Great Western Railway Station Fencing : Spear type Iron railings Circ 1955

[Blobrick]

Can anyone help please?

 

I wish to use Pecos, GWR Spear station fencing on my layout. The time period that the layout is set in is the mid 1950s, and l ve been researching the colour  the railings should be.  

I ve found photos suggesting that the railing were painted black, just like the Peco products finish. However l ve also found photos of stations like Wargrave on the Henley branch that had it railings painted in WR cream. Does anyone know what the official  policy the Western Region had for these railings around this time?

I m sure l read somewhere that all "Iron" work was to be painted black? 

 

Thank you in for any help advance

 

Bob C

[Nick Holliday]

This useful webiste https://stationcolours.com/gwr gives details of what was what in GWR days. Whether it changed after Nationalisation I don't know.  I noticed that on the Southern Region the instructions were to paint railings in a SR green -"If not already tarred"

[Compound2632]

I recall a discussion at our club about this. It had been noticed that Edwardian photos showed apparently light cream railings, then by the 30s they were apparently painted a darker cream. The truth, it was suggested, was that the railings had simply got darker and dirtier over the years. I don't think much station painting went on in the inter-war years (the LMS at least was notorious for not doing much). So I suspect your black railings were last painted c. 1900 - 1910 and the Henley railings were a beneficiary of BR's zeal for painting stations.

[Blobrick]

17 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

I recall a discussion at our club about this. It had been noticed that Edwardian photos showed apparently light cream railings, then by the 30s they were apparently painted a darker cream. The truth, it was suggested, was that the railings had simply got darker and dirtier over the years. I don't think much station painting went on in the inter-war years (the LMS at least was notorious for not doing much). So I suspect your black railings were last painted c. 1900 - 1910 and the Henley railings were a beneficiary of BR's zeal for painting stations.

Hi Compound

 

That's an interesting point about Henley. I remember reading that the colour scheme adopted by the Western Region was in fact the same scheme that the GWR were going to implement in the late 40s l wonder how many other stations received a lick of the new paint before the program ran out of steam?

With regard to Henley's railings, l did wonder if the stations along that line received special attention due to the Regattas?

[Compound2632]

Henley has, I believe, been intensively researched in pursuit of at least two models, one on here I think and one that appears from time to time in MRJ. So there's probably someone out there who could give you the date of repainting and the name of the man who did the job.

[Blobrick]

7 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Henley has, I believe, been intensively researched in pursuit of at least two models, one on here I think and one that appears from time to time in MRJ. So there's probably someone out there who could give you the date of repainting and the name of the man who did the job.

 

You are most probably right there Steve, our hobby  does have some very deep seems of information.  If one digs deep enough you ll most likely find out what he had on his sandwiches that day too!

 

However l m really only trying to get a feel for what was the general practice around the mid 50s on the Western Region. I suspect that this matter will follow the same practises that the particular local painting gang followed

 

 

[Compound2632]

9 minutes ago, Blobrick said:

However l m really only trying to get a feel for what was the general practice around the mid 50s on the Western Region. I suspect that this matter will follow the same practises that the particular local painting gang followed

 

So I think it comes down to whether your taste is for rose-tinted spectacles 1950s or worn out shabby 1950s!

[Blobrick]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

So I think it comes down to whether your taste is for rose-tinted spectacles 1950s or worn out shabby 1950s!

Ahh that's a difficult choice Steve, the rose tinted view makes a nice model, but the run down 50s is so much more realistic. irrespective of  what ever colour the railings are lol

[Blobrick]

I believe l ve managed to answer my own question. after a bit of digging. I ve borrowed a copy of "British Railway Western Region in Colour", and found two photos on page 7 showing the running in boards for both Castle Cary and Builth Road. Both photos clearly show GWR style railings behind the boards which are  in black. Further flicking though confirmed this, as a photo of Shepard's station, also had black painted railing too.

I think l ll be trying to find a copy of the above book. most useful!

 

Cheers Bob C 

[The Stationmaster]

It seems to have sometimes depended very much on where the fence was situated and - from photo evidence - on which gang did the painting plus possibly changes to instructions over the years.  Thus Wargrave - where the fence was at the back of the platform had them painted cream which was probably done when all the branch stations were repainted c.1956 (the paint date at Henley was definitely 1956 and i think it likely that Shiplake and Wargrave were done as the gang worked their way along the branch). 

 

But at Henley the spear fencing that separated the adjacent footpath from the railway was painted black and photos suggest that it was painted in a dark colour (black once again?) prior to the 1956 repaint.  It appears in some of my photos in this thread -

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66922-the-stationmaster-says-goodbye-to-steam-at-henley-on-thames/

 

I'm trying hard to remember the colour of the fence alongside the path at Shiplake so I've checked my memory from photos in Paul's book which reveals an interesting result.  A 1953 dated photo shows part of that fence in a dark colour (probably black) but in another (alas undated) photo it is very definitely in a pale colour - probably cream as at Wargrave.  However the fence at Wargrave appears in a darker colour (but not as dark as black) in older photos.   Now a possibly important point is that the fence at Henley was there to keep people off the railway but the fence at Shiplake was alongside a footpath which led to a foot crossing which was an official public access to the Twyford end of the platform - in other words it had something to do with passenger use of the station.

