RMweb Premium Alex TM Posted April 3, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2020 Hi folks, Were the coupling rods of lined black tank locos left in their natural steel finish or were they painted red? The questions is based on having recently seen a number of models so finished but finding no reference to it in my books or magazine articles. Thanks in advance for any help. Regards, Alex. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 Brian Haresnape in Railway Liveries 1923-1947 does not mention the coupling rods but does state the inside frames were painted red 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Tooley Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, Alex TM said: Were the coupling rods of lined black tank locos left in their natural steel finish or were they painted red? They were normally left unpainted. So far as I'm aware the only colour photo that unequivocally shows an LNER engine with red-painted external motion is in 'The Big Four in Colour' (Jenkinson, Edgington & Smart, Atlantic) and is of No 7230, the 'Coffee Pot' at an exhibition. Stratford was known to occasionally paint coupling rods red when it wanted to push the boat out, a tradition continued into BR days, and other works may have done the same, but it was clearly not normal practice. D Edited April 4, 2020 by Darryl Tooley for clarity 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 3 hours ago, Darryl Tooley said: They were normally left unpainted. So far as I'm aware the only colour photo that unequivocally shows an LNER engine with red-painted external motion is in 'The Big Four in Colour' (Jenkinson, Edgington & Smart, Atlantic) and is of No 7230, the 'Coffee Pot' at an exhibition. Stratford was known to occasionally paint coupling rods red when it wanted to push the boat out, a tradition continued into BR days, and other works may have done the same, but it was clearly not normal practice. D I believe it was standard Great Eastern Railway practice to paint the rods red, the intention being that any cracks would show up more readily. It is only an extension of the standard practice of painting everything else between the frames a bright colour, usually red, for the same reason. Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cram Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 There are pictures of an A8 and J26 in LNER Locos in colour that appear tp have rods painted red. I believe it was the practice on NER locos. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, Paul Cram said: There are pictures of an A8 and J26 in LNER Locos in colour that appear tp have rods painted red. I believe it was the practice on NER locos. I have been told that they are not Red, but rusty ??. Bachmann think the Black J72 had Red rods in LNER days !! Edited April 4, 2020 by micklner 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Alex TM Posted April 4, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 4, 2020 Hi again, Thanks for all the input. From what's been written here, and what I have read elsewhere, it looks like the rods were normally in a natural finish but could sometimes be painted red. As for the current Bachmann release, wasn't the prototype one of two of the Newcastle pilots that were vacuum fitted and given a makeover in 1937 (I don't have the RCTS book to hand to check). Again, many thanks for your help. Regards, Alex. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cram Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 6 hours ago, micklner said: I have been told that they are not Red, but rusty ??. Bachmann think the Black J72 had Red rods in LNER days !! The colour of the rods appears to be the same colour as the end of the buffer beam which is a wood sandwich. )On the A8 again the colour seems to be the same as the buffer beam but both are covered in grime. There is also a picture of an A7 which again the rods look to be red. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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