Photograph painting
Especially in locomotive construction, a mostly light gray or light olive colored so-called photographic paint was used for single copies . This consisted of washable ( lime ) paint and was only applied for the purpose of photo work and then washed off again. Darkly offset corners, beads and add-on parts make it easier to photograph, as the contours stand out more clearly.
This was due to the old black and white films or glass plates coated photo emulsions from the early days of photography that the dynamic range and tonal black painted a (mostly) locomotive could not cope. In particular, details such as lines and attachments in the area of the boiler would hardly have been recognizable in the photos with the usual black or otherwise dark paint, but these details were of interest to specialists when new locomotive models were presented and should be clearly visible in the images. A light coat of paint was also cheaper when reproducing the photographs using the printing technique customary at the time.
However, the locomotives were not used in operation with this paintwork, the light color would have looked unsightly and dirty very quickly.
With the increasing spread of better film material, this type of coloring was hardly used any more. Today only vehicle models in the field of model railways are equipped with it as special models. One or the other museum locomotive was also given a permanent (instead of washable) light gray photographic paintwork.
literature
- Harald Vogelsang: The vehicles and systems of the Bochum-Dahlhausen Railway Museum . 12th edition, DGEG, Werl 2002. ISBN 3-921700-99-X