D5578 - did it or didn't it ?

[BrushVeteran]

D5578 was outshopped by Brush Traction in plain Electric Blue livery (the actual paint supplied by Foochow was French Blue).  At some stage it received a white roof which gradually got darker and darker as the loco weathered,

[SRman]

According to one of Brian Haresnape's books, the blue colour was supposed to be "peacock blue". However, the actual shade seems to have got lost in translation. 

I have this model bought second-hand, which appears to be a professional respray using electric blue on the super-detail Hornby model. Personally, I think it looks too light for the actual blue used on the prototype, but I like the effect anyway. I also have two Triang blue products, the first one from 1962 and the later R357B from 1965, which both work fine but I keep them as display models only. Again personally, I think the white lining really set the blue off nicely on the Triang model, it was a pity BR didn't apply it to thee real D5578.

[BernardTPM]

My old TPM Class 30 kit in Precision Paints Electric Blue:

 

 

I used to have one of the old Tri-ang blue with white stripes version.

[Halvarras]

4 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

My old TPM Class 30 kit in Precision Paints Electric Blue:

 

 

I used to have one of the old Tri-ang blue with white stripes version.

 

Back in the 1980s I resprayed an Airfix model Railmatch Electric Blue which turned out looking just like yours (only bigger 😁! With metal wheels only at one end 🥴...)

 

It was a spare one I somehow ended up with, wanted to do something different with it to help with selling it on and this was by far the least amount of work......! 

[BernardTPM]

Yes, one reason my demo one was sprayed that colour too! 😁

[Big_Bad_John]

On 16/07/2023 at 01:41, SRman said:

According to one of Brian Haresnape's books, the blue colour was supposed to be "peacock blue". However, the actual shade seems to have got lost in translation. 

I have this model bought second-hand, which appears to be a professional respray using electric blue on the super-detail Hornby model. Personally, I think it looks too light for the actual blue used on the prototype, but I like the effect anyway. I also have two Triang blue products, the first one from 1962 and the later R357B from 1965, which both work fine but I keep them as display models only. Again personally, I think the white lining really set the blue off nicely on the Triang model, it was a pity BR didn't apply it to thee real D5578.

 

 

Yes, the lower of the two is the one Hornby or Triang do and is probably closer to the real one, haven't seen the one with white cabs and it's probably incorrect.  Triang Big-Big do a Hymek similar to the top one albeit a Class 35 of course. 

 

The Lima golden ochre one looks closer to the real thing than the all blue one they do, it doesn't have the yellow warning panels though I guess some did, D5579 wasn't the only Class 31 painted golden ochre it would seem, see second picture.

[stewartingram]

D5830 is a preservation imposter! Only D5579 wore the golden ochre in BR service including the SYP being added later.

[New Haven Neil]

'78 didn't have the yellow panel at first either.

[Big_Bad_John]

On 16/07/2023 at 12:43, BernardTPM said:

My old TPM Class 30 kit in Precision Paints Electric Blue:

 

 

I used to have one of the old Tri-ang blue with white stripes version.

 

 

This looks exactly like the 'Electric Blue' Lima model, no white lines, grey or white roof or yellow end panels.  Sure it's correct?

Oh, btw, I haven't seen that style of coupling since I was about 10 in 1968.

[Wickham Green too]

29 minutes ago, Big_Bad_John said:

Mk1 in red and cream on B4 bogies - definitely preservation era ........ dirty great pylon over GWR style signals - definitely Swithland Sidings !

[BernardTPM]

1 hour ago, Big_Bad_John said:

This looks exactly like the 'Electric Blue' Lima model, no white lines, grey or white roof or yellow end panels.  Sure it's correct?

Yes. There was a colour picture in Modern Railways November 1978, shown with D5579 in the BR 1948-78 section. Also a clearer one somewhere else, I think in the Jane's Portfolio class 31 book (though not 100% sure on that as the book is currently buried in a box somewhere). It was a very plain scheme.

