It seems that before the Fiats were introduced in 1955, some NZR staff thought silver would be a safer colour than red; but NZR stayed with the red with silver flashes that had been adopted for the Vulcans and Standards.
NZR did adopt silver, however, for the next railcars, the Silver Fern class in 1972.
RE your line "NZR did adopt silver, however, for the next railcars, the Silver Fern class in 1972. "
ReplyDeleteThat was because the Silver Fern Railcars were actually clad with Stainless Steel just like the Silver Star train carriages, not painted Silver like in the proposal above and didn't need to be painted. The 88-seaters on the otherhand were just that, painted steel.
ChrisW