# Can someone tell me why cab interiors are painted green?



## CCSII (Jan 3, 2008)

On earlier steam engines?


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## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

What an excellent question.  I've wondered that myself.

Raymond


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## Chris France (Jan 3, 2008)

I don't know why, but that dark green was a poplular cab interior color right up thru the early diesels. I don't know how long its been known (or suspected) but they say that green is a soothing color and fairly temperature neutral. Reds, oranges, and yellows supposedly make one feel warm, blues etc feel cool. Maybe steam engines went that way due to the hot in the summer, cold in the winter nature of the cab? All I know is that its better than the puke mint green color diesel cab interiors got in the 70s.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Gold foil and Ivory inlay were just too expensive.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

It's what was on sale at  Sears at the  time.

I did not know that  cab interior was painted green.   Or painted for that matter.    See I learned something  to day


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## Curmudgeon (Jan 11, 2008)

Easier to find the blood and body parts after a wreck. 
You didn't know that? 
They tried white, but it was too hard to keep clean.


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Isn't that light green the color of primer?


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## jaycosnett (Jan 4, 2008)

The house we used to live in  was built in 1915. In the basement, there are some very old wooden walls that are painted that same peculiar green. Then at one point I went to strip the paint off of some of the brass door hardware that was sitting in a box. No matter how many layers, there was always a layer of that same green, down near the bottom. In places where the paint was chipped off of the original stained woodwork, same thing. Always a layer of that green.

The idea of it being a primer color makes a lot of sense. I've always wondered why that green seemed to show up everywhere. That would be one explanation. 

It might make even more sense if it was an *interior* primer. Mineral/box car red seems like the "default" exterior color for most things wooden, but if this green were an interior primer, then that would explain why it was so ubiquitous, to the interiors of both locomotive cabs and old houses!

Cheers!

Jay


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## Paul Norton (Jan 8, 2008)

I worked for a large paper company for a couple of years. Every machine in every building was painted green. When the new fine paper machine was built it was chrome and stainless steel. The new building was corrugated steel full of fluorescent tubes and high power lights. It was so bright compared to the century old mills, the workers complained it was disorienting. Management pulled half the tubes and painted everything green to appease the union.


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## rpc7271 (Jan 2, 2008)

The person who picked out the colors was color blind! It was supposed to be red.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I know that back about WWI passenger cars went from maroon or tuscan to boring old Pullman green on many lines because it was cheaper and considered more durable (as well as already looking sort of dirty, and drab so the dirt probably didn't show as badly /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif).... most likely the same reasoning applied to loco cabs as well.


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## Curmudgeon (Jan 11, 2008)

Posted By Mik on 03/21/2008 9:55 PM
I know that back about WWI passenger cars went from maroon or tuscan to boring old Pullman green on many lines because it was cheaper and considered more durable (as well as already looking sort of dirty, and drab so the dirt probably didn't show as badly /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif).... most likely the same reasoning applied to loco cabs as well.


Yeah......like surplus US Army Olive Drab.

Oh, primer can be about any color you want.
I have white, powder blue, and clear on-site.

The only thing that uses that color is the inside of airframes......

The Unions insisted on that color, so the crew could be buried with all their parts after a wreck!


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

In Saudi Arabia all Mercedes trucks were painted Olive G reen.  I heard that they had all that paint left over from the war.

John


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## david bunn (Jan 4, 2008)

Dunno but it looks cool/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

'Cause the same committee picked the colors for grade school rooms/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sick.gif

*Abandon lunch,
all ye who enter here.*


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Easy on the eyes and reduces fatigue.  Also has a calming effect.  Ever notice that chalkboards that were once black went green?


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## Rod Hayward (Jan 2, 2008)

Cockpit green, same as in Aircraft.


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## dawinter (Jan 2, 2008)

I've seen that colour on the bridge of ships and in control towers at airports during the 60's and 70's.  Newer control towers went to a sandy beige colour.  It's a soooooothing thing.

Dave


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## harrys_trains (Feb 15, 2008)

hmm so because it is pretty isnt a good reason?


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## CJGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

in the early diesels the cab interior was painted "jade green" then in the 70's or so a sandstone color replaced jade green. why? ummmm........... ?


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## John McGuyer (Jan 2, 2008)

So what color would you use to match it? 

John


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## Rod Hayward (Jan 2, 2008)

Persoonally, Tamiya cockpit green. Not too strident..


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Man, that's a beautiful cab!


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

Caboose interiors were painted the same color. Here is the explanation: 

Zinc Chromate is a corrosion resistant agent that is added to certain coatings. Even today, chromate finishes including Zinc Chromate provide superior corrosion resistance. Additionally, Zinc Chromate is highly toxic thus protecting the surface from proliferation of organic matter. 

In the aircraft industry of the 1940s, Zinc Chromate was used as an anti-corrosive barrier primer; it could be described as a sort of painted-on galvanizing. It has been developed by Ford Motor Company by the late 1920s, subsequently adopted in commercial aviation and later by the US Military. Official USAAC notes mention successful application of Zinc Chromate primer starting from 1933, but it has not been adopted as standard until 1936. 

Back then as well as in the paint industry of today, the term Zinc Chromate does not refer to a paint colour, but rather a protective coating. Therefore, the precise colouring of it is and has not been considered as important as the chemical composition. In the official notes of the period, the name Zinc Chromate is often accompanied by the name of particular manufacturer, thus mentioning Ford Zinc Chromate, DuPont Zinc Chromate or Berry Brothers Zinc Chromate. This means that the actual colour of Zinc Chromate coating may have varied from batch to batch or manufacturer to manufacturer without it being viewed as an issue. 

The 'native' tone of zinc chromate crystalline salt is a bright greenish-yellow. When put into a vehicle with binders to make paint, this colour would be the raw result.


Source: http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/01/stuff_eng_interior_colours_us.htm 

Hope that helps!


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

At last - the answer to the question!


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

You just gotta love this forum! Great answer! 

Best, 
TJ


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## John McGuyer (Jan 2, 2008)

Now I can paint the inside doors of my K-27 

John


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