Footplate crew outfit

Welcome back to the forum Rough-Shunter. :smt002

 

oh calm down , im sure you havnt brought one \/

hehe , on a slightly more serious note , i got me messurement wrong* .....whats the possiblity of sending this one back and swapping it for a smaller size , if paying for the postage of course .

*no it turns out im not big headed after all lol

 

Please email the shop @ shop@national-preservation.com
With your order number the size you require.

 

might do that with mine

 

A question to those with past experience of ordering from the NYMR shop.

I hope to sometime today order one of the Footplate Overalls, but was wondering, how do I choose the size I wish to have, and what sort of delivery time would I be expecting?

Thanks

Jonathon

 

I phoned them through after and stated my order no. before giving my size.
Delivery wasn't too bad IIRC, though can't say what it was exact.
Certainly had no complaints.

 

I dont know if anyone has noticed but we're selling the Cap Badges (All Regions)..

See http://www.presnet.co.uk for more information.

Cheers

 

Re. greasetops...

John Beesley is the only source of genuine greasetops as far as I know. His were out of production for a couple of years due to a problem with the factory, which was taken over and relocated. In the process the new owners sacked all of the factory staff who knew where to obtain the right materials for the hats, and it took John two years to source everything again. I know this because I spent about 6 months trying to find a decent replacement for my genuine BR greasetop - including sending one back to Longleat - before eventually giving up and joining the waiting list for one of John's, which eventually appeared another 6 months down the line when production resumed. The only difference in design that I can spot is that the new cap has circular holes for the badge whereas the old one had vertical slots, but I can live with that. The important thing is that it sits right.

The Longleat ones and their brethren are all made by the same manufacturer and feature a wide strip of plastic around the inside (peel back the lining and have a look). That's why they look like helicopter landing pads, Burger Boy. It's nothing to do with age and wear - they're fundamentally wrong and will always look wrong, whereas Beesley's ones are the right shape and the right materials, and worth every penny.

 

However the ones we sell are supporting the forum...

Some people can't afford to spend in exess of £19, £29. The prices I have here are as close to cost as possible.

It's this shop http://www.presnet.co.uk plus the few donations we recieve that keep this forum live.

I hope you understand.

 

It was only the latter day BR greasetops that had vertical slots. My earlier ones (pre 1964 or thereabouts) had round holes.

 

Ahh... fair enough!

 

I've certainly got nothing against the site shop, but I do get a bit wound up by these cheap fake greasetops. They are the wrong shape and they don't settle down like a true greasetop would. What really bothers me is that a lot of people seem to think they're "just how enginemen used to look". Different if you KNOW they're not quite right but weigh it up and make an informed decision based on the cost etc..

Let me put it this way: you wouldn't be happy if you bought a Ferrari at auction and it turned out to be an MR2-based kit car, now, would you? Fine if you went looking for a kit car in the first place, and paid accordingly. That's why I'm making this point. Buy what you want, but know what you're getting first.

In old photos you can recognise people by the shape and angle of their hat, even if they're facing away from the camera. In 10 years every photo will feature a helicopter landing pad, because we're exhausting the last of the genuine hats nicked from BR stores across the land, and that's a real shame in more ways than one, lol. It's only Beesley who is still supplying hats that look authentic and deserve the description 'greasetop', because the other hats with the white plastic strip inside aren't proper greasetops. I know JB went to considerable effort to get everything right, and I think that sort of dedication ought to be commended. His hats are bloody good so buy one if you can. And no, I'm not on commission! :smt003

 

is that like wantting to buy a race horse and getting a dead pig instead ???? - you can tell im not a car person lol

But im going to buy the company pins ( GWR becuse it will anoy the most people lol - and there the best) but ive got to agree , they are like helicopter pads ( before anyone complains , ive got one ....not overly happy with it .) so unforantly , price isnt always good ...if you were to buy them in from beasly , and then selling them off for a couple extra quid , id buy one from here . but unforantly i'm going to go via beasly for the greasetop

Anyone know if its easy to put hair under it or is a hole needed in the back ? ( serious question ....ive been waring a scotland cap with a hole in the back since summer , might need a change lol)

 

Ours do not have this white plastic strip. The ones we have are in the shop buy one if you wish.. If not then you don't have to push everyone away. As I did say, this forum now is starting to survive on what we sell in that shop. The greasetops are one of our best sellers. Take that away from us and we'll be offline before the end of next month. I can't afford to pay for this forum out of my own pocket, And the donations that we greatly recieve are not sufficient to support this forum.

 

i dont think people want to try and push everyone away and just watch this fourm shut down - as much as i hate some people on here i wouldnt want it shut ...i think what people are saying is if your going to sell it as a greasetop , atleast get a decent greasetop in the shop

 

I've had a look at the picture of the greasetop in the shop and it doesn't look so bad to me. It simply looks like most greasetops look when they are brand new. In order to get rid of the 'top hat' effect, you have to cut round the internal band to reduce its depth by about half. Then you'll find that the top lays much flatter and the overall look is ok. If I was still active on the footplate side of things I'd get one of these, do the above as I have with many previous examples, and keep it as my No. 2 for prep etc. And at that price, it makes a lot of sense!

 

you shouldnt need to cut a brand new item of any type to make it look or fit properly

 

If it means you can easily make a brand new gresetop look ok, the purchase of which supports Nat-Pres, isn't it worth a go? Anyhow, immediate modifications to brand new greasetops were common in BR days.

 

You'd be surprised to know what BR footplate crews did to make their greasetops look respectable. I've never heard of the sweatband being cut down but I do know that the sweatband stitching at the back was regularly cut to improve the style. A BR guy showed me that one many years ago. It was also fashionable for the younger firemen to sow down the sides in the 60's. I've been doing that for years. I've never had a non genuine BR greasetop and I recently cut the stitches on the sides of one of my present ones to see what happened. The result was that it tends to stand up on my head, a bit like a short chefs hat, or helicopter pad to quote an earlier expression. I'll probably sow it back down, again. This particular one is by Saunders & Brightman of Luton (inevitably!) and is dated 1966. I can't read the details of my other one, anymore. Too grubby!