Late sight of working PO wagon...

[rob237]

I have a pleasant colour picture of an immaculate Dwight D Eisenhower (BR green, late tender crest) leaving the FP coaling tower.
Amongst a rake of adjacent fully loaded coal wagons is former PO 7 planker MALTBY, with totally legible white lettering and its original red background. Was it common to see such PO wagons, in a working role, at such a late stage?

Cheers
Robt P.

[65447]

Robt,

Not common, but not rare either. However an example such as you describe still with the body colour clearly showing at that late stage is definitely a 'survivor'.

PO wagons taken into ownership by the nationalised railway were not as a rule repainted, except for the ironwork to protect against rust, and only the designated area used for lettering/numbering would have been painted black together with the diagonal white strip to indicate the end door. Planking would require replacement and often this broke up the original livery and lettering.

Likely that the wagon was either new or repainted just before common usage was introduced as a conseqence of WW2, and that the Maltby red was formulated much as red oxide protective undercoat which gave durability, other reds being prone to rapid fading.

Where might a copy of this photo be seen?

[rob237]

65447,

Thanks for your response...

Can't recall the source of the picture.

PM me with your email addie, and I'll forward it as an attachment.

Cheers
Robt P.

[69999]

This photograph appears in The Colour of Steam Vol 4 The LNER Pacifics by P N Townend. Published by Atlantic in 1985. The pages are not numbered. The image appears in the A4 section in the middle pages of the book.
The photograph is credited to J. P. Mullett/Colour Rail.
The date given as October 1961.

69999