Hopper Paint Schemes in the 1970s

Tue Sep 9 19:44:45 EDT 2025

Mr. Goodwin,

To save you from using your time for research - I contributed to Mr. Dow’s book and am not looking for information personally.  I just wanted to contribute the information so that anyone painting/lettering models would have another decoration scheme.

W.E. Honeycutt 

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 9, 2025, at 7:28 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> When I was doing the layout on the Dow book, I said I have some slides of the rusty hoppers that I will use one on the back cover. I remember seeing the cars well, especially new, but also after some time in service, and the rust was obliterating the lettering and numbers.
> 
> There was no way to send photos easily to England when doing the book, but Dow insisted that I send him the number so he could be certain that it was one of the rusty hoppers. I was right. Dow did not trust me to know anything.
> 
> Best
> Ken Miller
> 
> 
>> On Sep 9, 2025, at 5:10 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>> 
>> W.E.,
>> 
>> The Andrew Dow book has some info on the COR-TEN program and has a color image on the rear cover of the book. I'm not at the office right now, but will dig up some more info later tonight.
>> 
>> Russ Goodwin
>> Oakwood, GA
>> 
>> Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S24, an AT&T 5G smartphone
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>> 
>> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> on behalf of NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2025 5:07:46 PM
>> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
>> Cc: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
>> Subject: Re: Hopper Paint Schemes in the 1970s
>> 
>> Does anyone other than me remember the group of cars built of COR-TEN steel that received only stenciling in white paint with the rest of the car left unpainted?
>> 
>> I recall that there was much negative comment and eventually those cars received a coat of black paint.
>> 
>> As information, COR-TEN steel forms a stable outer layer of rust that doesn’t require painting.
>> 
>> W.E. Honeycutt
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>> On Sep 9, 2025, at 12:08 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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