I recently bought a NER railway statoion - the Hornby one based on Goathland. I am building a model railway based on a fictitious station on the east coast mainline in north east England between Darlington and Newcastle.
I am well aware that the LNER hardly built any of its own stations, instead it took over buildings and maintained them.
My question is, should I paint the NER railway station to be in keeping with the period (late 1930s) or did the LNER update the paint work on some of its stations it took over? If I can get information more specific to the north east region that would be amazing. But any information/help would be fab.
Hope I am making myself clear, please ask if you want more details.
The LNER adopted a new buildings and structures painting scheme in 1923, based on the previous GNR scheme. That scheme was predominantly dark and light browns with light stone.
A revised painting scheme was introduced from 1930 based on British Standard colours (BS381:1930) which was similar to the 1923 scheme but with light stone replaced by deep cream.
A new painting scheme was introduced in 1937 but it would be several years before it was apparent in general application. This scheme was predominantly based on deep and light Brunswick greens and sea green with deep cream.
The 1937 scheme lasted well in the Eastern Region (Southern Area) until the introduction in the mid-1960s of the British Rail corporate colours, but the North Eastern Region rapidly adopted new regional colours based on blues with orange signage.
For the late 1930s you would have the choice of either the 1930 or 1937 scheme; the former more likely on the more rural and out of the way stations.
The stationcolours website is useful but not entirely accurate or complete.
I am not sure I can entirely agree about country stations having a lower priority in repainting than mainline stations when company colours changed.
The key word is entirely since frequently mainline stations would receive new colours sooner.
Repainting - whether to a new livery or to the old one - would be done (is still done) to protect the infrastructure. The colour choice as about company image - and images changed over time.
The schedule for protection of the infrastructure would however tend to be fairly fixed. You might get away with delaying a repaint by a year but delay by say 3 years and the infrastructure would be suffering and the image would be decidedly shabby (and not in a chic way).
Mainline stations would require repainting more frequently than country ones due simply to the level of traffic (including hands on handrails for example) and the build up of soot and grime. So if here were a change of company image it is likely that they would receive on average the new livery before a country station - even supposing that there was not an edict sent out to re-livery key stations in advance of the need based on the schedule. This would be to project the new image. Given the financial situation of the LNER it is likely that few, if any, stations would be repainted with the new livery just because the old livery did not project the new company image.
So far it seems as if I agree with you completely, so here is the point where we diverge.
If a country station was due for repainting in the year following the livery change, it is highly likely that it would receive it, even if that was in advance of a mainline station. Not to give it the repaint would risk longer term and expensive damage to the infrastructure.
Conversely- and this is speculation, but not entirely unfounded - if there were stocks of the old colours to use up, they'd be used on the smaller stations rather than the higher profile ones.
Stratford were still turning J15s out in the GER wartime grey as late as 1926.
exile wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:17 am
...So far it seems as if I agree with you completely, so here is the point where we diverge.
If a country station was due for repainting in the year following the livery change, it is highly likely that it would receive it, even if that was in advance of a mainline station. Not to give it the repaint would risk longer term and expensive damage to the infrastructure.
The LNER supplied the paint to the contractor and the precise amounts required for any repainting scheme formed part of the schedules in the tender documents and specification. The schemes would almost certainly be determined on a rolling basis and materials ordered to suit to hold in stock; some were colours and formulations specific to the LNER.
In the late 1930s the LNER along with much of the country was still suffering from the after effects of the years of depression; despite government intervention by way of financial support programmes revenues had dropped substantially, locomotive and carriage building programmes were much reduced or deferred and investment in the infrastructure was confined to those works funded through government loans and those additional works necessary to prepare for the anticipated war.
The introduction of the 1937 scheme will have been made against this background. There was a 'brighter stations' programme where a number of nominated stations were to receive new colours (if anyone has a complete list of those stations that would be of great interest) but adjustments to the frequency of application and the availability and increasing costs of materials as industry geared up to supply the War Department are factors that also need to be considered.
In 1938 Aylesbury (ex-GC) had been repainted in the 1937 green scheme as had Pickering (ex-NE) but various others in the same year - all seen in the background of colour photographs - were still in the brown scheme.
Since the late 1930s was a changeover period between two quite different colours (browns to greens) it will be entirely the choice of the modeller which one to use during that time - since it is for a fictitious station then Rule 1 applies (it's my layout and I'll do what I want) but since it's on the ECML a repaint into the green scheme sooner rather than later would seem to be appropriate.
Thanks very much to all, as my fictitious station is on the ECML I have painted it in 1937 colours. I must admit, I think it looks far better than the Hornby NER colours it comes painted in.
