BR Jacket Questions

[McMetro]

Hi,
I recently acquired a BR jacket to wear at a railway I volunteer at, and I’d love to know more about it, such as the rough age of it and what roles it would have been used in. I’ve not got it with me at the moment but I’ve found the exact same type on the science museum archive website:

British Railways uniform jacket, double arrow lapels | Science Museum Group Collection

Railway uniform jacket, style DN; Mid-blue, gilt double arrow buttons, plastic double arrow lapel badges.

collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk

- I’ve also attached a photo of the uniform (from the science museum archive page)

I’m also interested that the double arrow lapels have a green background, is that to say it was a southern?

Thank you

 

[Father Jack]

That's a drivers jacket, last issued iirc, probably around the mid eighties, when BR changed the uniform, the lapel badges used to a pale blue colour, but I suspect after getting on for 40 years the colour has degraded to a greeny colour.
I've still got my last issue up in the loft.

 

[McMetro]

That's a drivers jacket, last issued iirc, probably around the mid eighties, when BR changed the uniform, the lapel badges used to a pale blue colour, but I suspect after getting on for 40 years the colour has degraded to a greeny colour.
I've still got my last issue up in the loft.

Thanks for your reply. So the jacket was issued from around the 60s to 80s, nice!
The lapel badges are an interesting one, all the photos of uniforms I find with the same lapels appear in the same minty green colour, however I can see how it used to be a pale blue, I suppose the colour on all the uniforms degraded similarly after a few decades.

 

[Gloster]

The new style uniform was, I think, introduced in 1964, although it is possible that it was not issued to drivers, or at least some of them, until steam was dead (or nearly so) a few years later. It may have been altered a bit later (late 1980s?).

 

[McMetro]

On further looking, you can clearly see the original pale blue on the sides of the lapels opposed to the degraded greeny front @Father Jack mentioned.
Thanks

 

[Ashley Hill]

The 1964 issue IIRC had metal stars on the collar and not the plastic arrows shown. Footplate crews used to moan about them catching their skin.

 

[McMetro]

The 1964 issue IIRC had metal stars on the collar and not the plastic arrows shown. Footplate crews used to moan about them catching their skin.

Ah ok, so I suppose I’m looking at a date at least a few years later from then. Thanks

 

[Ashley Hill]

There's a book called Badges,Buttons and Uniforms by Froggatt which could give you a more information. It's long out of print,collectable and expensive. I remember there's a section on BR uniforms with pictures of drivers in various styles .