The LNER Encyclopedia

Apologies in advance if this should be in general railway chat as it is more about these coaches in BR days. I would just like to know what the livery have been on these coaches in early BR Days? I am talking BR blood and custard as well as BR Maroon. These coaches I presume were used as suburban coaches and I thought that as such they would not have been lined in the later maroon livery but I have a picture of this type of coach with the central lining but no top lining ie above the windows, was this normal practice?

Regards

Karl

Hi Karl.
I dont know whther this will help or hinder you, but I think that in the early 1950's BR suburban stock was painted in a colour slightly different from the Maroon or Blodd and Custard. The few photos that I have seen (bearing in mind the differences in quality lighting conditions and film/paper processing), show that BR suburban stock was a more red colour. Certainly more red than maroon and maybe even more cherry red than Carmine.
The Maroon livery did not start to be used until the mid 1950's.

Maybe someone else knows more.

Andy

Karl,

In early BR days, LNER stock remained in teak for some time until they got round to repainting it in red for non corridor or blood and custard livery for corridor stock. This took years to complete. The teak vehicles just got renumbered and varnished. They continued using the old LNER shaded transfers as well. In 1950 most stock was teak or brown.

The steel bodied coaches were painted in a brown colour to match the teak stock.

Colour photographs of local trains in Hugh Ballantynes book "Eastern Steam in Colour" taken in the NE Region in April 1954 show a mixture of both red and varnished teak none corridor carriages in the same train.

There is a picture by J M Jarvis of some Thompson steel bodied stock also taken in the same month and they look quite a bright red, not at all maroon. They were not lined in any way. By 1957 there was virtually no varnished teak left and the last that I remember was a full brake parked in Platform 11 at York in that year.

In "On North Eastern Lines" by Derek Huntriss there is another photo taken by JM Jarvis in April 1954 of a Hunt at Kirkham Abbey with a rake of 6 Gresley teak corridor coaches. Two are in Blood and Custard and the rest are varnished teak.

My best advice to you would be to get some early colour photographs. Always try to go back to the original. Do not copy other's models.

Colombo

Thanks Columbo thats helped me along a bit. One more question this time about Thompson suburban coaches. I have drawings that show a LNER Thompson Semi-Corridor Composite Lavatory Suburban coach with a large '1' on the corridor window of the first class area. My question is did this remain on the windows of these coaches when repaineted into BR Maroon or was it removed?

Regards

Karl

Karl,

I have a colour photograph dated 1954 of a Thompson Semi-Corridor Composite that has been repainted in red, in Hugh Ballantyne's "Eastern Steam in Colour". This shows the letter "l" for first class on the lower half of each of the first class compartment doors. (I have typed a lower case L to indicate a 1 in the BR Font).

At the moment I am upgrading my rake of Bachman Thompson carmine and cream corridor carriages with SE Finecast flush glaze windows and the correct HMRS blue first class and red "no-smoking" triangular transfers on the windows. They are still not as well detailed as the same manufacturers Mk1s, but the upgrade is worth it.

Colombo