Colour to paint inside the cab?

[webbcompound]

I'm looking for advice/suggestions (sensible ones, a longshot, I know) for painting inside the cab of a Manning Wardle Q class c 1904. The information I have for this loco is that inside the cab was cream, but this is not so straightforward for a semi-open cab. I have painted the underside of the roof and front and rear sheets cream. The question is what colour might the bunker inside the cab, and the insides of the cab sidesheets be? The photos show the partially finished, loco in its current state. The bits I have described could be cream, they could be black, like the footplate and the backhead, or they could be the same indian red as the outside surfaces of the loco. Does anyone have experience of one of these type of locos in real life?

 

 

[BlueLightning]

While I can't give a definitive answer here is some photos I took of cab interiors of correct period locos at the Bluebell Railway:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope these help,

 

Gary

[webbcompound]

thanks Gary. I think that settles the inside bunker sheet as being black. Still not sure about the side sheets as they are not really the same as the ones in your photos as they don't connect with the cab front or roof.

[The Bigbee Line]

Most old fashioned schemes had dark at the bottom and light at the top. For good practical reasons. Dark to hide dirt and boot marks. Light to keep it brighter.

Edited October 28, 2017 by The Bigbee Line

[webbcompound]

Thanks. This all makes sense to me. Black it is then.

[LNWR18901910]

Actually, I think a creamy, beigey white is better suited. I know because I've seen steam locomotives with cab interiors of that colour. It helps the crews see inside their engines much better even in the dark...unless you used glow in the dark paint.

[asmay2002]

It varied from company to company.  The black lower half, wood grain upper half was used by the LMS amongst others but some companies painted the inside of the cab the same colour as the outside (e.g. as in LBSCR 55 above, the Caledonian used blue and the GWR green http://www.docbrown.info/docspics/yorkscenes/railwaymuseum/P7314008.jpg).

[Caley Jim]

It varied from company to company.  The black lower half, wood grain upper half was used by the LMS amongst others but some companies painted the inside of the cab the same colour as the outside (e.g. as in LBSCR 55 above, the Caledonian used blue and the GWR green http://www.docbrown.info/docspics/yorkscenes/railwaymuseum/P7314008.jpg).

According to Jim MacIntosh's Caledonian Livery book:-   'Cab interiors were light buff, or grained on the roof and down to waist level and chocolate (or black) below, the two colours being separated by a brown dado.  The faceplate sheeting was black with grained shoulders and internal tool boxes were black'.

 

Jim

[asmay2002]

According to Jim MacIntosh's Caledonian Livery book:-   'Cab interiors were light buff, or grained on the roof and down to waist level and chocolate (or black) below, the two colours being separated by a brown dado.  The faceplate sheeting was black with grained shoulders and internal tool boxes were black'.

 

Jim

Interesting.  I was quoting from a different page in the same book....

 

The point remains though.  Different companies did it differently and might change through time too.

Edited November 6, 2017 by asmay2002

[Caley Jim]

Interesting.  I was quoting from a different page in the same book....

 

The point remains though.  Different companies did it differently and might change through time too.

That section does go on to say that exceptions will be dealt with in the sections dealing with individual classes, but I didn't have time to search through for any of those..

 

Jim