The LNER Encyclopedia

Does anyone know the exact colours of the nameplate of V2 4780/60809, please? In Yeadons V2 Register he refers to it being painted in Regimental colours as does Frank Burridge in his book Nameplates of the Big Four. Presumably it's the miiddle section in regimental clours with the name and regiment being polished brass on a black background?

Does the nameplate still exist and if so does anyone know where it is now?

As always any help will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Dave

The middle section is two long bands of colour, a mustard yellow above and white below. The rest looks black to me like the background to the nameplates, above and below.

There are a few useful pictures on flickr, including a BR era colour shot. The view of the nameplate in LNER Locomotives Part 1, is perhaps misleading, rendering the yellow very dark.

I hope someone can confirm this, or indeed, demonstrate it is total rubbish.

John

Looking at the web site for the East Yorkshire Regiment, there is an illustration of the regimental tie. This has a diagonal band of colours against a maroon background. The band of colours are a narrow white band above a wider mustard yellow band and a black band below.
Perhaps it would be unusual if the position and width of the white and yellow bands were to be reversed, but this does seem to have happened.

There are five colour photos of the Snapper in various unkempt states in Gavin Morrison's "Working Steam - Gresley V2s". These appear to confirm that there were two equally sized horizontal bands with mustard yellow over white. The background colour is either black or very dark grey, certainly not maroon.

I concur with John's description.

Colombo

Thanks for the confirmation Colombo.

I too was looking for some maroon, but couldn't see any.

I wonder if the correct description for the yellow might be 'old gold', although describing colours is tricky, and it may have changed over time in any case.

John

Just a thought, would these battalion colours be the same ones as they used to paint on the rear of their transport? I can remember lots of army lorries so decorated. We saw a lot round York,

Colombo

Thanks for all the information. The original enquiry was posted on behalf of a friend how is researching for a book on the East Yorkshire Regiment. The Regimental Standing Orders and Customs book from his father's time with the East Yorks describes the regimental badge thus: "The White Rose in silver on a ground of black enamel enclosed within a gilt laurel leaf, the whole forming the centre of a gilt eight pointed star."

The colour photos I've seen of the Snapper are all of it in a very grimy condition and the backplate does appear to be black or dark grey. Whilst logically you could expect it be maroon, given that that is one of the regimental colours, without definitive written or photographic evience you go to go with with what we've got.

Thanks once again

Dave

There is a short piece on the naming ceremony in the LNER Magazine for October 1937.

Unfortunately, no photo or description of the nameplate, but there may be other useful information.

John

Here's the text of the article for information. The photograph in the article is of the driver and fireman being presented with the replica regimental badges in front of the tender!

NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY MAGAZINE October 1937
"THE SNAPPER"
EARLY in the year, Brigadier-General J. L. J. Clarke, Colonel of The East Yorkshire Regiment, expressed the desire that to commemorate Coronation
year a locomotive should be named after the Regiment, of which H.M. The King is Colonel-in-chief. To this the Company very gladly assented,
and at a simple but impressive ceremony at Paragon Station, Hull, on September 11, a new V.2 Class locomotive, No. 4780, was christened The Snapper, the nickname by which the famous Regiment has been known since the American War of Independence.

After an inspection of the Guard of Honour, provided by the Regiment, and before asking General Clarke to perform the christening ceremony, Mr. C. M. Jenkin Jones, the Divisional General Manager, asked Mr. E. Thompson, Mechanical Engineer, Darlington, where the engine was built, to hand it over for traffic working. Mr. Jenkin Jones then expressed the Company's pleasure in complying with General Clarke's request. He described the occasion as typical of the close and cordial relationship which existed between the Military Authorities and the Railway Companies. Railway engines had, he said, drawn names from a variety of sources, but he thought that nothing could be more appropriate than the adoption of the name of a Regiment as a symbol of efficiency and mobility.

