Pre-Nationisation coaching stock in blue and grey.

[Merle Haggard]

On a Devon & Cornwall bash chasing (primarily) D6300s I photo'd these two Thomson sleepers vat Newton Abbot in 1967 or 1968. From memory, they were on a Motor-rail service ' the car on the xleftx edit : RIGHT! has a red stripe.. Scanned from a 35mm slide a long time ago on an early scanner, not sharp enough to read the numbers but they were E17nnE series

 

[Sun Chariot]

On a Devon & Cornwall bash chasing (primarily) D6300s I photo'd these two Thomson sleepers vat Newton Abbot in 1967 or 1968. From memory, they were on a Motor-rail service ' the car on the leftbhas a red stripe.. Scanned from a 35mm slide a long time ago on an early scanner, not sharp enough to read the numbers but they were E17nnE series




View attachment 170059

Brilliant stuff. Michael Harris's "LNER Carriages" book has a Thompson dia 368 SLF in blue-grey, laying over at Preston in October 1969.
The book also has a photo of Gresley E1211E dia 227 66' 6" sleeping car (with shower) in blue and grey, at King's Cross, in 1968.

The red striped vehicle: from its profile, I wager a Mk1. The absence of end door, makes me think the kitchen side+end of an RU or RB

 

[Ashley Hill]

On a Devon & Cornwall bash chasing (primarily) D6300s I photo'd these two Thomson sleepers vat Newton Abbot in 1967 or 1968. From memory, they were on a Motor-rail service ' the car on the xleftx edit : RIGHT! has a red stripe.. Scanned from a 35mm slide a long time ago on an early scanner, not sharp enough to read the numbers but they were E17nnE series




View attachment 170059

Were these plagued with asbestos in the same way the Mk1 sleepers were?

 

[Mr. SW]

The Worth Valley Railway had two Thompson sleepers W1770E and W1769E as staff accommodation at Haworth 1971. 1769 was definitely B/G on arrival and branded "Sleeping Car". Not sure about the other.

 

[Helvellyn]

Two lots of vehicles I can't see mentioned, which also lasted until the mid-1980s:

• The ex-LNER special saloons that were used as Observation Cars in Scotland.
  • SC1998E Loch Eil, built Doncaster 1936
  • SC1999E Lochaber, built York 1945
• The Vale of Rheidol stock built by the GWR at Swindon in the 1920s and 1930s. They carried Blue and Grey before getting Chocolate and Cream in the mid-1980s (possibly linked with GWR 150 celebrations?).

Well, I was actually wrong on the Vale of Rheidol coaching stock - seems they were just in plain blue.

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/the-evanses/14303332385/sizes/l/

I have, however, found a photo of SC1999E in Blue and Grey, complete with painted 'Lochaber' nameplate on the coach end.

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertcwp/7362940838/in/album-72157603653607671/

 

[theageofthetra]

Now my memory is a bit vague but as a kid in the early 70's we had a record narrated by Johnny Morris where he was at the Bluebell Railway, possibly made sometimes in the 60's. On the front was I think Birch Grove and I'm sure a BR blue coach, I'm sure in the Bluebells early years it can't have been anything new?. Anyone remember this?

 

[WesternLancer]

Now my memory is a bit vague but as a kid in the early 70's we had a record narrated by Johnny Morris where he was at the Bluebell Railway, possibly made sometimes in the 60's. On the front was I think Birch Grove and I'm sure a BR blue coach, I'm sure in the Bluebells early years it can't have been anything new?. Anyone remember this?

This image or one with their early carriages in blue does ring a bell with me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Nov 2024 ==

And here it is

Johnny Morris On The Bluebell Railway. 1970 Vinyl LP. DCM 1209. | eBay UK

Vinyl in very good condition. Plays well. Sleeve as pictures

www.ebay.co.uk

Cover image on e bay example of the vinyl record’Johnny Morris on The Bluebell Railway’

Looks like it may be a Maunsell coach. Rear cover is black and white and features the loco fleet.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Were these plagued with asbestos in the same way the Mk1 sleepers were?

There were what might politely be called 'corrosion issues', perhaps connected with being the L.N.E.R.'s first attempt at steel bodywork. Personally, I thought that the Thomson stock looked modern - more so than B.R. Standards - but the (i.m.o.) attractive square corners to the windows were said to be one of the factors that encouraged corrosion.
I think the answer to your question therefore is that they rusted away before the asbestos issue came to the fore.

 

[sh24]

I do enjoy this kind of thread. The idea of Class 86/AL6 hauling an LMS designed carriage in blue grey is quite delightful!

 

[Gloster]

This image or one with their early carriages in blue does ring a bell with me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Nov 2024 ==

And here it is

Johnny Morris On The Bluebell Railway. 1970 Vinyl LP. DCM 1209. | eBay UK

Vinyl in very good condition. Plays well. Sleeve as pictures

www.ebay.co.uk

Cover image on e bay example of the vinyl record’Johnny Morris on The Bluebell Railway’

Looks like it may be a Maunsell coach. Rear cover is black and white and features the loco fleet.

