.

Kelly - I’m no expert by any stretch, but the colors I’ve seen in older equipment are an off-white, light gray, cream, and the ubiquitous sea foam green. I assume it was road dependent. Probably light colors so you can see things easier. Interesting question, though. I look forward to others’ comments.

Union Pacific paint standards (CS-22) from the 1906 as revised in the 1920s provide this information

DRAB ENAMEL: Walls of Baggage, baggage apartments, horse-baggage and baggage-dormitory cars

PEARL GRAY: Ceiling, water tanks, overhead water piping, light fixtures and overehad conduit and junction boxes of bagage, baggage apartments, horse-baggage and baggage-dormitory cars.

The "Drab enamel" is a tan color.

Information from a reproduction printed in 1981 which included a color sample chart.

The sample of the "Drab" matches (as I recall seating here at my computer) what the SP standard that was used for the restoration of the baggage section of a Pacific Electric combine c.1950.

We can get some guidance from Post office standards for RPO cars...

Until 1948 they called for either French grey (aka baggage car grey according to Sherwin Williams) or light buff (aka mail car buff, again, Sherwin Williams) with a white ceiling. No floor color was specified, but I did find a letter discussing SP changing the color from maroon to grey...

In 1948 the post office changed the wall color to green (close to the dreaded sea foam green)

I took photos of color cards if anyone cares

Randy - I care if they have any identifying info with them....

Here is a photo of a surviving section of NWP baggage car #605 coutesy of Richard Fries who replied to my request on the NWP closed facebook group: "Thanks to Mike Mansons photo collection from when #605 arrived at the NWPRRHS: Description and photo courtesy of Mike Manson...Attached is a photo showing the last paint used inside 605 before its retirement. This photo is the best of my collection to show the “true” color. The interior of the car was sandblasted while it was a house, to remove all the paint on exposed surfaces. Only those walls concealed by a sliding baggage car door or paneling were spared the scouring." So the paint shown (which look's like Randy's "buff" possibly) is from before 1932.

From the NWPRRHS website: http://www.nwprrhs.org/baggage-605.html "Research suggests it was constructed in 1892 for San Francisco and North Pacific (denoted as car #5), it may have been built in either Lakeville / Donahue Landing, near Petaluma, or in the Tiburon shops. We do know that the Northwestern Pacific acquired the 605 when the NWP bought the SF&NP. The 605 ran from Tiburon past Petaluma to Cloverdale and on to Eureka under the NWP flag. The car was retired in 1932 at which point it was reconfigured as a house in Alto (a subdivision in Mill Valley) and remained in this state for half a century. The NWP Historical Society acquired the car and moved it to the Petaluma Trolley Yard in August 2010. The car is currently undergoing restoration."

The image below is a snipit from a 1905 paint and lettering drawing for a Denver & Rio Grande. Found this drawing linked to the Facebook page of the C&TS Special Projects dept.