Don:

I know the answer to the car color. The SRHA knows it’s wrong; the Smithsonian chose not to utilize the correct colors, saying that the authentic colors wouldn’t look “right” in the lighting that would be used where the car would be displayed. This information came directly to me from Bill Withuhn. 

Coupled with the apparent lack of luggage racks in the “colored” end of the car, it appears to me that the Smithsonian has not been very conscientious in portraying this car as it was in regular service.

—Bill

On Apr 6, 2019, at 8:45 PM, Don Yelverton via Groups.Io <donyelverton@...> wrote:

Ike,

Where did this car color come from?

Don

On Saturday, April 6, 2019, 07:35:17 PM EDT, George Eichelberger <geichelberger@...> wrote:

Charlie:

I helped do the research on that car in the SRHA archives before it went to the Smithsonian. Other than the fact that the toilets  at the ends of the car were slightly different sizes, we found NO differences between the “white" and “colored” sections of the car. It is unlikely the Southern would have been interested in creating any differences as the cars were not always in Jim Crow services and the Southern was very interested in providing good service to its “colored” passengers.

We provided quite a few drawings and specifications for the effort and only asked that SRHA be given appropriate credit in the display, I hope that is the case?

Ike

On Apr 6, 2019, at 7:23 PM, Charles Powell <charlesspowell@...> wrote:

A friend of mine sent me the link below to a short video from 2016 regarding the SOU 1200 coach that was placed in the Smithsonian. The video showed some short clips of the car's interior during the restoration. One of the issues they pointed out was that a difference between the "colored" section and the "white" section was that the colored section lacked luggage racks overhead. I was never on one of those cars during the Jim Crow era but did ride them in the 1960s after desegregation.  I remember the colored section had two small restrooms while the white section had two large ones and I can remember luggage racks but I can't recall if they were lacking in the colored section. The seats were the same throughout. I wonder if since the 1200 came from TVRM's storage yard if the luggage racks had been removed from one end in order to fix another car and the Smithsonian folks assumed that the car was always that way? I would have thought that even if the car lacked luggage racks on one end during the Jim Crow era, they would have been installed after desegregation when both sections of the car would have been used by anybody. 

Any thoughts anyone?
Charlie Powell 


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