GW B Sets in Maroon

[old_grandpops]

I have looked through the various topics on B Sets but I cannot find and answer to this question 'Did any B Sets operate in unlined maroon'? I am interested in the 1955 - 65 period. I have seen pictures of them in unlined crimson but have not found any in unlined maroon.

[Miss Prism]

There was only a couple of years or so (late 1956 to  mid-1959, say) when unlined maroon was current for non-corridor stock, so pics are likely to be somewhat elusive. This crop is from a Peter Gray pic (at Gara Bridge), and his colour books might show other examples.

 

 

Try these:

 

https://www.alextrack.co.uk/library/images/railways/research_sources/peter_w_gray/peter_w_gray_tiverton_junction_05_large.jpg

https://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/11/HR-235-p37aa.jpg
 

[The Johnster]

Any that went through a paint shop between 1956, when plain maroon substituted plain crimson on non-gangwayed passenger stock, and 1958 when lined maroon was applied to all passenger stock, would have been in plain maroon livery, and I very much doubt if any painted in they livery would have been repainted before withdrawal. 
 

B sets were generally kept in pairs and painted as entire sets, so liveries would not have been mixed within sets. 

[chrisf]

Strictly speaking, the stock in Peter Gray's pic is not a B set but two loose BCs coupled together.  In the mid 1950s, not sure exactly when, the B sets on the Kingsbridge branch were replaced by individual brake composites which reflected the loadings more closely.  Some trains were nonetheless booked for two brake composites and it was not unknown for them to be coupled van end to van end.

 

I think you will find that lined maroon on non-corridor stock began to be applied from mid 1959.  Liveries took a long time to die out and there was still plenty of crimson and unlined maroon around in 1962.

 

I think the two green coaches in the yard at Gara Bridge were camping coaches.

 

Chris