White or Straw? British Railways steam engine cab/tank side numbers

[MrSimon]

Hi all, 

 

Apologies if this has already been written about a lot...

 

Number transfers come in white and ‘straw’, were there different situations where white was used instead of straw?  Was it regional or did it depend on the livery the loco was painted in?

 

Also, if I was to use white BRITISH RAILWAYS lettering on a loco would the number also be white?

 

Many thanks in advance

Simon

[corneliuslundie]

I have just looked through John Harvey's book "Southern Style - Southern Region". I can find no references to white lettering or numbers except for the three electric locos, so it may not have happened much on the Southern Region.  The straw colour paint became available late 1948 or early 1949 before which the Region used yellow. So straw would seem to be appropriate for with BRITISH RAILWAYS lettering, as that style did not last all that long.

But things might have been different on other Regions.

Jonathan

[96701]

Didn't steam locos painted blue have white lettering and white / black / white lettering?