What colour were GWR corrugated iron goods sheds eg Slough, Reading

[GWR_Modeller]

Does anyone know what colour GWR painted the corrugated iron clad steel framed goods shed it built as extensions to brick sheds in late 1920s and 1930s?

 

I am thinking of the modest deveopments at Slough, Paignton and Reading and not the massive one at Paddington. The photographs I have seen are black and white and show the cladding is a light colour. There does not appear to be any contrasting colour. It could be bare metal. There is no sign of any glint or glare off the metal in the photos so I presume they were painted.

 

Regards, Tom

[Steamport Southport]

The usual colours were.

 

GWR days. GWR Light Stone and GWR Dark Stone.

 

BR days. Chocolate and Cream.

 

 

 

https://www.stationcolours.com/gwr

 

 

 

Jason

[GWR_Modeller]

I thought that might be the case. Any idea which bits were which colours. The usual principle of raised detail in dark stone seems difficult to apply. From a b/w photo of Slough the interior columns don't seem to be white as they would be in a brick and timber framed shed. Might they be dark stone? The only other details are steel framed windows in the half clad rear, the canopy valance over the open cart platform and a set of steps.

Tom

[Karhedron]

The only photos I have been able to find of how the GWR painted corrugated iron are their pagodas and lineside huts. Not the same but given the GWR's love of standardisation, probably a good guide in the absence of concrete information. In GWR days, these were painted in light and dark stone as show on these photos (a preservation shot in the case of the pagoda).

 

 

 

In BR days, corrugated iron seems to have been painted plain black rather than the chocolate and cream that might be expected. Maybe there some choc and cream examples about.

 

 

 

[Steamport Southport]

I would think the black is a type of tar to stop them corroding. They were probably well past looking after them at that point.

 

 

There's a corrugated iron clad goods shed here.

 

http://www.wsr.org.uk/r-cam-bl2.htm

 

 

 

Jason

[TheSignalEngineer]

The big goods shed at Tyseley was painted with some kind of bitumen based paint in BR days and we referred to it as The Black Shed

[GWR_Modeller]

The only photos I have been able to find of how the GWR painted corrugated iron are their pagodas and lineside huts. Not the same but given the GWR's love of standardisation, probably a good guide in the absence of concrete information. In GWR days, these were painted in light and dark stone as show on these photos (a preservation shot in the case of the pagoda).

 

 

 

In BR days, corrugated iron seems to have been painted plain black rather than the chocolate and cream that might be expected. Maybe there some choc and cream examples about.

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Karhedron,

On a slightly different tack.

The picture with the pagoda in it has three different shades of stone or brown. The fence and the trolley are an intermediate tone to the light and dark stone of the pagoda. What colour do you think that is? I thought the trolley would be dark brown.

Regards, Tom

[Karhedron]

That is a good question. At first I thought it was just trick of the lighting but other photos from different angles show the same thing.

 

Maybe it is a combination of a different batch of paint and the effect of weathering. Possibly not unlike the real thing back in the day. GWR paints were mixed by hand so were not consistent like today's paints. Also the pigments were less stable meaning more variation in weathering.

 

 

I assume the DRC don't use authentic paint as lead was banned in paint at least 40 years ago.

[melmerby]

 GWR paints were mixed by hand so were not consistent like today's paints. Also the pigments were less stable meaning more variation in weathering.

 

From "The Great Western Way"

There were 4 common paint colours (Standard Tints) for stations etc.  Stone No.1 (Light Stone), Stone No.2 (Mid Stone), Stone No.3 (Dark Stone) & Purple Brown pre WW1, Chocolate after.

Usually tint 1 was used for undercoat, but when it was used for a topcoat tint 2 was used for undercoat!

So it looks like three shades wasn't uncommon and when mixed by hand, using a colour tint card as a guide no doubt more variations would occur.

 

Post WW1 paint was supplied ready-mixed from paint suppliers, so should be more consistent

 

Post WW2 the standard painting scheme was "Chocolate and three shades of stone"

 

Keith

 

EDIT Rewritten after consulting some books.

Edited September 8, 2018 by melmerby

[TheSignalEngineer]

In this picture of the new shed at Solihull when it was built in 1934 it appears to be black. The other buildings are in lighter colours.

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrs2620.htm

[dibber25]

There were lots of corrugated iron buildings in BR WR days still painted in either light or dark stone. The shade varied as the painter mixed it on site. The precise style of application varied according to the painter's discretion. Some were all dark stone, some alll over light stone and some with the lower 3ft or so in the darker shade. Western Region repaints could be black but there were also examples in cream. It wasn't like rolling stock - there were not such hard and fast rules. (CJL)

Edited September 24, 2018 by dibber25