White painted smokebox straps?.

[Mickey]

I noticed after watching many dvds of 1960s steam that quite a number of mainly ex L.M.S & B.R. standard design locomotives and even some ex G.W.R. locos running in the 1960s like Stannier 8Fs or B.R. standard 9Fs and even W.R. Halls had there smokebox door straps 'picked out' in white paint amongst the dirt and grime of the locos usual external condition by that time during the run down of steam. Apart from it looking 'cool' was there any particular reason why this was done to locomotives?.

[65447]

Loco Crews at Stratford and the London area sub-sheds were keen to make 'their' engines look good and various 'bulling' techniques were used.

The former GER locos had a smokebox door with a ring rather than straps and this was often rubbed with emery or other abrasive to burnish it. Red paint on the number plates, painted interiors to cabs with all brass and copper work burnished and so on all added to the effect. That's without the special treatment given to the 'Royal' locos, the Liverpool Street station pilot and so on. Some of this appertained to Ipswich and Norwich sheds too. It resulted principally from a policy of allocating a loco to a crew - so that each crew knew that any work put in would be worth it as the loco would stay with them.

The Stratford 'bulling' continued into diesel days with white-painted roofs and other extra refinements over and above the standard livery.

[50C]

I seem to remember Immingham Brits and B1's being treated in the same way-I think.

50c

[rob237]

They certainly were...
Perhaps the prime example was their 'favourite' Brit' Clive of India, which got the full treatment..
Several of their K3's also had the adornments.

According to photographic evidence, perhaps the shed with the most decorated loco's was Haymarket.

Another depot which went in for smokebox painting - especially on B1's, B16's and D49's - was Neville Hill.

Cheers
Robt P.

[60129 GUY MANNERING]

I remember 51L Thornaby used to do their V2's. 60915 was a fine example.

[52D]

Buffer burnishing from the normal quarters to the more unusual thistle motif was favoured in Scotland as was the earlier practice of stars and other geometric shapes in the smokebox door centres.
The NER did indulge in a bit of decoration including political satire and scantily clad nymphs but Hoole states the powers at be soon put a stop to that malarkey.
Coming into the present almost. I must say i liked the wee dug on some Scottish based diesels.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[James Brodie]

Sirs,
For a while we were classed as fireman put back-ie-back cleaning! after twenty plus years service.
The reason we painted the smokebox hinges, round the buffer edges picked out the numbers on the smokebox door and the shed code plate even the background to nameplates to tangerine was-we were proud of our engines and depot.
We kept the electric lights working by using spares from visiting foriegn engines and for the fuses I used to "borrow" the wifes curlers.
Our first named engine was a B1 61030 Reedbuck-I think-we were bacck firing and driving when the Green arrows came along. 60915 I lost NINETEEN minutes on the Tees Thames saltburn to York due to poor steaming. We found out the engine should have gone to works for a general but had been allocated to Dia TY1M instead.Sacre Bleur.
Jim Brodie.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[chaz harrison]

All in all personally i think it 'enhanced' the look of the locomotive with white painted smokebox door straps.

Well Micky, any aesthetic judgement like this has to a matter of personal opinion. I thought the white hinges (and sometimes buffer faces as well) looked awful, particularly when the loco was otherwise filthy. I remember seeing a B1 that was so dirty you could detect no hint of red on the buffer-beam and the white hinges just looked silly. It always struck me as a doomed attempt to make up for the total lack of any cleaners.
On the other hand when the cleaners at Top Shed spent some time and effort on a Pacific the results could be most impressive. Just look at P95 in P N Townend's book - Falcon shines like a mirror. Canada and Seagull on P83 are also worth a look.

Chaz

[Flamingo]

I tend to agree with Chaz. The white painted components proliferated in the final years of steam on BR especially on engines selected for railtour duties, yet often their smokebox numberplates and / or nameplates were missing.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[mr B]

I remember 51L Thornaby used to do their V2's. 60915 was a fine example.

" TheTees Thames" at its best, Saltburn - Kings X .

mr B

[Pyewipe Junction]

It must be my imagination, but the locos I saw (mainly from Immingham) had the door straps painted silver, not white.

[James Brodie]

we could only steal white paint!