The LNER Encyclopedia

Can anyone please enlighten me why there appear to be two types of shed plate post 1948: those with the curly "6" with smaller figures, and those with the standard "6" with slightly larger figures? Can't seem to find anything in my railway book library.

If you care to look at the rest of Eastern Region numbers you will find that is replicated on the cab side too.

One is called the "Doncaster" 6 whilst the other is standard Sans serif.

HTH Paul

I've always understood that shed plates were made locally as the need arose.

Perhaps that accounts for deviations from the standard template.

I think replacements were made at those sheds that had casting ability, but originals would have come from Doncaster, Stratford etc,
hence the Doncaster 6

Pail

john coffin wrote: ↑Sun Mar 25, 2018 9:48 am If you care to look at the rest of Eastern Region numbers you will find that is replicated on the cab side too.

One is called the "Doncaster" 6 whilst the other is standard Sans serif.

HTH Paul

The official typeface was that commissioned by the LNER from Eric Gill and was originally 'Gill Sans Light' , the 'light' referring to the 'weight' or thickness of the lines that made up each character. The correct form of the numerals with tails was to stop at the top or bottom of the numeral but not to continue to curve around - see specification below.
There was a period during which the wrong form numerals 6 and 9 were applied but these were generally corrected at the next available opportunity. I have not found any information that adequately explains how this came about or whether it was limited to just one works.

British Railways subsequently switched to 'Gill Sans Medium'.

As Paul notes, plates were usually cast by the main works. Wooden patterns were used to impress the sand mould, so the shape of the characters would depend to an extent on the patterns available or to hand for the job. Such differences would be less likely on the shed plates since they were much fewer with the afflicted numerals in the codes, as opposed to every ex-LNER locomotive's running number starting with the numeral 6.

The fascinating thing is that actually it seems Doncaster only ever did the 6 differently, not the 9, or at least I have never
seen it mentioned by anyone else.

In checking some recent photographs, I noticed that I had a number of the same class of GNR saddle tanks which were serviced
at Stratford, or Doncaster, and certainly the cab side 6's were different. However. like most photos, checking the shed plate
was not that easy, or until this conversation, I had not thought to check, so I do not know how many were with the different
6.

Of interest also is that it is not truly possible in model form to re-create the shed plates produced at Doncaster, because they
are not "properly ovoid", rather they were cut across a round piece of timber, at an angle to obtain the oval shape.

Paul