Tuscan red explained

Tuscan Red
Hex:7C3030
Source:Maerz and Paul[1]
Isccname:Dark red

Tuscan red is a shade of red that was used on some railroad cars, particularly passenger cars.

The color is most closely associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, which used it on passenger cars and on its TrucTrain flatcars. It also was used extensively by the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia, in a similar fashion to the PRR.[2] The Norfolk and Western Railway used it as an accent color on its J class steam locomotives. The Canadian Pacific Railway used it historically and painted its luxury revival cars in this color.[3] It is also a Prismacolor colored pencil.

History

The first recorded use of Tuscan red as a color name in English was in the early 1800s (exact date uncertain).[4]

The color was popular in the late 19th century but non-standardized. It became the ‘signature color’ of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which instituted specifications for its formulation.[5] Before the 1880s, pigments extracted from Brazil wood were used in its manufacture, but these proved inadequate in terms of hiding power and stability.[5]

A 1917 US National Bureau of Standards circular describes it as based on Indian red, a variety of iron oxide red. The color was then modified by treatment with an alizarin lake pigment. The pigment's stability lent itself to hard use in applications such as rail cars, steam pipes, radiators, and machinery.[6] Lower-cost imitations were made without iron oxides by using gypsum or whiting as a base and adding aniline dyes.[7]

Variations

The traditional color Tuscan red is shown above. The lighter tones of Tuscan red tend toward tan and beige. The darker tones of Tuscan red tend toward purplish tones. These purplish tones of Tuscan red are exemplified by the color deep Tuscan red, shown below.

Tuscan

See main article: Beige.

Tuscan
Hex:FAD6A5
Source:ISCC-NBS
Isccname:Light yellow

Displayed at right is the color Tuscan.

The first recorded use of Tuscan as a color name in English was in 1887.[8]

Tuscany

Tuscany
Hex:C09999
Source:Pantone TPX[9]
Isccname:Light grayish red

The color Tuscany is displayed at right.

The first recorded use of Tuscany as a color name in English was in 1922.[10]

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #16-1219 TPX—Tuscany.[11]

Tuscan tan

See main article: Tan (color).

Tuscan Tan
Hex:A67B5B
Source:ISCC-NBS
Isccname:Light brown

Displayed at right is the color Tuscan tan.

The first recorded use of Tuscan tan as a color name in English was in 1926.[12]

The normalized color coordinates for Tuscan tan are identical to café au lait and French beige, which were first recorded as color names in English in 1839[13] and 1927,[14] respectively.

Tuscan brown

Tuscan Brown
Hex:6F4E37
Source:ISCC-NBS
Isccname:Moderate brown

Displayed at right is the color Tuscan brown.

The first recorded use of Tuscan brown as a color name in English was in 1913.[15]

The normalized color coordinates for Tuscan brown are identical to coffee, which was first recorded as a color name in English in 1695.[16]

Medium Tuscan red

Medium Tuscan Red
Hex:79443B
Source:ISCC-NBS
Isccname:Moderate reddish brown

Medium Tuscan red is that tone of Tuscan red that is called Tuscan red in the ISCC-NBS color list.

See also

Notes and References

  1. The color displayed in the color box above matches the color called Tuscan red in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill; the color Tuscan Red is displayed on p. 37, Plate 7, Color Sample L8.
  2. Book: John C. Dunn. Comeng: A History of Commonwealth Engineering, 1921-1955. 12 September 2011. March 2007. Rosenberg Publishing. 978-1-877058-42-4. 56.
  3. Book: Tom Murray. Canadian Pacific Railway. 12 September 2011. 1 July 2006. Voyageur Press. 978-0-7603-2255-0. 114.
  4. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 206; Color Sample of Tuscan Red: p. 37 Plate 7 Color Sample L8—The color shown above in the color box at the head of the article matches the color sample in the book.
  5. Book: Charles Ludwig Uebele. Paint making and color grinding: a practical treatise for paint manufacturers and factory managers, including comprehensive information regarding factory arrangement; pigments; vehicles and thinners; liquid and cold water paints as well as practical working formulas and recipes. 12 September 2011. 1913. The Painters magazine. 213–218.
  6. Book: United States National Bureau of Standards. Circular of the Bureau of Standards. 69. December 28, 2022. 1917. U.S. Government Printing Office. 38.
  7. Book: Albanis Ashmun Kelly. The expert house painter: A reliable guide for the experienced house painter and manual of instruction for the less expert workman ... Formulas given for various paint mixtures, tests for ascertaining purity and value of materials, how to choose and combine proper colors in their true scientific relations, etc. 13 September 2011. 1920. David McKay company. 181.
  8. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 206; Color Sample of Tuscan: p. 43 Plate 10 Color Sample E5
  9. Type the word "Tuscany" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear.
  10. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 206; Color Sample of Tuscany: p. 37 Plate 10 Color Sample L11
  11. http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the word "Tuscany" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear:
  12. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 206; Color Sample of Tuscan tan: p. 49 Plate 13 Color Sample C8
  13. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 191; Color Sample of Cafe au Lait: p. 47 Plate 12 Color Sample A6
  14. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 195; Color Sample of French beige: p. 49 Plate 13 Color Sample A7
  15. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 206; Color Sample of Tuscany: p. 37 Plate 7 Color Sample H12
  16. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill p. 193; Color Sample of Coffee: p. 53—Plate 15 Color Sample A11