The LNER Encyclopedia

Were the ends of the LNER TPOs of the early-mid '30s (D164 and 165) back or varnished? As gangway stock I'd have expected varnish but I suspect black. It is impossible to tell from monochrome photos of grubby stock in later years! Milk brakes converted to mail tenders presumably retained black ends?

As you mentioned they would be varnished teak.

However the flat ends would have been much worse for accumulating dirt so I doubt they stayed clean for long in service.
Also while the postal stock was an important service it was obviously not carrying paying passengers so I expect it was lower down the pecking order when it came to external cleaning.

Have you seen the Steve Banks website it has a lot of useful information including a section on TPOs - https://www.steve-banks.org/modelling/2 ... po-lner-er

And also teak livery - https://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-a ... ak-coaches

Alan

Thank you Alan, really helpful.