35018 British India Line

hope it stays black will really annoy everyone

 

I would also like to see it stay black - but not to annoy anyone.

I like authentic liveries, but I also like variety. 35005 in blue looked magnificent.
35018 in lined black would also look great - if that's what happens.

Either way, well done to those who have invested time, money and effort in the restoration.

 

While there has been extensive debate in this thread, I suspect any annoyance would be fleeting, quickly shifting to indifference as folk get on with their lives. Anyone desperate to see a proper job can seek out 35028 or 35006.

 

Exactly

 

I'm sure it won't annoy everyone so your wish won't be granted.
That said, if not cleaned, the loco will eventually look rather black as we all know. However, most owners and owning groups prefer their locos to be clean most of the time.
As if to counter my own argument that 35018 should be restored to the factory finish it had when rebuilt in BR days, the attached image from my collection shows 35018 at Weymouth Shed on 16 Sep 1962. The lined green livery is not easy to spot. The loco still looks wonderful though and many NP members will have fond memories of those times no doubt.

 

I think you rather underestimate the ability of posters on this forum to hold a grudge regarding certain matters and continue to raise them for years to come.

 

If it had been a black & white image, the lined green livery would have been even harder to spot!

We are facing a mirror image of the debate with 9F 92214, which is now green in spite of only ever being painted in BR black prior to its withdrawal in 1965. However, if anyone here has copies of Ivo Peters' books on the S&D, you can look at a number of black & white pictures he took of 92214 when it worked the 3.0 "Up Mail" from Bournemouth West to Bath on 20th June 1964 and you really wouldn't have a clue that had been painted black! Obviously, no one is expecting 35018 to be running in such a grubby condition as poor old 92214 was in back in 1964, but it does reinforce the point you are making with the picture at Weymouth.

I have to say that when 92214 visited the Severn Valley Railway a few years back, I didn't hear anyone moaning about its colour and some people had even come over especially to see it.

 

How positive you are. That may prove to be so, as long as there are posters quick to point out where they perceive grudges, agendas and bias.

 

Key aspects of the 92214 livery are it is a faithful application of BR passenger green and there is a historical prescedent for the class.
If 35018 emerges in a well presented but inauthentic livery for the class that would be fine. Gash versions suggest a lack of pride.

 

I didn't know he wrote books on railways in County Durham?!

 

Does that mean that if 35018 goes black it is an unauthentic livery that now becomes authentic because the locomotive will be painted in it?

 

All a bit existentialist for me!
What I mean is an authentic livery from another period of railway history but not previously applied to this form of loco.

 

Ah, but it then becomes an authentic livery from another period of railway history once applied does it not?

 

The colour doesn't really bother me but anyone who sets out to annoy potential customers will not be in business for long.

 

Generally speaking I find those who make the most froth over a livery have contributed little or nothing to the project involved. 35018 is close to re-entering service and that can only be good news. Whatever livery it carries when it does make its debut on a passenger train is of secondary importance IMO. I would hope for BR green but unlike some I won't be throwing a hissy fit if it isn't.

 

92214 looked the business when it was like this

 

Historical precedent just opens a further can of worms in the debate - another huge grey area that is just teasing people to draw yet another line in the sand. To play the devils advocate, because one loco wore a livery in pre-preservation does that hold true that others of the class are also entitled? Follow that to the enth in regards to the 9F class comparison, would it be ok to put copper-capped double chimneys on others of the class because Evening Star was fitted so? (Rhetorical).

For the record, livery debate bothers me not - so long as it is done well and has one foot in the realms of possibility and I can't see a time (fingers crossed) when the history of steam will get lost in a plethora of incorrect liveries. If people are interested enough, (i.e. enthusiasts), they will always find out what was totally authentic, be that by their own research or a simple question to the man on the footplate. A varied diet is good but beauty is always in the eye of the beholder of course - and you will never please all the people all of the time. (Can I get a few more cliches in?!).

For me...A GWR loco in black? - Oh, please no! Would it stop me from paying to see and hear one? - No. A Castle, etc, built by BR but turned out as GW? - 100% not bothered!

We all have our funny ways.

 

Reference your first paragraph, it's been done, see my post above. I don't think it will happen again people are worried about upsetting the NRM

 

I did a double take there. What was the reason behind the switch?

 

Im fairly relaxed with 35018 in black, as long as it looks " right" same when 35005 was blue, it could have been a lot worse for 18, it could have been out shoped in Rail blue , with a double arrow on the tender , Black, lined, or unlined, its only a coat of paint. hopefully she will soon be back at the head of a rail tour,
One thing about plain black is it shows just how imposing a rebuilt Merchant navy looks up close , had the decision been made to continue with steam , instead of withdrawing the class, and they had been moved enmass to another region,and overhauls continued, they may have ended up in an unlined black livery .