Early BR liveries

There,s a very handsome looking Dudley Castle featured in the latest Back Track mag. The year is 1949 and is turned out in a light green livery. Never knew about this colour.............

 

I think - not 100% certain - but I think thats the LNER style apple green livery applied, using GW style shading for the British Railways lettering on the tender.

 

Could be, having just looked again, the ravages of time could have affected the colour in the photo. Although it does describe it as an experimental green with red, cream and grey lining.

 

That is definitely the apple green then. It was applied with LNWR style lining out.

 

4091 did have an experimental light green livery in early BR days. It also had a different style front No. plate. I believe Castle 7011 had the same livery. I also have a picture of 4091 somewhere.

 

Think there's a shot of it in said livery on the back of the 'Power of the Castles' book.

Wasn't 4091 the first production castle to be withdrawn too? I blame the paint job...

 

More about it here, including a couple of nice photos:

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic.php?f=274&t=11094

 

That,s the photo in Backtrack..............it does look a little darker than the apple green, to me anyhow...

 

4091 was withdrawn on 19/1/59 and cut up at Swindon in March 1959. And who can blame them when you have a classic GWR loco painted in GNER Apple Green with LNWR lining out?
I personally would have cut her up prior to the paint job, rather than her having to suffer the indignity of being painted into a mishmash of liveries from two rival companies. eep:

 

I have added a (fictional) image of an A4 Pacific in the experimental apple green livery with LNWR-style lining to my fotopic site. A rather odd combination, which understandably didn't go down well with the former LMS and GWR men on which it was inflicted.

http://northernblue109.fotopic.net/p69109044.html

 

There is also reference to 4091, in Messrs. Haresnape and Boocock's 'Railway Liveries BR Steam 1948 - 1968', although only a b&w shot is included. The colour for both 4091 and 45531 is described as apple green but that may have varied between paint-shops; I wouldn't bank on the colour repro on the contemporary transparencies, as accurate.

The smokebox numberplate numerals are clearly a smaller size than the 5in adopted as standard for ex-GW and BR Standard locos (as opposed to the 4in for all other locos); the plate has also generally been reported as having been made of brass. The tender inscription was also of a small sans-serif style, which seems almost insignificant, compared to the other versions.

Swindon obviously didn't seem too enamoured with the proposal and, of course, produced their own version of British Railways in GW 'Egyptian' shaded block style (as currently worn by 5029). As an aside, 6960, during its various incarnations in preservation, has variations of these styles, including, at one point, a small-numeral brass smokbox numbeerplate, with green backing!

JS

 

Apologies if I'm repeating myself but my original message from yesterday evening has not appeared. Here is a fictional rendedition of an A4 pacific in the experimental apple green livery with red, grey and cream lining:

http://northernblue109.fotopic.net/p69109044.html

Personally I don't like this scheme and can only imagine the horror of the former GWR and LMS staff onto whose locomotives it was applied. Interesting that it doesn't seem to have been applied to any former LNER locomotives

 

Sorry Garry...I really quite like that myself! :redface: eep:

They seemed to try and outshop all the locomotives in liveries that were different from the norm. The blue for the A3 pacifics and Duchesses, and the different greens and blacks for the Castles, Lord Nelsons and similar.

Personally I think a blue Lord Nelson would have looked incredible, but it was never to be sadly...