Before naming the engine, General Clarke read the following telegram from The King in reply to a loyal message sent earlier in the day, at the same
time as a message of greeting was sent to all battalions of the Regiment serving overseas :—
" On behalf of her Majesty and myself, I thank the officers and men, past and present, of The East Yorkshire Regiment and the representatives
of the London & North Eastern Railway Company assembled at Paragon Station, Hull, for their kind and loyal greetings. I am interested to learn that
the new engine is being named after one of my regiments—GEORGE R.I., Colonel-in-Chief."

After performing the naming ceremony. General Clarke presented replicas of the regimental badge to Driver W. T. Steele and Fireman S. Evans.
Mr. C. M. Stedman, Locomotive Running Superintendent, York, proposed a vote of thanks to General Clarke, and this was seconded by the Mayor
of Beverley. General Clarke, who was accompanied by a number of officers, expressed thanks for the manner in which the Company had met his request. He referred to the long and happy association between the Army and the Railway Companies, and to the work of the Railways in the Great War, expressing particular pleasure at having been able to take part in the ceremony. The City of Hull was represented by the Lady Mayoress, the Sheriff and the Town Clerk, and Mr. Jenkin Jones was supported by many of the Headquarters and District Officers. No. 4780 began its working life immediately after the ceremony by hauling the 5.5 p.m. London express from Hull.

May or may not be relevant (or even helpful) but a while back I renamed/numbered a V2 'Green Arrow' model as 'The Snapper' - simple reason, I liked the name plus I too have an Yorkshire connection (albeit The West Riding) and ordered etched nameplates from Fox Transfers in Markwick (nr Leicester). These show the name 'The Snapper' in the curved splasher cover form and underneath are what appears to be 4 horizontal stripes (from top to bottom) Black/Emerald Green/White/Black with what I assume is the regimental badge covering all 4 colour bars and 'The East Yorkshire Regiment Duke of York's Own' on 2 horizontal lines below the bottom black stripe. However, I concede that the black stripes may in fact represent 'open' parts of the nameplate as these fine etched miniatures could be quite difficult to reproduce with 'gaps'.
I may not have my representation 100% correct but it still looks pretty good (and is a change from the RTR 'Green Arrow' model).
Graeme Leary
New Zealand

Graeme,

Oh Dear!

I would like to see the evidence that Fox Transfers could produce to prove that colour combination is correct, because the emerald green stripe certainly contradicts the clear evidence in Gavin Morrison's "Working Steam- Gresley V2s" in no less than five colour photo that that particular stripe was mustard yellow.

Colombo

I made a 7mm model of The Snapper well over 30 years ago. I have long since parted with it and cannot remember the colours. However at the time, I did pass on what I believe the correct colours to Gareth at Guilplates who makes namesplates in any scale of model.(01483 565980). The information was given to me by the late Col Stone a long serving soldier in the East Yorks Regiment and who recalled the naming ceremony. A bit vague but I hope it helps.

Good point Colombo - out here in the colonies we have to rely on what info we can pick up but will pass your comments on to Fox's. (It will be particularly annoying if my nameplates are the wrong colour because after fixing them on to the Green Arrow I was converting, one came off and as I couldn't find it I ordered another pair and 'sod's law' being what it is the next time I was hovering my layout floor there it was so I might just be the owner of 2 pair of 'wrong' The Snapper nameplates - bah humbug!).
Graeme Leary

Colour photo:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/snapper_6 ... eM-nNsF8o/

The definitive colour scheme and wording, courtesy of the regimental museum:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131563657@N06/

Have just returned to this topic and downloaded the shot of the actual plate provided by the (was it) actual East Yorkshire Regiment's museum. It is markedly different from the plates I purchased from Fox's (who I did inform by the way) - with the bands showing as 'yellow' and maroon in the museum shot, being Emerald Green and Black respectively in the Fox's nameplates. I suppose I could live with my renamed model with the Emerald/Black plates (no rivet counters should call) but as a return visit to the UK in July and more purchases from them is planned I will certainly have a chat to them about it.
Graeme Leary
New Zealand