I'm working with an importer on the production of a short run of HO Frisco 1060-1069 class 4-6-4s which were built from the same numbered class big 4-6-2s.
These were originally all semi streamstyled with skirting and a band around the tender and fancy lettering.
I'm trying to find any kind of color shots of any of these engines. I've seen a company drawing saying the skirt was Canary Yellow, which I find hard to believe. A lot of times drawings will be on file but never done to anything. They had two different styles of skirt, one of which was stainless steel. That one I don't have a problem with, but the painted ones are making me crazy. I have dozens of B&W photos/negs, but no color. I'm of the opinion that the painted ones were either aluminum or silver painted but can't confirm that.
Maybe someone out there has color hidden deep in the bowels of a collection and can help.
Thank you.
Don Wirth

There is yellow in this one, very light, like the Pere Marquette's Maize on its E7s, ordered before the merger with the C&O:

download/file.php?id=4854

Funny place where I found it. . .

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34475

That is clearly a digitally painted black & white photo..
and therefore not a reliable historical record, unfortunately..
someone could have just made up those colors..

might be accurate! I have no idea..
but it might not..this one photo, by itself, proves nothing either way.

Scot

I'm the guilty party on that one. I "colorized" it in Photoshop.

Didn't the full size locomotive also have colors on it that somebody made up?

dave

The simplest and fastest way to get photographic proof of whatever scheme you're looking for is to release it with the "wrong" paint scheme or colors.

Ask ANY model maker.

annnnnd?? ;)
Do you know if they are prototypical colors or not?

(edit)
oh wait..you are the same guy asking the original question! ;)
so must be you dont know if they are prototypical colors or not..
(you should probably add a note to that effect on your image, otherwise people are going to come across your image years from now, not know if its accurate or not, and have this entire debate all over again..)

I would just put some text right on the image, something like:
"digitally colorized B&W photo, colors are not necessarily accurate, exact prototype colors were unknown when this image was made."

Scot