BR (W) ornate headboards

[Hal Nail]

Can anyone confirm if the lettering on the Western Region ornate headboards was black or dark brown please?

 

Also are the letters raised (cast) or were they just painted on a flat background? I've always thought they were raised but having doubts now.

 

I realise there are some preserved ones around but the pics are inconclusive!

[Miss Prism]

This one was white on blue

[Miss Prism]

https://davidheyscollection-static.myshopblocks.com/images/cm/b263b2f1d760dc0008e2ad8af316a4fd.jpg

[Hal Nail]

This looks pretty flat which caused the doubt but the pics from preserved ones look more obviously raised. Maybe that is a mock up for the publicity photos? (Edit - or they didnt bother to cast another one for the Limited?)

 

Edited March 19 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

This doesnt look flat - look at the bottom right S

 

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-cornish-riviera-express-train-headboard-nameplate-at-dorset-county-99368487.html?imageid=60B67AE0-9A74-45FE-A5D4-988B56BCBC12&p=276236&pn=1&searchId=a01a4040da4dda1213ad12a4b8f309c6&searchtype=0

 

or this one:

 

 

Edited March 19 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Fox plates are a flat steel plate with transfers for the lettering. I have some Shephard etched ones I was going to use and bought some Fox transfers for the crests but had started to wonder if Fox were correct all along. I think though, with the exception of the one I've posted above, they all look like raised lettering to me so I've answered that!

 

Still cant tell if they are black or brown though which was my original question!

Edited March 19 by Hal Nail

[Andy M]

I have quite a few originals in my collection and they are raised brown letters.

[Hal Nail]

1 hour ago, Andy M said:

I have quite a few originals in my collection and they are raised brown letters.

 

Excellent thanks! It was that one image that threw me - I'd been pretty convinced till then.

[Andy M]

27 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

 

Excellent thanks! It was that one image that threw me - I'd been pretty convinced till then.

Yeah, it’s an interesting one that! Definitely flush letters and badge and possibly wooden?

No surprise there are variations….good old Swindon standardisation at play!

[Coach bogie]

On 20/03/2024 at 01:42, Andy M said:

Yeah, it’s an interesting one that! Definitely flush letters and badge and possibly wooden?

No surprise there are variations….good old Swindon standardisation at play!

it is also mounted via the two hooks/brackets hung over the central hand rail knob as well as the lamp bracket. I have not seen that before.

 

Mike Wiltshire

[Hal Nail]

1 hour ago, Coach bogie said:

it is also mounted via the two hooks/brackets hung over the central hand rail knob as well as the lamp bracket. I have not seen that before.

 

Mike Wiltshire

Good spot. I suspect its a publicity mock up in advance of the actual headboard being ready.

[SP Steve]

According to David Peel's "Locomotive Headboards - The Complete Story" two types of cast "Cornish Riviera Limited" headboards, one featuring cast lettering and the other painted lettering, were used concurrently with each other for the period 11 June 1956 to Summer 1958. One way to determine which is being carried is that on the cast letter version the letter "R" has an upturned tail which is absent on boards with painted lettering.

 

In 1958 the title changed to "Cornish Riviera Express" but again the headboards used either cast or painted lettering.

 

The Getty Images picture also features in the book and carries the following caption:

 

"On the first day of the summer timetable, the brand new wooden board (with painted lettering) is given a shine for the press by driver Lewis Parker. The thickness of the board will be noted, 11 June 1956."