Galatea/Alberta

Ive read a lot of negative comments about Royal Scots old paint job but is it just me or does Galatea's paint job look bit dodgy?

 

Both really, I have a few pics of other locos in BR Maroon and 45699 just don't look as good. It has no lining above the driving wheels, numbers on the cab look weird and the Hue looks different. To be honest it looks unfinished

 

When Galatea entered service my understanding ( from, as the journalists say, sources close to the palace ) was that the red livery was a temporary measure, something of a joke, and the intention was a repaint after a few trips to something more appropriate. I can't comment on what I've been told about why it hasn't been.
As to the colour I've always thought it to be the same as Olton Hall in it's Hogwarts Castle guise.
Can't disagree that it doesn't look 'right' but I'd sooner see it in use than worry too much about the colour. It's a challenge for photographers certainly and I can't see the point in anyone refusing to photograph it because of how it looks.

Maroon liveries have certainly been variable though. Looking at old pictures of 46229, 46203 and 6201 there are differences between them to my eyes.

 

An easy way to overcome the colour issue, if it's that important to the photographer, is to only shoot in B&W...

I'm just pleased that she is back in operation, doing what she does. Remember, she was initially regarded as a no-hoper & only fit for spares for Leander...

 

And to think she is one of the shining stars in Carnforth fleet. The performances this summer are very noteworthy in my opinion.

 

It's true, the reliability of that piece of kit this year against all the odds has been top notch, Galatea is increasingly becoming the one to beat. It's a shame they don't go elsewhere with her and let her stretch her legs a bit across other parts of the country.


All though people say stuff about her livery, although maybe not Authentic, it's different!


I agree the cab side numbers need changing to the correct font, do this and re-set that hideous hooter back to the way it originally was and they would have a spot on engine!

 

I hope she does go up to Scotland in the not to distant future. Beattock is waiting. Hard to believe that a LMS jubilee hasn't made it that way up since 2010.

 

Agreed, and it wouldn't bother me if she had www.westcoastrailways.co.uk on the tender!

That's rattled a few cages (am I banned?)

 

Hope so!

 

...........

 

I actually really like her in BR maroon - so much so I'm doing a modified Bachman model at the moment...

..I do think the west coast engines have a more 'used' look to them than some other preserved locos - but then hey are busier, I guess the cleaning can't always be as thorough as a loco that's doing a job every couple of weeks

 

They may not have carried BR Maroon BUT they were outshopped in LMS Maroon hence the Stanier 5s being referred to as "Black 5s" and the Jubilees as "Red 5s" by the LMS crews.

 

I can't comment - having not seen in in the flesh - about how good the job is or not on Galatea. But I must lament that she was not outshopped - with Leander to match her - in full and matching LMS crimson lake livery. A missed opportunity for something truly special - two matching and authentic LMS liveried locos on the British mainline together.

 

True. They did though have LMS on the tender, and 5XXX on the cab side...

 

It is dodgy it should be BR green or as 5699 LMS red or 1946 livery black, it was supposed to be temporary but apparently Mrs Smith likes it in red. Does it matter, yes, historical accuracy as far as possible is important for future historians, I've met people who think a rebuilt Scot in red is correct. I believe the paint is a spray job and is normal coaching stock red. Having said that paint is to a certain extent transluscent and the appearance is affected by the undercoat. There was a discussion many years ago, within the Historical Model Railway Society about the difference between LMS and Midland red. There were some still with us then who could remember pre grouping days and swore that the Midland colour was a deeper shade, the consensus was that it was down to the Midland using brown undercoat whereas the LMS used grey. Does anyone remember the curious hue of green applied to Bahamas during its last operational period? Again probably down to the fact it was applied over the previous red.

 

Were not Leander & Coalhopper operational at the same time in the past ?.

 

And therein lies the problem: history isn't what happened, but what people believe. And that belief can stem from what they read, which is why railway authors need to check their facts, but very much what they see, either in pictures, films or, very strongly, the object itself. And thus we have a generation who believe that World War II started in December 1941 and that Britain played a minor supporting role, thanks to Hollywood.

We who do the research to find out what was actually correct tend to be dismissed with derogatory terms as 'purists' and 'rivet counters', rather than given credit for attempting to present history as it happened, rather than what someone would like it to have been.

 

I don't really get that point, the historian isn't looking at a picture from 1958, he's seeing a picture was 2015. if he's not checking his sources & dates then thats surely the problem. In fact it gives him more history to look at and see steam didn't end in 1968... Surely with that argument any pairing of a locomotive in anything other than BR livery with Mk1s, is creating the same problem for the 'historian'?