Color reconnaissance mission complete. Here are some photos of my chips next to the "real" thing. Conclusions are:

The bright red used all over the place has a little more orange in it than Guards Red, but it is very close.

Krylon Dark Hunter Green is very close

The Honduras Maroon that I have used needs more red and blue and less brown.

Dark Gun Metal with an overcoat of clear blue is very close to the Holliday boiler. Still needs the metallic fleck

Dark Gun Metal with overcoat of clear green should be close for Ripley boiler, but this will require another trip.

Here are colors next to the Marsh boiler
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/Gurley002-1.jpg[/img]
Here is Park Green next to cab interior
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/Gurley003-1.jpg[/img]

The tops of the tenders are black
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/Gurley222.jpg[/img]

The flared top trim of the Holliday tender is Hunter green. (the only place this color appears on this loco)
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/Gurley005-1.jpg[/img]
Here is the graphic on the rear of the Marsh tender for those who care (John)
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/Gurley333.jpg[/img]

Wow, that park green is PERFECT! So what did the crews out there think of this mission?

That's great, I'm sure I'll not change either of my HO locos though they're pretty close.

Now if I could get Doc Browns Delorean and go back to 1909 and find some Santa Fe secondary trains to check color. Sadly color photography was not invented back then so I'll I can say is that the cars had dark roofs and siding, and what is probably gold lettering, no way to tell if they are Green or Brown.

Is the inside of the tender flare here the salmon color Steve says the cab roofs are, or were?

It appears to be salmon, but that is just light on the same red as the rest of the tender. (look at the shadow and the toolbox)

This photo is of the Marsh and the inside of the flares matches the outside. It was only the Holliday that had a color change. I did not notice the roofs. I was kind of hurried. It was a slow day and the whole train was loaded in a few minutes so I was holding up the works (as I was holding up my swatches)

We're closing in on these colors. Last Thursday, the Holliday, Ripley and Marsh were running. I know that the Gurley is down, but I saw a lot of it at Fullerton Train Days. I am hoping to catch the Kimball next trip. Looking at all the pictures in Steve's "From Plantation..." the red on the Kimball seams to be bright all around, maybe similar to the Guards Red. In the picture below that I took last summer it appears to be a maroon similar to the Holliday and Marsh. Does anyone know if it was repainted since 2005 or maybe these photos are just deceiving?

[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/WardKimball001.jpg[/img]

Since you can see the lighter red trim and pinstriping, I'll put my money on the main color being maroon or Burgundy. Maybe Steve's book pictures are deceiving.

I really wish that there was a way to put all of these locos in the sun side by side at one time, but reality being what it is, we'll have to just do what we can. These two photos show the blue boilers of the Holliday and the Gurley. I thought that the Gurley was darker, but in similar sun on a curved surface, they appear very close in color.
Holliday
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/Rollingstock131.jpg[/img]
Gurley
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/2008-05-03075.jpg[/img]
So here are my picks at present. Top ow starting at left; 1) Holliday and Gurley, 2) Ripley, 3) Smokeboxes. Bottom row starting at left; 1) Marsh 2) Kimball 3) Flat black for reference
[img]http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/CPTRR/Gurley-Kimball/KimballBuildersPlate005.jpg[/img]
These were shot indoors with an Ott light. very difficult to do without getting reflections. I am going to look for a burgundy that may replace the maroon

They don't just appear the same, they ARE the same! They've both got the same paint.