N&W Pass Ex 503 West, October

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

On standard drawing L-136A, dated November 27, 1933, stations signs for 
First Class Stations, Roanoke, Bluefield, Petersburg, Bristol, 
Williamson, Portsmouth and Lynchburg were to be gold leaf on a black 
smalt background, all others were to be black letters on white 
background. Now what "smalt" is exactly in this case, I am not sure. 
The definition is a ground glass colored blue in every source I can 
find, however all definitions specifically talk about cobalt blue 
color. I don't have a Roanoke sign from that era to compare, but on one 
of mine from Portsmouth, it appears to be a pale yellow lettering on 
black paint. Radford, a new style sign is on a flat black background 
with some sandy texture on it. Perhaps the intent was in the era before 
reflective paint to allow a headlight to catch the sign and it 
reflected back in the sand or glass surface at night.

The general answer was black letters on white board with black borders, 
except for the stations mentioned. On restoration of a North Fork sign, 
I found specific evidence of earlier sign with imitation gold (yellow) 
on black background.

Ken Miller
On Apr 4, 2006, at 12:15 PM, nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org wrote:


> Too bad the station (except part of the concourse) is obscured by the 

> train in the photo.  What colors did the N&W use on its station signs 

> for "Roanoke," etc., during this period and later?

>

> J. Kelling, Greenbelt, MD