Interior colours for F stock on Metropolitan 1950s/60s

[metmangraham]

Now that I've sorted the bogie issue for Radley F stock kits (see earlier thread), I have been trying to sort out the interior colour scheme for the cars. I am modelling the Uxbridge branch (Met & Piccadilly) at the start of the '60s, just before these cars were scrapped.

 

I can find no useful (i.e. colour) images on the internet. My memories from the 1950s are hazy as I mostly used the Piccadilly Line ex Ruilsip to commute to school. If there's one in the London transport museum, can someone please let me know - I'll make a special visit from the west Welsh coast to see!

 

If I remember correctly the interiors were shades of grey - or is this just my age creeping in?!

 

Help/advice/images most welcome....

[Matloughe]

Hello Graham,

 

I've just had a look in 'Underground Movement' by Paul Moss - there are a couple of B&W Shots of the F Stock on pages 39 & 40. From what I can see the interior decoration is contemporary with the G Stock after the F's were refurbished with the Green & Cream paintwork.

 

There isn't an F Preserved sadly there is a Q23/G Stock Motor Car and I've linked to some photos from Flickr below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tetramesh/6549572651/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/train-pix/6231251974/

 

I am sure others can give more information then I - however the only differences I can see is the moquette is the main identifier for the era - from the 'Lozenge' Moquette of the 1920's & 30's to later LT Moquette - and of course difference between First & Third Class as well.

 

I've never seen a F - I am a little too young but I hope I have jogged a few memories

Cheers,

~ Gary

[GoingUnderground]

I did travel on them, not often as I was still a schoolboy and they were primarily used in the rush hours, but occasionally I caught one on the way home from school when I'd been late leaving.

 

My recollection is that they were the standard LT colours of the time of cream and cerulean blue. I cannot remember the moquette colour, but I think it was one of the red and green patterns

 

Just follow the general colour scheme from O/P/Q stock of the era and you won't go far wrong.

 

The lasting impression that they left with me was of the tremendous width of the carriages, probably due to the longitudinal seating, and of the oval windows in the ends of all the cars, just like the current designs, but that was over 50 years ago now, and I was somewhat smaller then.

[SRman]

I have assumed the standard green (cerulean blue!) and cream for the interior walls and poles when painting mine (Harrow Models and Radley kits) but I have no idea of the seat colours used so anything you guys can add will help me as well.

[Matloughe]

Do you have 'Underground Movement' by Paul Moss ISBN: 1-85414-226-7

In there there is a two page section on Moquette shows about ten different designs and gives their introduction/designed date. However on the flip side i'd suggest simply doing what I am doing on my Q23 for the seats which is simply painting the seat charcoal grey (most of the patterns are on a dark base) and then flecking it with red and a little bit of green so it represents a 'generic' seating scheme anywhere from 1937 onwards - because in all honesty in 4mm/1' scale I don't think its worth all the agro of duplicating a seating pattern as it wont honestly be seen at less then two feet away.

On this set there is a number of older LT Patterns mixed in, like Leaf/Colindale, Double Diamond/Brent, Roundel and possibly my favourite Shield. But all follow a similar dark base colour with mainly red on the top.

 

Cheers,

~ Gary

[L49]

There should also be some reference on the LT museum website which I find really useful. Follow the link from the homepage to the Photo archive. Brilliant reference material, although the indexing can be a bit hard to unravel!

[PhilJ W]

Several cars stored at Acton have different moquettes on different seats and even different moquettes on squab and back! The moquette used would probably be what was available at the time of overhaul which IIRC was about every 6-7 years. Even on overhaul the seats might only be 'deep cleaned' and not replaced or only partially replaced. If the seats were only partially replaced it was usually normal practice to have the same moquette within an individual train unit but another unit could have a different moquette.

[metmangraham]

Thank you all! I remember the cream and green from the pre-1938 Piccadilly stock of years ago, but somehow I had thought that the Met F stock were different; hence my apparent memory of 'shades of grey'. Perhaps, as Keith mentions is his reply, it was the impression of sheer width for the the F stock cars which impressed this equally small boy at the time!

 

There is a good B&W picture of an interior in Brian Hardy's 'Underground Train File, surface stock 1933-59', and this seemed to support my 'memory' of shades of grey, but all are shades of grey in B&W of course. I'm going for cerulean blue and cream. The colour images suggested by Gary are more definitely green, so I'll err on that shade. Come to think of it, the colour they painted 2nd WW reconnaissance aircraft was also cerulean blue. There was obviously lots left over in 1952 on F stock refurbishment!

 

I hadn't really thought of seat coverings. I was going to go for a general green and hang the pattern at that scale anyway!

 

Thanks again, all.

 

Graham