Final painting has begun on the roof. Next, final painting will progress toward working down. The shutter panels will be painted silver. The mid panels painted orange and the lower "ply-metal" panels painted silver. Stencils are being prepared for the lettering. The nose will be saved for last because of the amount of work that will be required to make it look right.

Research is being done to accurately letter and stripe the locomotive as it appeared during the early 50's. WP had two different versions of the orange and silver paint for freight F7's. There was the "as delivered" version that included 6 5/8" "EMD Gothic" letters on the side panels and orange/black "pilot stripes" on the pilot. Later WP went to larger 15" letters on the sides and solid orange pilots and a few other minor differences. 918 will be painted in the as-delivered version. We are going for a circa 1953 appearance due to the larger fuel tanks that were expanded around 1952 from 1200 gallons to 1500. We will be recreating the fuel tank skirts that were removed during the 60's. Some grab irons were added during this time period and will remain. 

Thanks to Rob Sarberenyi, Howard Wise, George Childs, and Portola Railroad Museum (FRRS) for assisting in our research.