Why do you model BR Blue?

['CHARD]

Hear, Hear!

[Andy1963]

I've been modelling BR blue since I was 5 (well playing with trains then), I'm now 49. I loved the BR blue, in the late 60's it was fresh and new against the drab green and maroon it replaced. But as I've grown older, I've started to appreciate the green and maroons more, and much more recently I've learned to like steam too. My love is the western region, the first train ride I can ever remember was a DMU from Teignmouth to Exeter and sitting in the front carriage watching the driver through the window going along the sea wall. This must have been 1967 or 68, and then coming back from Exeter, we were hauled by a green Warship, no idea which one, but it was the only warship haulage I ever had. In 1969, my love for the mighty Westerns began with a September haulage by 1054 Western Governor in maroon with a full rake of maroon marks 1's from Paignton to Teignmouth. But it was the blue I loved and still model today, and although I now have green loco's and a maroon western, and a rake of maroon mark 1's, I wont mix them up as they often were in the change over to the corporate blue colour scheme. I detest anything newer, the intercity livery, network south east and post privatisation liveries are vile to me. Let's be honest, even the HST's which we all hated when they started taking over loco hauled services look their best in their original blue grey and yellow livery don't they?

[JonHGB]

See, I'm a Post-Priv brat. I was born when Sectors ruled and BR was dying, left out to die by political manipulation and overwhelming shortsightedness, and I grew up amidst the underhand and down right confusing TOCs. Yes, I have sectorisation stock, which I like too, but to me Corporate Blue represents a time when we still built things, and were still an industrious, hard working nation. For me, a grubby blue loco is a trademark of the affiliation between our industrial heritage, our mining and metallurgical prowess, and our world class rail network, and it harks back to when you could classify cities in accordance with their local industry, not the local crime and unemployment figures. It represents an era when standardisation and harsh subsidies amidst the vastly outdated and stretched rail network led to colossal blunders like the culling of APT, the Woodhead route closure, and some few great strokes of British ingenuity like the HST, love it or hate it!

I model Blue because its proper Britain, not "Overseas industry, ruined economy" modern day UK, where if you're unemployed and on the dole, you can do no wrong!

Peace,

Jon.

[Guest]

See, I'm a Post-Priv brat. I was born when Sectors ruled and BR was dying, left out to die by political manipulation and overwhelming shortsightedness, and I grew up amidst the underhand and down right confusing TOCs. Yes, I have sectorisation stock, which I like too, but to me Corporate Blue represents a time when we still built things, and were still an industrious, hard working nation. For me, a grubby blue loco is a trademark of the affiliation between our industrial heritage, our mining and metallurgical prowess, and our world class rail network, and it harks back to when you could classify cities in accordance with their local industry, not the local crime and unemployment figures. It represents an era when standardisation and harsh subsidies amidst the vastly outdated and stretched rail network led to colossal blunders like the culling of APT, the Woodhead route closure, and some few great strokes of British ingenuity like the HST, love it or hate it!

I model Blue because its proper Britain, not "Overseas industry, ruined economy" modern day UK, where if you're unemployed and on the dole, you can do no wrong!

Peace,

Jon.

 

Beautifully explained in a nutshell. It wasn't just the railway, it was the whole ethos of the era.

[Southernman46]

I just don't like swirls, whorls, stripes, purple, pink, words.com, plain white, bright green, vinyls, graphics or more than 4 colours on rolling stock.

 

NSE livery was a departure from plain liveries but at least it was tasteful...........

[Mallard60022]

I have a blue era run on my plank as it was the time when my eldest son (at that time about 13/14) and I used to go shed bashing, mainly with the Inter City railway Society London Branch. Can't forget those lovely dashes around Stratford, Immingham, Tinsley, Toton, Westhouses, Barrow Hill, Gateshead and any of the obscure stabling points that existed.

I think the Scotland trips were best as there were still loco's up there that you just did not see anywhere else on the network (except when visiting works maybe at Derby). Wales must have come a close second - all those 37s. Strangely we never seemed to go to the Anglia area but I/we did visit March and Norwich off my own bat.

Most of the staff we met were genuine old school railmen and the infrastructure was really interesting (e.g. the roundhouse at Thornaby and the old steam depots in Scotland. Brilliant.

For me 'British' Rail(ways) ended in about 1985.

