Why isn't this MU green?

This photo recently came into my collection... why isn't it green?

-otto-

Several were painted silver in the hope that the interiors would not be so hot during the torrid days of a New Jersey summer.

Experimental or publicity paint scheme from the mid 30s or early 40s for several units...explaniation in Taber 20th Century. I can't look it up right this minute.

Thanks! there is no date on the photo, so I can only assume its sometime from the late 1930s. It also appears to be in Hoboken.

-otto-

It looks like Track 11 looking north. Of course, that's no clue as to the exact year or why it is colored that way. Does the one person have a handmade broom to clean out the switch points? Or is it a scarf blowing in the wind?

Can't tell on my monitor. When that shot was taken no one could envision computers, email or Internet. What can't we envision today of what will be in that same number of years into the future?

Didn't NJDOT or Conrail paint a couple MU's silver with a blue window band to match the just delivered Comet I's in the early 1970's ?

I thought the MU's looked pretty good in that scheme....rust stains were a cosmetic problem I think.

Taber (DL&W in 20th Century, Part 2, p.683) has a picture of one of the silver-painted cars. They had 12 of them, painted in 1935-36. They eventually got painted green again, because in the Depression the railroad decided not to paint its whole fleet silver, and they didn't want to have to keep the silver cars together. I can't help but compare the DL&W's attitude toward good-looking, matching cars with that of its successor, NJT, which seems to go out of its way to have mismatched equipment sets.

Here is the pic of MU #3696 in Hoboken in the Comet 1 silver w/blue window band and red stripe NJDOT paint scheme. Great to compare views 40+ years apart.

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/mu/el-mu3696.jpg

AIR, the LACKAWANNA lettering in the 1930's edition was gold with a green bordering....anyone concur on that ?

Wonder instead of silver if any thought was given to painting the MU's in the navy w/silver window band and red striping scheme to match the U34CH's....

Gold with green. Yes, that triggered a memory I have of them when they used to be kept clean. Early 50s.

The LIRR tried this too. Naturally, they did it in the winter, the car's weren't colder, and it was deemed a failure!