types would’ve probably been the 100 ton H-11 family cars
> in the half moon scheme.  I think the first new cars in the ‘71 NW scheme
> were the H11E’s followed by the H12’s.  The occasional Virginian cars were
> the H14 3 bay 70 ton cars.  The occasional NKP cars were the composite side
> H43 & H44 3 bay 70 ton cars.  The N&W H10’s in steam era paint were also
> very common with some in half moon paint.  There were also occasional early
> H-11’s in steam era paint.  I hope this helps answer your question.
> Cheers,
> Chris Dalton
> Bluefield WV
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 8, 2025, at 7:03 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <
> nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
> 
> I have no clue as to which hopper paint scheme was most prevalent during
> any given era, but that won't stop me from commenting.  Ha Ha.  I would
> suggest that certain paint schemes are more prevalent in the photographic
> record due to selection bias.   Personally, I never liked the NW "stick
> lettering" scheme, therefore, I rarely photographed equipment painted in
> that scheme, after all, film is expensive and I wasn't about to waste it on
> something I didn't like.  The same can be said for book publishers.  They
> print the pictures they like best and leave out the rest.  An absence of
> stick lettered equipment could simply be due to the selection bias of the
> photographers, authors, and editors, not any particular absence of any
> specific equipment.
>
> Also, equipment would be painted in any particular scheme if it was 1)
> new, or 2) just receiving a major rebuild.  Existing equipment, with the
> possible exception of motor power, just was not repainted until it was
> absolutely necessary to do so.
>
> Jerry Kay, Jarratt, Virginia
>
> On Monday, September 8, 2025 at 02:57:41 PM EDT, NW Mailing List <
> nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
>
> I grew up in the 80s, so I didn't get to witness 1970s era N&W firsthand,
> but it's probably my favorite N&W era for diesels.  While there are a
> variety of sources to help identify what classes of hopper cars were in
> service, I'm curious about the mix of paint schemes.  Looking through
> "Norfolk And Western In Color Volume 3", it looks like the 1960s era
> half-moon/hamburger schemes, albeit with consolidated lube plates and other
> updated data, were actually more common than cars in the NW scheme that
> would have been the current scheme at the time.
>
> Can anyone else confirm this, or know of other sources I should look at?
>
> Thanks
> Marty Flick
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