[keefer]

Link to BrushVeteran's Flickr page with pics of D5578/9 (with and without SYP):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/59835095@N02/albums/72157627773064944/page2

[APOLLO]

 

What's going on with that signal?, surely interlocking should prevent this.

 

Brit15

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 minute ago, APOLLO said:

 

What's going on with that signal?, surely interlocking should prevent this.

 

Brit15

 

Top bit out of use hence the cross, bottom bit used as a distant only signal?

 

Mike.

[Big_Bad_John]

On 16/07/2023 at 01:41, SRman said:

According to one of Brian Haresnape's books, the blue colour was supposed to be "peacock blue". However, the actual shade seems to have got lost in translation. 

I have this model bought second-hand, which appears to be a professional respray using electric blue on the super-detail Hornby model. Personally, I think it looks too light for the actual blue used on the prototype, but I like the effect anyway. I also have two Triang blue products, the first one from 1962 and the later R357B from 1965, which both work fine but I keep them as display models only. Again personally, I think the white lining really set the blue off nicely on the Triang model, it was a pity BR didn't apply it to thee real D5578.

So which version of D5578 is correct then, the Triang one, the plain Lima one or the one with white cabs which I don't know who manufactures?   I've just painted a yellow warning panel onto each end of my Lima golden ochre one, is that correct?

[New Haven Neil]

The plain blue one is right, which can also have small yellow panels - the Triang one with white cabs is wrong, and the one with white stripes is also wrong.

[BernardTPM]

Also D5578 gained a painted roof (which got very grubby) at Stratford, as noted earlier in the thread, but it wasn't like that originally.

[Halvarras]

1 hour ago, Big_Bad_John said:

I've just painted a yellow warning panel onto each end of my Lima golden ochre one, is that correct?

 

Yep, it definitely ran like that, seen some pics👍!

[New Haven Neil]

Yup

 

[Big_Bad_John]

43 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

The plain blue one is right, which can also have small yellow panels - the Triang one with white cabs is wrong, and the one with white stripes is also wrong.

 

Cheers, did the blue one have a white/light grey roof?

[BrushVeteran]

45 minutes ago, Big_Bad_John said:

 

Cheers, did the blue one have a white/light grey roof?

Originally a blue roof until Stratford painted it white for a Royal duty, then reverted to grey until it received a standard green repaint in 1964.

[Halvarras]

4 hours ago, BrushVeteran said:

Originally a blue roof until Stratford painted it white for a Royal duty, then reverted to grey until it received a standard green repaint in 1964.

 

I wonder what shade of grey paint was used to obliterate the white? Standard green Class 31s always seem to have had a fair amount of grey roof showing through the usual dirt/exhaust soot, unlike most classes, but D5578's roof in its 'post-white' condition always looks close to overall matt black - as in the photo above.

[BrushVeteran]

5 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

I wonder what shade of grey paint was used to obliterate the white? Standard green Class 31s always seem to have had a fair amount of grey roof showing through the usual dirt/exhaust soot, unlike most classes, but D5578's roof in its 'post-white' condition always looks close to overall matt black - as in the photo above.

Well judging by these images, the first one of which is not mine and I will remove if the copyright owner insists, the roofs were all pretty much the same and ended up the least cleaned part of the loco. Washing plants were still virtually non-existent when this picture was taken and depots were still employing cleaners to hand clean diesel locomotives. I recall fresh grey paint being applied to one of Finsbury Park's Brush 2's  roof during a visit there in 1966.............mostly on top of the existing  filth!

I think you are pretty safe with standard roof grey of whatever shade and condition you wish to interpret!

[kevinlms]

Looking at those photos, it's not surprising that yellow panels became the thing. All of D5525, D5578 & D5579, plus whatever the Class 37 is, look bland and probably hard to see.

 

Sorry, my original post said Class 40, it isn't!

Edited July 19, 2023 by kevinlms
wrong info

[Enterprisingwestern]

6 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Looking at those photos, it's not surprising that yellow panels became the thing. All of D5525, D5578 & D5579, plus whatever the Class 40 is, look bland and probably hard to see.

 

Ahem, EE type 3 not 4!

 

Mike.