M1 RPO Black Doors?

[NW Mailing List]

My experience with Micro-Trains (and many other mfgrs like Division Point) is their stuff can be subject to question due to errors they have made. 
I can understand where Evan may think the doors of some cars were black. I don't have any photos of M-1 RPO's with black doors but I do have some B&W's of BMH #16 and BMg #11 that "could be" black doors. They certainly are blacker than the remainder of the car. The rub plates next to and below the doors seem to be about the same shading and if they are black as per normal practice then it is possible these cars have black doors. For contrast here's a shot of #96 with red doors and the black areas. 
The shot of BMF #1203 shows something else of interest. The black wear areas higher up on the body next to the mail catcher used to prevent or minimize damage to the thinner body sheet metal from the force of mail bags striking when picked up on the fly. Like the lower scuff plate, these were made of a much thicker metal to limit damage to the car proper.
Disclaimer: I understand B&W but the distinct difference between the body color and this "trim" color can't really be ignored. The same can be said of the color shots and movies where the doors on cars seem to be a different shade than the body color. No matter how much one claims "color shift" and "retinal differences" the obvious difference in the red colors between body and doors is there.
Roger HuberDeer Creek Locomotive Works

      From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
 To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
 Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 5:47 AM
 Subject: Re: M1 RPO Black Doors?
   
The M1's did not have black doors at any time (nor did any other N&W passenger cars). They did, however have black facings on either side of the doors and a black plate at the bottom. When N&W went from red to blue (1966) they stopped painting these areas black. There is some evidence that they may have stopped painting the facings black before that, but I don't have any timeline on that.
Jim Nichols 

    On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 5:49 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
 

 Hello everyone, Micro-Trains recently released their model of a M1 RPO with black doors.  I'm wondering how long did the M1's retain their as-delivered black doors and did any make it to retirement with them?

-Evan Miller



   
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