Union Pacific Steam Locomotive Painting and Lettering

This page was last updated on April 26, 2009.

Before 1937

With its adoption of less-colorful paint schemes in the 1870s, Union Pacific, like so many of the nation's other railroads, began using black paint with white (or light gray) lettering on its steam locomotives.

This era is remembered by the large locomotive numbers that were placed on the locomotive tenders, and continued through to the mid 1930s. The largest numbers were used throughout the road's financial problems of the mid 1890s, with smaller numbers being applied during the Common Standard era brought on by E. H. Harriman.

During 1936, Union Pacific's mechanical designers began work on a new passenger locomotive that used the 4-8-4 wheel type. UP celebrated the delivery of UP 800, the first FEF-1 in August 1937 with a new image for its steam locomotives, thus changing a lettering scheme that had been used since the late 1870s, sixty years before.

Changes on SP

The following is presented merely to compare UP with its one time partner, SP.

"Southern Pacific" lettering, without "Lines," certainly persisted throughout the Harriman era and a bit beyond. As I understand it the word "Lines" was added in 1917, a time of many changes in SP lettering, including reintroduction of the medallion on freight cars. (Tony Thompson, May 12, 2006)

The March 16, 1917 Mojave Press (of Mojave, CA) reported of the adoption of the lettering "Southern Pacific Lines" on locomotive tenders, with engine numbers now placed on locomotive cabs, not tenders as before. (John Sweetser, June 9, 2006)

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