Lynton and Barnstaple - Operations and Development

It would not be my first choice to be honest, but the FR/WHR works locos are all in Grey, maybe wasp strips are required on each end. I suppose the same could be said for black steam locomotives. I suppose whatever colour you turn them out in, someone will not be happy.

Two factors come into play: who buys the paint, and whether it was cheap. This reminds me of a story I was once told about a painting contract (I can't confirm whether it was true or not). But the story goes that the store man was told to order 10 1/2 gallon tins of red paint, but it was misread at the suppliers, and they ended up with 10 12-gallon containers of red paint.

Of course, we could have a Ford enthusiast at Woody Bay who was told you can have them in any colour you like as long as it is grey.

I'll get my coat

 

It's not my cup of tea, but looks smart and presentable for what is I suspect a lot less effort than a more complex livery - I suspect the most important consideration. Reading other threads about paint manufacturers, I'm not sure how important I see price being - there seem to be paints out there which are cheap but not so good, and I'd rather more had been spent to do a longer lasting job.

 

Is it used for passenger services or is it simply treated as a piece of plant?

 

If its plant then it should be green

 

Its just the current (inexplicable) fashion. Look at the colour of 95% of cars. White or grey audis, teslas, - the electric volvo on the tv ad just now....I don't understand why boring misery seems to be all the rage, but here we are.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, the US railroad tycoon who owned the New York Central who coined this phrase. Seeing his loco sheds filled with the beautifully ornate locomotives of the Victorian era, needing maintenance, cleaning and polishing-he saw only expense, and ordered an end. It was argued that engineers had always been allowed to decorate their locomotives as they liked- and his reply was "Tell them they can still have any color they like........ as long as its black"
Henry Ford claimed in his autobiography that he made the statement- there's a lot of dubious claims in that volume- but did not actually claim to have coined it. In truth, the models N and S were gloriously colourful, and from 1908 -1913, the model T was not offered in black. However in 1910 a model T cost $780, in 1924 it was $290- and the uniform cheap black paint, introduced in 1914, was just one part of the drive to reduce production costs

 

Quite by chance - in an idle moment - I was looking at some publicity material which landed in my Inbox from a motor dealership. Nice looking new cars, but the choice of colours appeared to be white, blue or various 'shades of grey' (ahem). Quite why people drive cars that are almost invisible at night and nearly as bad to see on a typical wet wintre's day baffles me.

 

Personally, I like the plain grey livery - it is smart, understated, workmanlike, gives a 'fleet identity' with PILTON, and doesn't take anything away from the passenger-hauling locos. Besides, if anybody has a pressing desire to paint something, I'm sure the staff and volunteers at WB will be pleased to hear from new volunteers.

 

Some excellent news today - the Barnstaple and Yeo Valley Railway Trust - the new name for Exmoor Associates in effect - have annouced that they've purchased more than 700 meters of trackbed from North Devon Scouts, giving the railway family a continuous run bar 25m at Valley Cottage of 5.2 km/3.2 miles from Snapper through to just short of Chumhill!

A remarkable achievement by Mike Buse and his team - I'd often heard this argued as "impossible" and yet here it is - delivered. Raise a glass to another big step forward - and if you can, please consider donating here.

 

A new YouTube, courtesy of Keith Edwards, has been released in conjunction with this great news.



(also available via the BYVRT website, see my signature below)

 

That is most welcome news, and the Video is not bad either