Pan Am Railways Paint Scheme (boxcars, etc.)

Here it is.

I think that one was actually painted in that color. I saw one like that at Rigby a few years ago, back when they were still doing the light blue / Guilford Gray paint scheme. It had just come out of the paint shop and it was mixed with several other recent repaints, and it looked just like that -- darker/bluer than the rest.

On the subject of the logos on the new blue dip car logos, i think that some of the cars without logos or with missing elements such as the globe may be that way because they are applying the logos after the cars have been rolling around, for whatever reason. The reason i say this is because i noticed on one of them there was graffiti that was UNDER the globe logo. It was definitely done first and the logo was applied over it like the graffiti wasnt even there. I have also seen some crazy fading on those cars as well, they used to look so nice and shiny at first but ive seen some that look dull and grey and some that look almost like a weird purple! Also does anyone know the status of all the cars sitting in storage in oakland maine? Theres got to be a couple hundred cars sitting up there easily, mostly old Baby blue boston and maines but there also a good amount of two tone pan am boxes and along with some guilford boxes (including at least 3 white ones), PLUS a bunch of old mec and BM gonds. They are along the mainline and also shoved way up the madison branch. My first thought was that they are going to be scrapped because the gondolas are far past their last leg and most of the boxcars on the madison branch are in poor shape as well, most missing doors and such. The ones along the mainline are in a little better shape though, so im thinking maybe they are going to be doing a little repainting at some point?

MEC407 wrote:I saw one of the dark blue dip Pan Am boxcars (BM reporting marks) in South Portland today, and I almost had to do a double-take. The paint is ALREADY fading. The glossiness was completely gone and the color had faded to a weird greenish blue, and a couple of shades lighter.

The paint job can't be more than two and a half years old. This has to be a new record for fading.

I wonder if this issue is related to a lack of surface preparation. I have to think that leaving old paint and oxidation beneath the new surface would have some kind of an effect.

strangelyamused wrote:On the subject of the logos on the new blue dip car logos, i think that some of the cars without logos or with missing elements such as the globe may be that way because they are applying the logos after the cars have been rolling around, for whatever reason.

GE Railcar in Pennsylvania is doing an overhaul on the blue dips. I'm not sure whats involved, but I imagine they reline the cars, or at least make needed repairs, and make sure the car is in good mechanical order and then paint them. All they apply is car information, reporting marks, weight and load limit, build date, paint date, etc...When they get back to Pan Am and have some down time they can be cycled through for logos. Pan Am applies all non-essential information to the cars (which boils down to logos and workmarks).

I remember hearing this is because Pan Am sold the cars to GE, who overhauls and dips them, then Pan Am leases them back on a long term deal.

Pan Am is one of the only 'large' railroads in the US reinvesting in its boxcar fleet to bolster paper traffic.

CN9634 wrote:Pan Am is one of the only 'large' railroads in the US reinvesting in its boxcar fleet to bolster paper traffic.

By "reinvesting" are you referring to the repainting?

strangelyamused wrote:

CN9634 wrote:Pan Am is one of the only 'large' railroads in the US reinvesting in its boxcar fleet to bolster paper traffic.

By "reinvesting" are you referring to the repainting?

As I mentioned above: overhaul. Relining, mechanical updates, etc...Unlike a locomotive, a paper box has little to go wrong mechanically, but needs good doors, roof and lining to keep product dry. These things get taken care of in Pennsylvania, and the cars come back in good shape for long term use. I believe their gray "weeping G" boxes got a similar job when they were dipped a few years ago. Those stored in Oakland and elsewhere will likely get similar treatment if the demand for paper boxes rises. They also have hundreds of leased boxes, TR's, LW's, GMRC's, etc, that they lease, instead of a customer leasing. Unlike locomotives and track speeds, good, dry boxes are an absolute essential. Paper can take a few more days to get there, but it has to get there dry and undamaged.