P @ 36E

Edited October 12, 2012 by Mallard60022

[AngryMeerkat]

I know nothing about trains or railways, but I remember being 6 years old on a train with my dad. It stopped at Crewe, and he took me to the heritage centre there. I just remember a sea of blue, with some grey mixed in. The size and the noise of the depots at Crewe amazed me, it's a strong memory and that's what I want to recreate.

 

Mark

[grahame]

Why do you model BR Blue?

 

Why not? It's a good as any other era or period.

 

G.

[APOLLO]

I first set my loft layout period early 1960's for varied steam / green diesels etc. I allready had quite a bit of blue stock from earlier layouts which stored away. I just need to renumber the blue TOPS to Dxxxx numbers.

 

I have now "brought forward" the layout to around late 1966 / 67 so I can run the early Blue /Grey stock and blue diesels. This is the era I remember best as a spotter, and there is a whole informaive thread on it here, some pix also of my layout. It's this thread that got me "back into blue" !!

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/52572-why-is-this-so-rarely-modelled/page__pid__683295__st__250&do=findComment&comment=683295

 

Rail blue / grey was first seen with D1733 & the XP64 stock back in 1964. A few MK1's were appearing in blue / grey in mid 1965 (photo in a 1965 Railway Mag confirms), and blue diesels locos around mid 1966. Still plenty of steam locos around back then (especially in Lancs / Yorks). Most steam infrastructure was still present in many places also. Lots of good info & pix on the above thread.

 

This is also an informative site

 

http://www.railblue.com/rail_blue_history.htm

 

I also got into "sectorisation" a bit in the 80's, and I thought even back then that the railway was getting a little "too colourfull " !!!

That stuff is awaiting repaint etc, mostly Lima, though most has been sold. I'm not into the modern scene at all, though I have seen several superb modern image layouts at several Wigan Exhibitions.

 

I like the mix of Maroon / Blue Grey / Green Diesels / Blue Diesels / Dirty steam / Clean steam (specials) / Block air braked 100ton tank trains / Freightliners / tatty mixed goods / unbraked mineral wagons / semaphores / colourlights / etc etc.

 

Wonderfull era.

 

Brit15

[urbancohort]

Boring??? Sorry, I disagree! yes, the railways were a bit like to old Soviet Union but they coped with the transition from Steam, they dealt with Beeching, new working practices were being introduced.. But best of all was watching the prototypes and then the first production HSTs pulling out from Bath Spa Station in school break times! The best diesel train in the world, (in my opinion). BR was far more innovative than it was given credit for, and I will do BR Blue for all the reasons everyone has given to commemorate a heroically great era.

 

And, of course, I was born in '65 so grew up in the era!!!

 

Happy modelling whatever era and location you choose!

[Redsrail]

I model BR blue because its the colour all my stock already is....an i aint starting to change it now !

[tornado64]

yes i did indeed view it as a dull period , given my father used to be a guard on them

  and as a kid  was made to go to work with him  especialy during the summer holidays when i'd have much rather been out with my mates .

 at the time class 40 mainline cab rides from manchester to llandudno , york , chester , as well as class 47 , 25 , 08's  and DMU cab rides all over the north west  ( including being allowed to drive one ) albeit sat on the drivers knee being guided were well down my to do list !!

the highlight was  getting a look around the great train robbery loco that was cut up in privacy to stop souvenir hunters

 

i moved onto working on the railways in both signal boxes and on platforms but it wasn't what i wanted back then so i moved on  as i was far more intrested in cars and motorcycles  so ended up working in garages

 

ironicly a bit of thinking and i could have worked at newton heath sheds ( however i had been around that place many times with my father  and fe**ing filthy  was a huge understatement

 

altho i didn't particularly enjoy it at the time you look back and realise what a privaledge it was to have done it

 

it is still very much a boring phase to me but  i have always wanted to build the signal box area where i once worked  so memmory and variety of traffic were deciding  factors

[Stalwart]

For me, like so many people, it's the usual nostalgia thing. I grew up in Twyford on the WR main line and starting spotting in 1968. A trip to the station or the bridges at Ruscombe saw a procession of green, maroon and blue hydraulics and the sight of an ex-works blue 'Thousand' was the most beautiful thing to see running on rails! As I model 1967 Western Region, BR Blue is the 'new' livery just beginning to appear, and with so many livery variations in blue on the Warships alone it does'nt have to be dull.

[rob D2]

not overlooking the practicalities - if I run a train from Severn tunnel junction to my, er, plank I could run class 25,31,37,45,46,47,56 ...you get the idea.

now 95% of my freight would be gone, the other 5% would be shed hauled. I don't think a traditional shunting plank works too well with modern practice.