Could that just be the colour reproduction of the photo or manipulation of the colour balance, as I think it is called. I certainly wouldn’t see it as proof of blue livery.

 

[Beebman]

Photo from Flickr of late-surviving Gresley sleeper E1211E in B&G at Boat of Garten on the Strathspey Railway in 1973 (the caption says it was the last wooden bodied sleeping car in service with BR when withdrawn the year before):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kettledrummle/14386347165/in/pool-2653468@N23/

It appears to have been restored to teak finish but then in 2015 it moved to Bo'ness where it was repainted back to B&G:

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=933

Were these plagued with asbestos in the same way the Mk1 sleepers were?

Looks like E1211E was - there's a page linked below about the removal of asbestos from the coach in 2018 by a specialist company (at a cost of £17,563):

https://www.enviraz.co.uk/case-studies/scottish-railway-preservation-society.aspx

 

[Sun Chariot]

Photo from Flickr of late-surviving Gresley sleeper E1211E in B&G at Boat of Garten on the Strathspey Railway in 1973 (the caption says it was the last wooden bodied sleeping car in service with BR when withdrawn the year before):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kettledrummle/14386347165/in/pool-2653468@N23/

That's the one I was mooting in post #92 Dia 227

 

[D6130]

That's the one I was mooting in post #92 Dia 227

Does anyone know on which service E1211E was used prior to withdawal in 1972?

 

[WesternLancer]

Could that just be the colour reproduction of the photo or manipulation of the colour balance, as I think it is called. I certainly wouldn’t see it as proof of blue livery.

I think I've seen other pics of stock in early Bluebell days in blue - not sure if it was the same as BR blue however, or why they chose that colour

but maybe that was 'Bluebell Blue' as seen in this lovely picture here where that seems ot have been recreated

Bluebell Railway Carriages - SR Brake Composite No. 6575

www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

No. 6575 in 'Bluebell Blue' with Stepney at the 50th Anniversary
of its arrival on the Railway, 17 May 2010 (Richard Salmon)

One of the Bluebell's first two coaches (the only two for the first year), this vehicle was at first painted "Bluebell Blue". By 1974 it was practically falling apart, and was withdrawn from use until its overhaul started in 1979. Returning to traffic in 1981, having received a complete rebuild, 6575 was one of three vehicles selected in March 1992 for use in the feature film Chaplin.

With a leaking roof and the general deterioration of both the interior and the structure at the brake end, 6575 was withdrawn from service at the end of November 2000 requiring an intermediate overhaul. The carriage was covered with a tarpaulin and remained in open storage until 2010, when it was given a full repaint into "Bluebell Blue" (having been taken back to bare metal) for the railway's 50th Anniversary celebrations in May 2010.

 

[D6130]

I think I've seen other pics of stock in early Bluebell days in blue - not sure if it was the same as BR blue however, or why they chose that colour

Perhaps because it was - very approximately - the same colour as the flowers after whcih the line was named?

 

[WesternLancer]

Perhaps because it was - very approximately - the same colour as the flowers after whcih the line was named?

Thanks - that was what I was thinking after I posted that. Seems highly probable.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Does anyone know on which service E1211E was used prior to withdawal in 1972?

Michael Harris's book has a photo of E1211E at King's Cross in 1968. No mention of which specific service but I'd assume the Edinburgh - King's Cross turn (photo taken in daylight).
I wonder whether the in-carriage shower was in use, by then?

 

[Ashley Hill]

E1211E certainly carries blue and grey well in that 2018 photo. I’m glad it’s preserved in that livery (assuming it still is) as there is plenty of LNER stock preserved in teak.

 

[30907]

I think I've seen other pics of stock in early Bluebell days in blue - not sure if it was the same as BR blue however, or why they chose that colour

but maybe that was 'Bluebell Blue' as seen in this lovely picture here where that seems ot have been recreated

Bluebell Railway Carriages - SR Brake Composite No. 6575

www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

The original two coaches (BCK and S) were definitely in blue, though the modern picture shows a glossier finish than I remember from 60 years ago
It of course pre-dated Rail Blue, but then the Bluebell was a pioneer

 

[Magdalia]

Does anyone know on which service E1211E was used prior to withdawal in 1972?

My "go to" source for things like this is David Percival's Kings Cross Lineside: 1958-1984.

This says that all LNER stock, apart from buffet cars and sleeping cars, was withdrawn from ECML service in early 1969.

But it mentions two sleeping cars in Blue and Grey, Gresley E1211E and Thompson E1292E, and both continuing in service into 1969.

There is a picture of E1211E at Kings Cross, the caption saying that it was in the 0100 to Newcastle on 28 February 1969.

 

[matchmaker]

Here's a link to a photo of B&G Porthole CK M24635M:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/34575086940/

And one to a pic of B&G Porthole SK M13167M:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/34151857223/

(the source of both photos is given as 53A Models of Hull Collection)

Bachmann actually made a OO gauge model of M13167M in blue & grey. I've just bought one!