Magnified cross-section image of paint Sample 2, taken from a soffit
board from the clerestory roof of the 1912 Narcissus. This image
reminded me of a slide image one might see in a dentist's office.
Taking a look, one would not expect good news from the dentist.
However, in this case, we received
great news from Amy Cole Ives,
Steps towards engaging a Professional Conservation Paint Analysis for the Narcissus
As we move closer to completing the exterior of the Narcissus, we must determine specific colors for these components.
The PLI ended operations in early July 1933. The builder of the Narcissus, the
Laconia Car Company in Laconia, NH, has also been closed for decades. No records that specifically detail the color formulas for the PLI interurbans are known to exist. There is text describing the colors of the exterior of the interurbans. So, that is where we began.
by O. R. Cummings
A portion of the description of the exterior of the 1912 Portland-Lewiston Interurban No. 14, Narcissus reads;
Each of the original cars was 46 feet long overall and 8 feet 3/4 inch wide, and had steam railroad roofs and straight vertically sheathed sides. There were seven arch windows - six double sashes and one single sash - on each side, the sashes being arranged to lift. The arches above the sashes and the windows in the roof clerestory were glazed with ornamental leaded glass. The exterior livery was Pullman green with gray roofs, dark red doors, trim, and gold leaf numbers and lettering.
Reads pretty straightforward. Gray roof, Pullman green exterior, dark red doors, and trim, with real gold-leaf numbers and lettering.
The gray roof and gold leaf are indeed pretty straightforward. However, the Pullman green and dark red have been anything but straightforward. Turns out, like so many other colors in paint, there are various shades of Pullman green. And to add more head-scratching to the conundrum, the "dark red" may not be red paint at all?
The Pullman green
We heard from folks who were passengers on the PLI interurbans that the green was very dark. So dark that the interurbans really looked nearly black. Our initial search for the Pullman green produced descriptions of various shades of green paint that were all named or called Pullman green, but none that looked nearly black.
Other clues to how dark the Pullman green color of the Narcissus -
The
Seashore Trolley Museum's annual report from 1969. The
Narcissus arrived at the Seashore Trolley Museum on Halloween in 1969. The trip from Sabattus to Kennebunkport was quite a media event. In preparation, Museum volunteers "temporarily" attached new masonite strips on the Narcissus, painted the strips in Pullman green, and authentically lettered the strips with Portland-Lewiston Interurban. Masonite strips are still with the Narcissus today. The color Pullman green, in certain light, looks like the color black.
Masonite strip painted Pullman green in 1969. PWM
A visit to the Gray Historical Society in Gray, Maine, gave us a view of an original destination roll sign from a sister Laconia-built PLI interurban, No. 10, Arbutus. Following the end of the operation of the PLI, the Arbutus was purchased by Gertrude Libbey Anthony as a complete operating interurban and moved to her property in the Bay View community in Saco, Maine. The Arbutus was on a set of tracks as a memorial to Mrs. Anthony's father, W. S. Libbey, the builder of the PLI. Sadly, the Arbutus was scrapped for the war effort in the mid-forties. However, Mrs. Anthony donated various components from the Arbutus to the Gray Historical Society and the Maine Historical Society. Most of the interior mahogany panels from the passenger and smoking compartments were donated to locals. And somehow, many of the arched sash and leaded windows from the clerestory found their way to theBranford Electric Railway Association in East Haven, CT.
An original destination roll sign from the Arbutus, sister interurban
to the Narcissus, at the Gray Historical Society. PWM
There were a lot of alligator-paint materials on boards up in the soffit area of the clerestory arch windows.
The roof boards of the Narcissus have been removed from the soffit that
extends over the clerestory arched windows. In between the roof ribs, you
can see the alligator paint of the dark Pullman green on the fascia board.
The dark red doors and trim
Image of an original, painted porcelain PLI advertising panel,
from one of the PLI ticket booths.
Looking at a color image of an original PLI porcelain advertising panel from a PLI ticket booth shows the dark red to be just that, a dark red. However, volunteer Tom Hughes had restored all the surviving Narcissus clerestory sash components. He was quite certain that the mahogany sash for the leaded stained glass windows in the clerestory was never painted. Tom surmises that none of the mahogany sashes were painted red. Instead, the combination of the natural color of the mahogany, coated with layers of varnish and perhaps shellac, would appear to be a dark red. The same might be said for all the mahogany "trim" components, all exterior doors, and sashes of all the exterior windows? All of the original mahogany sashes for the arched clerestory windows were restored/repaired fifteen years ago or so.
