Number 'styling' B1s

[Graeme Leary]

I have a Bachmann model B1 LNER Apple Green Sir William Grey 1189 which I plan to rename and number as 'Gnu' 1018 which I understand was the number used in the LNER period pre Nationalisation.
However, the numbers on the model as supplied are in a rather plain style, not at all like the (is it?) 'san seraph' with the red shaded effect coming back from the gold main number, which all my other LNER locos were supplied with and which various DVDs suggest is the norm. Is this 'plainer' style of 'font' the only one that is correct, but as I'm renumbering in the Big 4 era, is the 'san seraph' font quite acceptable? (I hope the answer is 'yes' as I have the full range of numbers in this font).

Secondly, you might also be able to confirm that Sir William Gray/1189 did in fact exist as it does NOT appear on the Wikipedia B1 info of names with what is described in one list as 'LNER' numbers with a separate column showing 'LNER 1946' numbers (from where I've got the details on 'Gnu'), and yet Sir William Gray DOES show on the list on LNER Encyclopedia Forum as my model's number (1189) but on the same list -separately - as 1018/Gnu. Most confusing for a 'colonial' who is going to all this trouble thanks to Flanders and Swann's delightful ditty 'I'm a G N U'.

Hope you can clarify both my queries.
Many thanks again.
Graeme Leary
New Zealand

[Darryl Tooley]

According to the RCTS 'Locomotive of the LNER' part 2B, both 1018 and 1189 were outshopped in the same livery ie green with unshaded yellow insignia in Gill Sans, or at any rate the LNER's interpretation of it. Photographs of other engines from the same batches (in Yeadon's Register Vol 6 & elsewhere) would seem to bear this out, and given how late they came to the party, it seems unlikely that either engine would have worn any other livery prior to Nationalisation

Serifs are the ornamental bits on the ends of the lines that make up a letter. As far as I can tell all LNER locomotives had sans serif lettering (sans=without). Carriages were a different matter. The unshaded 'Gill Sans' was introduced quite late in the LNER's lifetime, and there were plenty of LNER engines with the shaded lettering at Nationalisation.

All printed sources show that 1018 'Gnu' and 1189 'Sir William Gray' existed as separate and distinct engines.

Hope this helps

D

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

The unshaded Sans numbers were introduced after the stock of transfers ran out! Thompson renumbered locomotives twice after the War.....

[JASd17]

There is a colour slide of GNU at York. It is in the livery described by Darryl.

John

[1H was 2E]

I went to a 56 area shed (Ardsley, I think) at the end of steam and someone had removed the layers of black paint from the cabside of a B1 to reveal the LNER number and some Apple Green. I think it was one with an Antelope name. It was inside the shed and too dark to photo. Does anyone remember this or, better still, photograph it?

[Boris]

There is a picture in "Yeadon's" volume 6 of 1190 on lined tender,could be green,with Gill Sans and L.N.E.R. on the tender so I assume 1179 would be the same, but it was from a different builder than 1179