Modeling Before Kodachrome
I was reading the newspaper the other day and saw an ad for the inaugural run of the first passenger train over the entire line of the Stockton & Copperopolis Rail- road. The paper was the Daily San Joaquin Republi- can, and the date was June 20, 1871. (I’m a little behind in my reading.) For those of you who are somehow not aware of this fine road, it was a short line in the central valley of California that never exceeded 49 miles. It was absorbed into the Southern Pacific in 1889 and became just another semi-profitable branch line. For many reasons, not the least of which is having grown up in California, I have been attracted to the Cop- peropolis Road. Although I didn’t grow up then, 19th Century railroads have always fascinated me, which led me to model this line. Modeling an obscure railroad in this era is a chal- lenge, especially if it’s been abandoned. Photos are hard to find, mostly because of the complexity of the photo- graphic process. Photography was still young and, due to the cumbersome equipment of the time, mostly done only by professionals. Almost all photos were taken for a commercial reason. You won’t find too many pictures of Dad and the kids standing in front of his locomotive, nor will you find railfan snapshots of his favorite en- gines and cars.
Of course, the photos you do find are all black-and- white and often fuzzy because of deterioration. None of them, though, was taken with the B&W film we grew up with but rather with a blue-sensitive glass plate, which renders the gray tones differently than modern film, making color identification more difficult. It becomes easy to envision the 19th Century as a fairly monochro- matic, drab environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Color abounded both in stationary structures and in the railroads themselves. The problem is deter- mining which colors are right. Fortunately for us, there have been several books written on Victorian-era ornamentation that can guide the 19th Century modeler to the right color scheme for his or her non-railroad structures. Engines, cars, and railroad structures are a bit more difficult. Thanks to a few historians, though, the practices of some of the lo- comotive builders have been researched. Baldwin order books, which specify details about each locomotive the manufacturer built, also chronicle the colors. The origi- nal factory color and striping books are still in existence at Stanford University, and copies are available at sev- eral locations. An excellent description of the Baldwin
36 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
system can be found at the Pacific Narrow Gauge web- site (
www.pacificng.com).
Getting back to the 1871 newspaper, the ad tells of the pending July 4th celebration. It reveals the locomo- tive Andrew Jackson will head the train. A photo claim- ing to capture the first train over the railroad shows a sparkling engine, the Jackson, emerging from the cov- ered depot at Stockton. The various shades of gray in the picture give few clues about its colors; however, an- other news article describes the Jackson. “The painting of her wheels, etc., is of emerald and gold, and the tank wine color, emerald and gold.” A railroad historian I know confirmed this as being typical colors of an engine by that manufacturer. Getting the right color informa- tion is great. Painting a steam locomotive with a multi- color scheme takes some effort. The nice part is you only have to do it once (per locomotive). The three-track covered depot in the photo is a sig- nature structure that will one day grace my model rail- road. An article in a Stockton paper gave me the build- ing’s description, including length, height, width, and precise details and measurements on the interior lay- out. A couple of weeks later, another short article men- tioned the paint scheme. Sometimes you get lucky. You have to be careful, though. Ferreting out rolling stock and structure details can lead to a hobby in it- self. If you keep hunting for a photograph you know is out there somewhere, you may not get any work done on your model railroad. Often, you just have to make your best guess at the way things were and move on. Of course, as soon as you build something, someone else will pop up with the picture you were seeking. Deciding which railroad to model and when to mod- el it is very much akin to choosing one’s spouse. Most modelers have firm opinions of their favorite railroad and what its “golden age” was. My personal pleasure takes me back more than 100 years ago into an age that is particularly intriguing to me. I enjoy research, perus- ing old newspapers, and interpreting old photographs. I also enjoy scratchbuilding models and creating a small portrait into my idea of the golden age of railroading. Now, I think I’ll get back to my newspaper reading.
Don Ball
PERSPECTIVE
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