Lettering for 8,000 gallon tank cars -1950's scheme

Pressed Steel Car Company built a large number of 8,000 gallon tank cars in the late teens and early 1920's, primarily for North American Tank Car leasing operations. In the late 1940's, when A.E. Staley turned over their tank operations to North American, many of the cars were repainted and lettered in AESX reporting marks with white, orange, silver and black tanks. AESX 307 and 319 are painted white with Staley's traditional royal blue lettering; bottom sheet, underframe and trucks coated with black car cement (wheels left unpainted and allowed to rust and gather road grease and grim) Hand rails, grab irons and ladders were royal blue.

Photos can be deceiving, expecially black and white photos scanned from published pictures. These are obviously newly painted, unoxidized, cars, and the royal blue appears quite dark. By studying the photo of AESX 307, an assumption could be made that the car tank cradles and other related components are also royal blue, thereby making the case that royal blue is used throughout the lower section. This will be at the discretion of the modeler as painting Bill of Materials from Pressed Steel are not available, and scanned color printing is not always a reliable color representation. This decal set designed and created at Protocraft Decals.