Funny thing is, I can't remember much about the time. I was 10 in 1982, and the most enduring image is the HSTs...impressive then, and still so today even in FGW purple...

Other than that it's a bit blurry. I do also enjoy the early EWS years as that coincided with a great period in my life..

Edited January 23, 2013 by rob D2

[Robotstar5]

The same as a few others, I started spotting in the early 70's spending most Saturdays at Birmingham New Street when platform tickets cost 4p, the highlight would be a Western on the 10.25 to Paddington out of platform 1. I would travel out to Bescot to see how far round the shed I could get before being chucked out. Saved pocket money for trips further afield to Crewe, Derby etc. went to London a few times but never saw any of the "tourist sights" only Hither Green, Stratford & Old Oak Common where I saw a line of Blue Pullmans and Hymeks waiting to be scrapped.

Joined a local model railway club where I was in the minority being a "dirty diesel" lover.

[RandyWales]

As per everyone else, plus....

 

Signal boxes, semaphore signals, telegraph poles - decaying infrastructure, but infrastructure nonetheless. 

 

Less weeds/overgrowth at trackside

 

Sidings...

 

'High speed' (75mph+) with my head stuck out of the droplight window...the sounds, the smells, the sights, the motion.

 

Being able to travel with compartment windows open...

Surround sound (windows open) transition over pointwork at high speed.

Wheel on rail sounds pre welded rail....

 

 

Sitting behind the driver on a DMU.

 

Pints of Bass in the Traveller's Fayre bar/waiting room between trains.

 

Fanfold timetables from the Travel Centre...

 

Mystery trips, cheap Rail Rover tickets...

Following the Swans by rail.... 

 

Luggage rack kip on the 'Paper Train' return from the Led Zeppelin concert at Earls Court.

Blocked, overflowing toilets sloshing around while trying to pee...

 

 

Not neccesarily BR Blue memories per se, but.... it's what I fondly look back on 

 

My modelling started off by emulating what I was seeing in the magazines - with steam locos running on branch lines with green fields, but that all seemed so detached from the real railways of the time.

 

I enjoy my modelling so much more now.

 

Randall

[C&WR]

My first trainset was a Lima one (including a sand-coloured Western with an inconsistent number and name and afrankly bizarre rake of wagons including two Northern private owner coal trucks, LMS and SR horseboxes, a BR Blue GUV, and some kind of Heinz wagon which looked by comparison to be H0). Gradually bits were added, second hand (times was 'ard) mainly bits of old Triang and great treasure a Hornby HST, and for Christmases & birthdays GWR stock. The railway went away when I was about 14 as School and Sport began to take over & I then left home to join the Army, thence to the City.

 

I had packed everything up very carefully, and thank goodness my Mother restrained my Father from selling the lot on the basis that it may be used again one day. Fast forward to about eighteen months ago & I decided my lad was big enough and careful enough to play with the railway. I'm not so precious as to worry about accidental damage and as he loved going on both proper and preserved railways, had a great facility for remembering types of rolling stock, and astounded even me with what he made from his Brio (including very complicated L-Train structures) I thought it was time to fish out what I had. This also coincided with me having a month between contracts & discovering Scalescenes.

 

Fairly rapidly I decided I wanted to be able to run all my stock, if not together, and latched onto trying to represent Dad's boyhood, mine & the small boy's. Having discovered a certain NW online retailer & hit eBay to augment what was there I came up with this:

 

 

 

Three eras of express trains.

 

 

Three eras of stopping trains (as the small boy calls them).

 

It was at this point that my obsession with the BR Blue started. I was brought up in the era, but never got into spotting. Perhaps it was because Dad was a railway Civil Engineer, so we had free travel all over the place, including Europe. Early memories were of waking at Marseilles in a couchette and the parents buying Orangina, coffee & croissants through the windows; on long journeys to go on holiday Dad disappearing up the train for a walk to return half an hour or so later smelling a little hoppy & smokey; going to see family in SE London which meant a DMU from Oxfordshire to Reading, a fast train to Paddington, an Underground train to Charing Cross, and the strange thrumming sound of the EMUs out to the Kent postcodes of London; and being dropped on a train at Liverpool Street by myself with a picnic & a book to be collected at Norwich by family up that way.

