Daft Question about Colour

[ron]

I had a very interesting visit to the NRM in York last week, would recommend it to any steam buffs.
One thing I noticed was the buffer beams on their locos are painted an orangy shade of red rather than pillar box red which I'd never noticed before , question is, in the past was there an official shade or were they just painted whatever pot of red happened to be handy?
Ron

[Laurie_B]

Ron,
Good question.And I thought red was (wait for it) 'Simply Red'.I'll get me coat!
But looking in Jim Russell's book at the paint schedule for GWR locos (from 1875-1947),buffer beams and stocks,and the insides of frames were painted 'China red'.
B.R. Standard engine buffer beams and stocks were painted 'signal red',which as you say does have a slightly orange tinge to it.Apparently the insides of the frames of B.R Standards were painted black and not red.
I'm not sure what colour paint other companies used.I seem to think vermillion might have been used.Although the exact colour was specified,I guess that in practice the exact shade may have varied from one mix of paint to the next.

[stantheman]

The reply about the insides of 'Standard Class' locomotives being black and not red has answered a point I was unsure of, thanks.

Stan

[Laurie_B]

No problem Stan.
I first heard of this from Doug Hewson who has done a lot of research into the BR Standard locos.This is confirmed in Edward Talbot's 'Pictorial Record' book on the BR 'Standards'.

[Jason]

While we are on the subjects of what colour to paint the inside frames of loco's, can somebody help me with what colour the inside frames where painted on a tender, or more to the point on a Stanier converted type 'A' de-streamlined tender used on a BR Duchess?

I presume they are black, but if any body can confirm this it would be much appreciated.

Jason

[John Lee]

jason said:

While we are on the subjects of what colour to paint the inside frames of loco's, can somebody help me with what colour the inside frames where painted on a tender, or more to the point on a Stanier converted type 'A' de-streamlined tender used on a BR Duchess?

I presume they are black, but if any body can confirm this it would be much appreciated.

Jason

I think you will find they are (nearly) always the same as the loco Jason

Regards,

John

[Deleted]

I believe that the inside loco frames on the BR Standard class 7 (Britannias) are signal red from the rear of the smokebox saddle to the front of the firebox. That's what my livery data sheet from Precision Paints says, and both 70000 and 70013 are painted that way, at least in preservation. The tender frames are black inside.

The livery data sheet also says that the edges of the buffer beams should be black rather than red, but most of the locos I've seen, including 70000 and 70013, have red edges. This may be down to amateurs like me being let loose with a paintbrush during the restoration! Someone has also recently painted red stripes on the yellow Timken axlebox covers on 70013, which I don't believe that it ever had in BR service (although 70000 did). Does anyone know what this red stripe signifies?

Regards, John

[Laurie_B]

jj said:

Someone has also recently painted red stripes on the yellow Timken axlebox covers on 70013, which I don't believe that it ever had in BR service (although 70000 did). Does anyone know what this red stripe signifies?

Regards, John

I think that the red stripe (which was usually painted over the yellow painted axlebox cover) was to signify that the axlebox bearing contained either a Timken or SKF bearing which was to be grease lubricated.The red stripe was supposed to stop people putting oil into these bearings.
This red/yellow colour scheme for axlebox covers wasn't introduced until some years after nationalisation,possibly in the early sixties.
There are photos of 70013 at Lostock Hall shed prior to working the famous (possibly infamous!) "15 Guinea Special" in 1968,and they show that the axlebox covers on the pony truck and tender had received the red/yellow paint by that date.