Interior Colors
While searching for clues to help identify exterior colors, we decided to add the colors needed for the interior to the list. The floor has a shade of what might be called a tile-red color. A name that has been used to describe the color of the headliner (Center ceiling panels and the side or clerestory ceiling panels) is Nile green. The
Narcissus was the Vallee's summer camp for thirty years or more, and during that time, all of the headliner panels and many other interior components of the Narcissus were painted white. The center ceiling panels each have an ornate gold leaf fleur-de-lis in each corner. Each fleur-de-lis has two gold leaf lines that reach out and travel along the perimeter of the panel to the next fleur-de-lis. The side ceiling panels do not have fleur-de-lis but do have lines of gold leaf along the perimeter of the long panels. Over the years, the gold leaf has been working its way up through the flaking, alligator white paint. A couple of the side panels do show a little of the original green. Upon inspection, it is not clear whether the center ceiling panels and the side panels had the same shade of green. Hopefully, this question will be resolved with the analysis.
Interior view of the Narcissus in 2015 shows the
headliners in the center ceiling panels.
Side ceiling panels. Also, you can see the floor's
faint red color next to the interlocking tiles
that are in the center aisle. DGC
Gold-leaf fleur-de-lis in a corner of one
of the center ceiling panels. The ceiling
panels and many other interior components
were painted white during the time the
Narcissus was the Vallees' summer
camp in Sabattus, ME. PWM
Next steps - Reaching out to a Professional Conservator for Paint Analysis
Donald Curry and I are invited by various organizations to talk about the Portland-Lewiston Interurban and the restoration of the Narcissus. One of those presentations in the summer of 2017 was at the 470 Railroad Club in Portland, ME. The President of the club, Ron Cole, was Donald's roommate in college at Northeast University. As it turns out, Ron's daughter,
Amy Cole Ives, is the President of Sutherland Conservation & Consulting in Augusta, Maine. So, of course, Donald & Ron discussed the possibility of Amy testing the Narcissus colors for analysis. Soon thereafter, contact was made between Amy and Donald, and initial emails were shared about the Narcissus. In preparation for a site visit by Amy, a couple of sections of roof soffit boards with what may have been dark green paint were sent to Amy. Amy made a site visit to the Museum and the Narcissus on November 4, 2017. Following her visit, Amy submitted the initial results of the paint analysis from the roof boards and included the next steps.
The Old Federal Building at 295 Water Street, Suite 306
Augusta, ME 04330207-242-0618
Images from Sutherland Conservation & Consulting of the two roof
boards from the soffit area above the arched window opening in
the clerestory of the Narcissus. Using a scalpel, samples are taken
from boards and put through a series of procedures for analysis.
Images from SCC
The initial paint analysis that Amy completed will help to provide the match we were looking for with the dark Pullman green.
We next need to zero in on the exterior dark red for the doors and trim. All of the Narcissus original doors and sashes for the passenger windows and the clerestory windows have been restored and/or repaired. So, no original samples are available from the Narcissus. However, do you recall from the text above that a number of the clerestory sash components, from the Arbutus, had found their way to the
Branford Electric Railway Association in East Haven, CT? Well, back in 2001, Narcissus was having some work done in the restoration shop. Details of that work were printed in an article in the Museum's newsletter, The Dispatch. The Dispatch is sent to Museum members and to other railway museums around the globe. While reading the issue, Bill Wall from the Branford Electric Railway Association recalled that they possessed the clerestory sash from the Arbutus. He contacted Donald Curry, and the Arbutus sash arrived at Seashore Trolley Museum early in 2002. The Narcissus ornate leaded stained-glass windows were professionally repaired and restored in 2014 by Deb Caron Plourde at Sundancers Stained-Glass in Saco, ME. The glass was removed from most of the Arbutus clerestory windows and used in the restoration of the Narcissus clerestory windows. The empty mahogany sash of the Arbutus has been kept in storage. Now we could choose one of those original clerestory sashes from the Arbutus and send it to Amy for analysis. A sash was chosen and sent to Amy. She should receive the sash in Augusta on November 21st.
The mahogany clerestory sash from the Arbutus, chosen to be sent to
Sutherland Conservation & Consulting for analysis. This view shows
the side of the sash seen from the inside of the interurban. The two
screw holes seen in the lower right-hand corner are where one arm
of the brass window opener attaches. Certain pairings of clerestory
windows can be partially opened to allow air to circulate in
the passenger compartment and in the smoking compartment.
The mahogany seems to be protected with
varnish, or perhaps a shellac mixture? PWM
This view is of the side of the clerestory sash where the leaded stained
glass is held in place with three wooden trim boards (glazing). This side
faces the exterior of the interurban. They were exposed to the elements
of the weather throughout the year. There seems to be a heavy, yet
sporadic, layer of the dark Pullman green. PWM
We are making headway. The analysis will be done on the floor color (tile red?) and on the headline color(s) (Nile green?). The results are confirmed; a post with results will be released.
We continue the
restoration work on the 1912
Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
Being more than a century old, the stately "Elegant Ride,"
Narcissus, is a gem. This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including
time, places, people, and events that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents captivate, fascinate, and then generate interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic
Narcissus is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places.
Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by making a donation today!
The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition narratives.
Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban
The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.
Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the
Narcissus Project
Independent book publisher Phil Morse, holding
Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