 

Of course because Dad was an engineer I got access to bits of the railway that in this H&S era would never be allowed, including the sites where his designs were turned into reality. I also managed to blag my way into the cab of DMUs running from my village to Reading - if that wasn't possible we used to pray for a driver who left one or even better both of the blinds at the back of the cab up.

 

Strange thing to be so nostalgic about! I remember the carriages being hugely overheated or freezing cold; condensation or even ice on the insides of the windows; a pervasive odour of dust, fag smoke and wood; and a sort of grey-black slightly gritty, slightly oily film on everything. We even used to get a clipped ear if we leant a sleepy head against the windows in case we got impetigo!

 

Anyway, that's a long & rambling explanation for why while I have a bigger collection of GWR stock than anything else and why the modern image collection has come into being it is the BR Blue which has really taken off. The GUV in the first train set encouraged me to start building up a parcels/mail train & it snowballed from there. I also think it's because there is a lot of the stock about at really good prices on eBay & by keeping a weather eye on various retailers. Ironically apart from the HST and an absolute bargain buy 08 in blue with wasp stripes (a locomotive I coveted from boyhood & which I found on eBay for £25 including postage) my second hand Class 37 is in Inter City Swallow livery & the Class 47 in the GWR 150 scheme. I'm looking forward to dtailing the buffer beams of these now Ihave plucked up the courage to set about them with razor saw, drill & files! If you will indulge me, here's what I've been making, still very much WIP:

 

 

That first Western class just had to stay, even if it is a huge anachronism!

 

BTW, David Elvar, I used to travel the same route as you. Always wondered why the children at Primary School called the DMUs "boggies". Now I know - when I got my Lima Class 117 recently my Father became all excited that I'd managed to pick up the centre car with the lavatory in it!

Edited July 22, 2013 by C&WR

[Guest]

 

BTW, David Elvar, I used to travel the same route as you. Always wondered why the children at Primary School called the DMUs "boggies". Now I know - when I got my Lima Class 117 recently my Father became all excited that I'd managed to pick up the centre car with the lavatory in it!

 

It's strange but those plain, ordinary, even rather unlovely units excited some affection. My two sons were born in time to know them, but by then they were in NSE colours. We do reminisce about those journeys - the slow acceleration, the gentle swaying as the speed built up, and the easy cruising along through the fields of northern-most Hampshire and into Berkshire. There was never any hurry, it seemed. It was always a relaxing journey. I don't recall us enjoying it with quite the same enthusiasm when the Turbos took over.

[C&WR]

David, apologies I misread your post.  I was coming into Reading from the Oxford direction.  I did go Hampshire way on the trains you mentioned when going for interviews for joining the Army, though.

 

I'm really succumbing to the BR Blue bug, now.  I've done one end of the Class 37 and having discovered there was a Class 45 named after my first Regiment have bought an old Mainline model from eBay (bargain at £16) and am now waiting for more than that worth of detailing kits, transfers & name plates.  Having researched the original locomotive I have a fair bit of decal work to do!

 

I'm also now trying to work out how to put together a relatively convincing rake of BR Blue Mk 1/2 Coaching stock.  I have a Full Brake as part of my mail train, have a Buffet Coach (important part of childhood!) and two TSOs on order from eBay, but am wondering what else to put on bearing in mind I can comfortably fit a locomotive and five coaches in my station.  

 

Wondering if FO or FK, Buffet (not sure of designation, but it's pictured below), TSO, TSO & BSO or BSK would look the part?  Suppose it depends what eBay throws up...

 

[Guest]

...have a Buffet Coach (important part of childhood!) 

 

 

 

Oh my God, you have just brought to surface a memory involving one of these things. 

 

We were on a school Railway Society trip (if I recall aright, it was to Barry Island - for obvious reasons). This involved going through the Severn Tunnel. We had a Brush 4 on the front end, the whole train was Mk.1 stock, and we were stopped halfway through the tunnel - reason unknown. It wasn't for long, we four of us were at the Buffet Car counter at the time (trying to buy beer...at the age of 15), and Keith asked us to distract the attendant because, as he said, he "wanted to try something." This we did, and when I glanced round to see what he was doing, I found him nicking those wrapped sugar lumps you used to get served and tossing them out the open window. I went to him, glancing back at the counter all the time to make sure we weren't about to be rumbled, and whispered "What the hell are you doing?". "Nothing,' he replied. "I'm just bored."

