Both PPG 33738 and 34378 were used on CSX’s blue and gray scheme in the 90s. It’s darker than the Carclad gray you see on a lot of covered hoppers. Any sheet metal you see on trailers is pre-coated aluminum sheet which may or may not be roll-formed. The coatings are special, flexible coatings made to stick to treated aluminum. Colors would be the manufacturer’s standard with white being most prevalent and less expensive. You’d pay dearly for a custom color. You won’t see either of those specific PPG colors on a trailer.

I can't tell you if those are two different grays or not, Eric, but Polar Gray does look a little light to be on the locomotives. I thought it might be tied to the intermodal operation but hey, this is CSX we're talking about here. LOL

Here is another PaintRef link to DuPont 71537 which is the equivalent of Ditzler/PPG 30118 and 33798...

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedi ... t=93-71537

Since we haven't had an aviation-related alternative example for a while, Polar Gray is the underbelly color on Cascade Airways planes. The center darker green stripe is DuPont 1317...

Okay, here's where it starts getting good. GMC Polar Gray, as GM WE5718, just happens to be the best match for the Missouri Pacific's Light Eagle Gray in the Pullman guide...

Now, I don't know if the Rock Island's Imitation Aluminum or Aluminum Gray is a monochromatic color like Imitation Gold or a polychromatic one such as Aluminum or any other metallic silver color but this one matches GM WE5719. This particular gray has a slight pinkish cast to it which makes it stand out a bit from the others...

I guess you guys can see where we're going next. LOL WE5720 tends to match Ford Birch Gray and WE5721 is Suede...

WE5625 is the best match for Bando Gray. The other two fan deck cards on the darker side of Suede shown here are WE5723 and WE5724.

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/paintdetail ... ode=WE5625

This color is a fairly close match to my Acme sample of GMC Dusty Gray...

Dusty Gray is on those early GMC sheets along with Ferrara Blue so I'm hoping I'm not too far away from being in the right place with this color. LOL

DuPont 93-24938 is International Chesapeake Gray. This color is at least two shades darker in the 1954 Bulletin 11 as Plate #149, the Ditzler/PPG sheet as well. LOL GMC Polar Gray in the 1967 DuPont Fleet Color Selector and on the Ditzler/PPG sheets is closer to GM WE5715, the lightest color listed as gray in the fan deck.

Ford Dovetone Gray matches up across the board as WE5629 and Suede Gray as WE5721 so I'm somewhat confident they're right.

Once you get between Suede and Chesapeake Gray, that's where you'll start finding electrical box colors just by checking around the house here.

Anyway Eric, I was thinking that upper container is one of those with the gray trim on the top, bottom, and corner posts. It does look like it's spent a fair amount of time at sea, however...

Here's a 1988 CSX shunt tractor over in Europe with some snow on it...

http://heavycherry.com/machineinfo/othe ... rucks.html

It's been a mild winter in southcentral PA so I don't know if I'll be able to try that combination here at home any time soon...

Using Black to find the grays in dual chip matches is showing promise even if it's a rather dubious picture like this one...

In 1967 on the left, Polar Gray is darker than Dovetone Gray but in 1969 on the right, Dovetone Gray is darker than Polar Gray. LOL

Either way, Polar Gray is the more natural-looking gray color out of the two...

Yeah, I'll admit I was getting a little anxious there for a moment but I'll stick with GM WE5718 as GMC Polar Gray since under today's light, it's just about a dead-on match for Ditzler/PPG 30118, the one chip I guess I should've checked a little harder the first, second, third, or fourth times...

Here is GM WE5720 with both Ditzler/PPG and Sherwin-Williams samples of Ford Birch Gray. Federal Truck Gray, a.k.a Ford Folkstone Gray, is slightly darker than Suede but lighter than International Chesapeake Gray. Folkstone Gray is DuPont 93-20703 and Plate #148 in the 1954 Bulletin 11. On the SW sheet, we can see four of the later Reading greens all together in one spot. Kem Light Green is the same as DuPont 1317. WE5721 is also included in the lower picture just to demonstrate how close Birch Gray and Suede are to each other but Birch Gray is definitely the lighter of the two...

I'd love to find another sample of GMC Dusty Gray but, at this point, I'm happy just having one. LOL Basically, the color is very similar to, and would fall onto the charts right around Folkstone Gray and Chesapeake Gray. This is what Dusty Gray should look like on a 1936 GMC and I was happy just to find this picture as well...

Not a picture-perfect match hue-wise, but as far as the shade goes, we're in the right area...