Weston, West Virginia Depot Query - WV&P

[Otto Vondrak]

Dear Mr. Vondrak,

Our municipal building in Weston, West Virginia (Lewis County), was originally a railroad station for the West Virginia & Pittsburgh Railroad. The station was built in 1892 after the WV&P absorbed the local Clarksburg, Weston & Glenville RR, which I believe was narrow gauge.

We have money to repaint and re-roof the building and a foot rail that runs beside where the tracks were. We want very much to use the correct colors.

This has brought up questions that are difficult to answer:

Did the WV&P had color requirements for its new stations in 1892?

What would be typical colors for a station in central West Virginia in this era?

What are the modern color equivalents to the names used in that era, e.g., what is locally called "blue" in Weston by older folks is what would be labeled "slate gray" in modern terms.

After searching fruitlessly on the internet, it occurred to me that railroad modelers are the real lovers of detailed historic accuracy. I saw your bio on railroad.net and thought I would ask for guidance in our search.

Any help would be most gratefully received.

Thanking you,
Brenda Reed
237 Bank Street, Apt 7
Weston, WV 26452
304-269-7835
brendawestonwv at hotmail dot com

p.s. My grandfather was a baggage handler on the B&O for 53 years. Railroading is in my blood and I love it.

And I had to look this up, since I thought we were talking about the P&WV, but we're not...

http://www.wvrailroads.net/index.php/We ... h_Railroad

The West Virginia & Pittsburgh Railroad (WV&P) was incorporated in West Virginia on January 30, 1876. Several railroad lines were merged into the reorganized West Virginia & Pittsburgh Railroad, which included: the Clarksburg, Weston & Glenville Railroad, the Buckhannon & West Fork Railroad; and the Weston & Centreville. A branch was extended from Weston to Sutton, in Braxton County, via Flatwoods (Lane's Bottom), from which a branch was extended to Camden-on-Gauley, in Webster County, and later to Richwood. On August 31, 1899, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) took over the line, with Johnson N. Camden retaining his position as president of the road. In 1901, the WV&P was completed to Richwood, WV (http://www.wvexp.com/index.php/Richwood ... t_Virginia) thus providing a rail connection between the B&O and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) in West Virginia, by way of Weston, Clarksburg, Buckhannon, Sutton, and Richwood, WV.

[hutton_switch]

Otto,

I am moderator at the Baltimore & Ohio Yahoo List, and have posted a link to your post that features Ms. Reed's letter. You may or may not know that there is a history of the West Virginia & Pittsburgh written by Alan Clarke. I'm not sure if Mr. Clarke is a member at the B&O Yahoo List, but I'm hoping that list members can either provide some information about the Weston station color scheme in 1892, or maybe Mr. Clarke can, indirectly. I have Mr. Clarke's book in my library, but I don't recall anything specific about the Weston station.

[hutton_switch]

Subsequent to my above post, I did a bit of digging in my library to see what I could find out about the Weston station. Alan Clarke's book didn't say anything, as far as I was able to tell, but Carlos P. Avery's book, E. Francis Baldwin, Architect: The B&O, Baltimore, and Beyond documents that B&O architect, E. Francis Baldwin was the architect for the Weston station. Since the station was built in 1892, and the B&O did not take over the West Virginia & Pittsburgh until a few years later, it must be surmised that the B&O was likely the senior stockholder on the WV&P at the time the station was built, so B&O company practices likely were the dominant way of doing things on the WV&P in 1892.

Much of the painting done on B&O stations at this point in time was done using a color called "Indian Red", which was the primary color, along with secondary colors such as a chocolate brown and a buff beige color that appears to be similar to that of an office Manila file folder. Many B&O stations that have undergone restoration in the last several years utilize these colors based on paint scrapings done on the original structures by the restoring architects and contractors. Examples include the Baldwin-designed station in Oakland, MD and the station at Harpers Ferry, WV. Ms. Reed might want to employ the services of a restoration contractor/painter qualified to do such work as this to make sure the correct colors will be used.

[hutton_switch]

I have received responses from members at the B&O Yahoo list about the painting of the Weston station, and am copying them here as they are received. The identities of those responding are withheld for privacy reasons:

Response #1:

"There is a very strong possibility that the original colors may not be able to be discovered. If the final color for the station ends up B&O, Indian Red with black trim, it will no doubt be of a different shade than ether the Oakland station or the Harpers Ferry station. It is my conclusion that after years of observation of paint chips and looking at photographs that a color such as a chip has been subject to time and temperature as well as who the manufacturer of the paint was. All of these different factors yield different shades of what is called the same color. I would be comfortable with a spectrum analysis of a paint chip from the station, but be aware that it probably won't be the same shade that is on the two previously mentioned stations, that are already starting to change from their fresh painted hue. When we mention a color in today's world we expect it to be the same everywhere we see it. Not so at that time. BTW, the B&O colors in the late 1800's was a two tone green."

Response #2:

"There was an article published in the "West Virginia" magazine some years back, and, ironically, it was about another small station on the Parkersburg to Weston line, I think. At any rate, it was part of the line that was abandoned about 20 or so years ago.

I want to say the station was Smithport or Smithville or something like that, but it's anybody's guess. The article was published, IIRC, back about 1995 or so--memories fade worse, and faster, than old color prints!

The station was very small, probably with a footprint of about 40 by 60 feet, give or take (I'm not very good at estimating!). The station was restored, with a mannequin in the operator's bay window, and historical items on display.

The colors were definitely reddish, not a bright scarlet or crimson or Caboose/Devil's red, and not a brownish or tuscan red. I think it was kind of brick red. IIRC, the trim was green on the window sashes but that may have been some artist's license.

Anyway, there's a similar project that was documented some years back and I think, just a guess, that these stations were painted more alike than different. I don't have any back issues except a November 1995 (featuring a nice write-up of LeSage, where my aunt was postmaster for several years!)"