 

In late 1950s/early '60s photos the fences at Frome, Witham, and Castle Cary all appear to have been painted black and casting the net wider black seems to have been more common that cream.  But having a look further west all the stations between Swansea and Llanelly with spear fencing on platform edges and passenger approaches to the platforms had it painted cream.  What I haven't looked for so far is other London Division stations which would have been painted by the same gang that did the Henley branch but there definitely appears to have been differences between the various District Civil Engineers' painting gangs.

 

[Andy Kirkham]

At Marlow they were painted cream as on the Henley branch.

[Compound2632]

6 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

At Marlow they were painted cream as on the Henley branch.

 

At what date? 1956 per Mike?

[Andy Kirkham]

3 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

At what date? 1956 per Mike?

22nd March 1960

[Edit] Ignore that. You meant when was it painted, not when was the picture taken

Edited September 24, 2021 by Andy Kirkham

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

22nd March 1960

[Edit] Ignore that. You meant when was it painted, not when was the picture taken

 

Well, the date of the photo at least gives some idea - painted before 22 March 1960!

[The Stationmaster]

17 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

At what date? 1956 per Mike?

An  interesting point is that it would have been painted by the same gang which painted the stations on the Henley branch.  

 

One that interests me in this respect is the very long stretches of spear fencing at Newbury and they definitely changed in colour appearance (on b&w photos) over the years.  When the long stretch of fence on the Down side was erected c.1906-09 it was painted in a dark colour - probably black and it might even have been the pitch/tar treatment as used on the fencing made from old boiler tubes.  It remained in a dark, or faded dark colour for many years and definitely appears like that in a photo dated as 1950; the much shorter stretch of fence on the upside is also in a faded dark colour ina similarly dated photo.  The Up side fence (or more accurately part of it) appears in a much paler colour in a photo dated 1968.  The down side fence appears in a very pale colour - almost certainly cream - in an undated photo which judging by various items of infrastructure is either late 1950s or very early 1960s.  Newbury would have been painted by the same gang that painted both the Henley branch stations and Marlow/.

 

Kintbury is interesting in that the earlier fence colour seems to match the timber buildng and it was similar when it went to WR cream with the fence again matching the building.  However Tilehurst was different in that the fence on the Up Relief Platform was definitely dark (again probably black) so it diodn't match the timber building on the Up Relief Platform but it was repainted in cream - again in the late 1950s and while the station still had gas lighting - matching the new colour for the timber building on that platform.  The fence on the Down Main line platform at Acton Main line was in dirty cream before teh station closed to freight traffic (early 1960s I think?).

 

I've not yet looked at any other Engineers' Districts.

[Fat Controller]

On 24/09/2021 at 10:47, The Stationmaster said:

It seems to have sometimes depended very much on where the fence was situated and - from photo evidence - on which gang did the painting plus possibly changes to instructions over the years.  Thus Wargrave - where the fence was at the back of the platform had them painted cream which was probably done when all the branch stations were repainted c.1956 (the paint date at Henley was definitely 1956 and i think it likely that Shiplake and Wargrave were done as the gang worked their way along the branch). 

 

But at Henley the spear fencing that separated the adjacent footpath from the railway was painted black and photos suggest that it was painted in a dark colour (black once again?) prior to the 1956 repaint.  It appears in some of my photos in this thread -

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66922-the-stationmaster-says-goodbye-to-steam-at-henley-on-thames/

 

I'm trying hard to remember the colour of the fence alongside the path at Shiplake so I've checked my memory from photos in Paul's book which reveals an interesting result.  A 1953 dated photo shows part of that fence in a dark colour (probably black) but in another (alas undated) photo it is very definitely in a pale colour - probably cream as at Wargrave.  However the fence at Wargrave appears in a darker colour (but not as dark as black) in older photos.   Now a possibly important point is that the fence at Henley was there to keep people off the railway but the fence at Shiplake was alongside a footpath which led to a foot crossing which was an official public access to the Twyford end of the platform - in other words it had something to do with passenger use of the station.

 

In late 1950s/early '60s photos the fences at Frome, Witham, and Castle Cary all appear to have been painted black and casting the net wider black seems to have been more common that cream.  But having a look further west all the stations between Swansea and Llanelly with spear fencing on platform edges and passenger approaches to the platforms had it painted cream.  What I haven't looked for so far is other London Division stations which would have been painted by the same gang that did the Henley branch but there definitely appears to have been differences between the various District Civil Engineers' painting gangs.

 

To carry on from Mike's post:-

Pembrey and Burry Port - cream (photo dated 1958)

Kidwelly- appear to be cream (photo 1947)

Ferryside- cream. (photo 11/04/1955) The paint looks quite new.

The photos I looked at were in 'Westen main lines- Swansea to Carmarthen' by Mitchell and Smith.

[Blobrick]

Gentlemen, thank you so much for your input on this subject, your efforts have helped me immensely. My own research confirms what has been said here, and certainly the stations around the Maidenhead area were painted by the same team, as after about 1956/7 the photos l ve found show freshly  cream fence work at all the local stations.

 

Thank you very much

 

Bob C