Wansbeck Line, Meldon Station.

[Sknapper3@]

I'm planning a model of Meldon Station on the Wansbeck Line in Northumberland. Can anyone please tell me what colours would have been used to paint station buildings etc in the mid 1930s?

[billdonald]

A slightly tricky question since the Wansbeck line was part of the North British encroachment into North Eastern terratory. The original plan was for the NBR to buy the Blyth & Tyne company's lines to get access into Newcastle. With a lot of these secondary lines, the station painting had a virtual zero priority as far as the LNER was concerned, largely based on traffic revenue. By the 1930s those branches that merited it would get the lick of LNER apple green and cream livery whereas those who were left out retained the remanents of their pre-grouping colour schemes. I do not have any details of the NBR colours but that would seem very likely for the pre WW2 period. The branch may have acquired the LNER colours or even ultimately the BR pale blue and white scheme since it saw passengers in the 1950s.

Another factor to consider with these branches was their use for overnight berthing of royal trains. Despite the cessation of a regular passenger service in June 1929, the Ponteland line was kept clean and smart in terms of paintwork for this reason. Local staff always knew several months in advance when visits from the brass and then the cleanup gang showed up without notice.

Bill Donald
Dublin, Ireland

[MartinWales]

Ian Futers did two articles in Model Railways June 1978, if you can obtain a copy.

One featuring his Middleton North layout, the other was a potted history of the line, which may be of use...