 

Well, I gently suggested to him it might be a good idea to stop, which he did so. Out of interest, I stuck my head out the open window and was immediately struck by this strange aroma something the mix of diesel oil and sea water. Crazy as it may seem, it was one of the most wonderful things my teenage nostrils had ever detected. 

 

The coach you show I think is an RMB. It's been a long time since I studied coach designations and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm (quite likely) wrong.

 

Postscript thought: you can't throw sugar lumps out the window of a Mk.3 Buffet - another attraction of the BR Blue era and Mk.1 stock.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

Wow! That brings back memories of trying to make 8 car rakes on the living room table (with 2 buffet cars lol)

 

You'd  probably be better off going for one of the Bachmann ones as they are better detailed and you can get closer coupling, plus they go better with the SO/TSOs  and better mk2s that they do.

Edited July 27, 2013 by The Evil Bus Driver

[C&WR]

Thanks for the tip, TEBD! The Hornby TSOs & RMB are already paid for, so that's a done deal. I'll keep scanning for bargains...

 

Loved David's story. While my Father helped our School railway society get some rather special access to things we were also very well supervised by a fearsome Maths Master so little chance of mischief.

 

My key memories of the buffet are Traveller's Fare food & Dad buying red cans of McEwan's beer, a product I didn't then see again until I joined a Regiment in Germany with a sizeable Scots contingent. Perhaps for true nostalgia value I should model a branch of Casey Jones at my station :-)

Edited July 27, 2013 by C&WR

[Alex TM]

Hi folks,

 

This is not so much "why I model BR blue" because at present I don't, but a rhetorical question along the lines of "why should I model BR blue?"  It's the era I grew up with and it was the 'only' colour around when I became interested in the hobby and the prototype.  It's memories of classes 06, 08, 20, 25, 27, 37, 40, and 47 and all in blue.  It's memories too of occasional journeys by rail when plain blue 101s ruled the day (later I would see them in blue-grey, and with the odd 121 and 116 thrown into the mix).  The era brings back memories of school and of a lack of worry about anything other than exams, music, girls, and why my Hornby green class 25 had 'died' again.

 

Whatever era and area I model I always seem to find myself being drawn back to BR blue.  Perhaps it's time to once more revisit my layout ideas .....

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[Colwick38A]

Hi all, after reading this tread I couldn’t resist and I had to have my say too. I too am of the opinion of why should I restrict myself to just BR Blue? I have always admired the designs of Locomotives of yesteryear before C.A.D took hold whether they were a rip roaring success to those that were complete flops. I didn’t want to restrict myself to a given era so I did a compromise and gone from the mid 60’s to the mid 90’s which gives me 4 decades to work with where locomotive types can overlap decades and liveries are not just Blue. I admit most of my loco’s are Blue but every now and again a splash of colour is needed so long as it can carry the “Arrows of indecision” I’m happy!

 

Regards Michael

[southernelectric]

Hi all, after reading this tread I couldn’t resist and I had to have my say too. I too am of the opinion of why should I restrict myself to just BR Blue? I have always admired the designs of Locomotives of yesteryear before C.A.D took hold whether they were a rip roaring success to those that were complete flops. I didn’t want to restrict myself to a given era so I did a compromise and gone from the mid 60’s to the mid 90’s which gives me 4 decades to work with where locomotive types can overlap decades and liveries are not just Blue. I admit most of my loco’s are Blue but every now and again a splash of colour is needed so long as it can carry the “Arrows of indecision” I’m happy!

 

I started out thinking I'll just stick to BR Blue (and I don't have a layout yet!) as that was what I grew up with but I would agree a splash of colour doesn't hurt.

 

I've accumulated around 30 locos/multiple units and around 70+ coaches and most of it is BR blue era...but the non-BR blue stuff I've accumulated now includes a Bachmann Blue Pullman, green and prototype livery Bachmann Deltics, Bachmann GWR150 green Class 47, SR green 4-CEP and 2-EPB EMUs, and a few steam locos in the mix too (Flying Scotsman, Tornado, Mallard, Clan Line), not forgetting some Hornby Pullmans and last but not least some pre-BR blue era Mk1 coaching stock - mostly chocolate/cream and crimson/cream.

 

No 'modern' stuff though, as in Pendolinos and the like - just doesn't do it for me.

 

I'll always have a soft spot for the BR blue era and models based on that timeframe what will dominate my layout when I get around to building one (I don't intend modelling a real place or specific era) but I will have a mish-mash of stuff, a lot of modelling license...but above all else fun!