what colour blue? looking for the torando shade

[Dan Griffin]

can someone point me in the right direction to obtain the correct british railway blue that tornado and sir nigel currently carry. the railmatch br steam blue is listed as experimental. is this the correct colour of is the precision paints steam loco light blue the correct one?? thanks

[PenrithBeacon]

The blue was considered experimental for a short while and then all the 8P classes (which were then 7P!)and the LNER A3 class were painted in Caledonian dark blue. It didn't last long as the paint rapidly discoloured. Modern two pack paints are a lot better.

 

HTH

[coachmann]

Slight correction there............Experimental shades were dark blue and mid blue. It was the mid blue that was chosen as a standard colour 1949-52 so the Precision Paints P102 should suffice.

 

Howes don't help calling it dark blue and Precision light blue!

[6959]

I read somewhere that the first BR blue used in 1948 was Oxford blue but another statement that it was Great Central blue. The second lighter shade used from 1949 to about 1952 was described as Caledonian blue. Other members may be able to confirm or qualify this. It could be worth getting an Oxford blue tester or swatches of various other shades to see if that is what you want and get the standard paint code from that.

 

It is described as Great Central blue on this web site.

 

http://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/news/gwr-2-8-0-joins-great-central-blue-king-gala

 

http://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/Galleries/

[coachmann]

I read somewhere that the first BR blue used in 1948 was Oxford blue but another statement that it was Great Central blue. The second lighter shade used from 1949 to about 1952 was described as Caledonian blue. Other members may be able to confirm or qualify this. It could be worth getting an Oxford blue tester or swatches of various other shades to see if that is what you want and get the standard paint code from that.

 

It is described as Great Central blue on this web site.

 

http://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/news/gwr-2-8-0-joins-great-central-blue-king-gala

 

http://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/Galleries/

It is a reference to the blue liveried GWR 'King' attending the Great Central Gala. It does not mean Great Central locos were blue!

[6959]

It is a reference to the blue liveried GWR 'King' attending the Great Central Gala. It does not mean Great Central locos were blue!

 

OOOPS!

 

When I first wrote this reply I called it Great Eastern blue but was unsure if I had confused it with Great Central colour so I looked up GCR and got the wrong blue on the wrong engine in the wrong place, so I changed GER to GCR in error. Just as well BR loco's from all regions were eventually the same colour and GWR green, mostly.

 

Coachman's quick reply just proves that not everyone is at Warley, or maybe he is supping tea in the cafe at the show and is posting replies using a hand held device with wi-fi.

[coachmann]

OOOPS!

 

When I first wrote this reply I called it Great Eastern blue but was unsure if I had confused it with Great Central colour so I looked up GCR and got the wrong blue on the wrong engine in the wrong place, so I changed GER to GCR in error. Just as well BR loco's from all regions were eventually the same colour and GWR green, mostly.

 

Coachman's quick reply just proves that not everyone is at Warley, or maybe he is supping tea in the cafe at the show and is posting replies using a hand held device with wi-fi.

I responded quickly to save your blushes, as I could have removed my post if you wanted to delete yours haha.  GER locos were a very dark blue. The dark blue BR used on a very few locos as an experiment was a different dark blue but difficult to describe. I was commisioned to paint a 7mm Duchess for the NRM and had the asistance of David Jenkinson, who worked there at the time, to sort out the minutae. BR went with a lighter after the experiment phase and this is carried by the 'King' and 'Tornado'.

[PenrithBeacon]

Slight correction there............Experimental shades were dark blue and mid blue. It was the mid blue that was chosen as a standard colour 1949-52 so the Precision Paints P102 should suffice.

Interesting ... thank you for that

 

Regards

[PenrithBeacon]

Slight correction there............Experimental shades were dark blue and mid blue. It was the mid blue that was chosen as a standard colour 1949-52 so the Precision Paints P102 should suffice.

 

Howes don't help calling it dark blue and Precision light blue!

Really not convinced about this and would be grateful if you could name your references. Mine are Railway Magazine 1948 & 1949, Railway Observer 1948 & 1949, Railway Panorama and LMS Locomotive Profiles No11 The Coronation Class Pacifics.

 

RM started by saying that it was 'possible' that there was going to be two experimental shades of blue but didn't make further mention. RO only mentions one shade of experimental blue - a 'Royal Blue', what ever that might mean, but it does mention in Feb 1949 - after the experimentation period was over - that a Coronation had been painted in Coronation Scot blue, but Loco Profile 11 contradicts this by placing this repaint earlier and in a different shade, the later standard blue. Locomotive Panorama is pretty useless as an historical source on this matter and, although Locomotive Profiles No11 offers the best description of the difference between the original experimental blue and the later standard blue it's all very vague and dependant upon memories of observers rather than official records.

 

However, from this I have come to the conclusion that there was one experimental blue, probably Caledonian Dark Blue, and a lighter, brighter shade used as the standard colour, but I haven't the beginnings of a clue what that shade was and I'm not at all convinced that anyone else knows either.

 

Regards

[coachmann]

Really not convinced about this and would be grateful if you could name your references. Mine are Railway Magazine 1948 & 1949, Railway Observer 1948 & 1949, Railway Panorama and LMS Locomotive Profiles No11 The Coronation Class Pacifics.

 

RM started by saying that it was 'possible' that there was going to be two experimental shades of blue but didn't make further mention. RO only mentions one shade of experimental blue - a 'Royal Blue', what ever that might mean, but it does mention in Feb 1949 - after the experimentation period was over - that a Coronation had been painted in Coronation Scot blue, but Loco Profile 11 contradicts this by placing this repaint earlier and in a different shade, the later standard blue. Locomotive Panorama is pretty useless as an historical source on this matter and, although Locomotive Profiles No11 offers the best description of the difference between the original experimental blue and the later standard blue it's all very vague and dependant upon memories of observers rather than official records.

 

However, from this I have come to the conclusion that there was one experimental blue, probably Caledonian Dark Blue, and a lighter, brighter shade used as the standard colour, but I haven't the beginnings of a clue what that shade was and I'm not at all convinced that anyone else knows either.

 

Regards

As a full time professional painter for over 40 years, I'm not about to start explaining myself to amateurs!