Talk:BR 4345 Tourist Standard Open

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For the record re the GE prefix. Colin Harsley on a Facebook page said: "As the person who painted the vehicle last year. When we sanded it back around the panel under the toilet window to do some weld repairs. The GE was still there under the many layers of paint." On the same post, Richard McCarthy wrote: "Parkin's Mk1 book suggests the application of GE prefixes started in 1960, but was never universally applied - it only appeared on new EMU stock of the era ir [sic] coaches as they were built/went through overhaul - and even then it seemed pretty ad-hoc. At about the same time, posters and handbills relevant to the area also started to be headed 'Great Eastern' rather than 'British Railways' (see attached - not mine, but a Google job). It seemed to be a period of gentle rebellion against the wider British Railways brand generally" https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1281485595722591&set=gm.5308873685886434 Parkin (’British Railways Mk.1 Coaches’ by Keith Parkin, published by the HMRS in association with Pendragon Books and AtlanticLocomotive with a 4-4-0 wheel configuration Publishing) isn't in the Wiki but I suspect Robin will add the book to his collection/the Bibliography?!--Patrick Hearn (talk) 10:23, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the info Patrick. A few thoughts on 4345's current livery. Per Longworth (2013), 4345 entered service in March 1957, so I would have thought it would have begun life in Maroon (introduced in 1956) rather than Crimson and Cream, although of course BRCWBirmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company may have been using up old paint stock! Per Wikipedia, Blue and Grey was introduced in 1965 and the last Mk1 had been repainted from Maroon by 1974. Speculatively, 4345 received the "GE" when repainted into Blue and Grey between 1965 and 1974 (well after 1960), presumably coinciding with an overhaul. I suspect "GE" on a Crimson and Cream carriage would not have occurred in practice.
I've already got a copy of Longworth so probably won't be buying Parkin's book as well, unless I happen across a second-hand copy in one of the SVRSevern Valley Railway's bookshops.--Robin (talk) 16:23, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
Thanks Robin. My knowledge on this is zero but contemporary pictures on the FB link above show carriages carrying fresh GE prefixes on clearly pre-blue and grey coaches. A poster also refers to AM9 units carrying them in the early 60s, before Corporate blue and grey.--Patrick Hearn (talk) 16:33, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
No problem - not my area of experience either! Thinking generally, if Mk 1s started in 1951 and Maroon began in 1956 then a good number of early Crimson and Cream carriages would have been repainted into Maroon during heavy overhauls after 1960 (when "GE" started) and before 1965 (when Blue and Grey came in). So I could expect to see GE on Maroon, I just can't think of a reason why it would have appeared on Crimson and Cream as nothing would have been repainted in that livery after 1960. --Robin (talk) 16:54, 19 August 2022 (UTC)