Garden Railway Forum

Some photos of my black Taliesin. It's a second hand loco, or I would most likely ordered it in maroon. But then I found some photos of the original, and it seems that it was delivered in black in 1999. Is that correct?

Did you just buy this as it has been very well cared for by the looks of it?

Yes, taliesin did come out when it was built at Boston Lodge in black.

I bought it from the Norwegian dealer, who had sold it to its first owner in the first place.

This is my second locomotive, and I can't justify buying new ones when I get very nice locos second hand.

Thanks for confirming my suspision about the colour, James.

Tal would have run in Black when it was (re)built until it was fully painted a few months later. Most of the FR locos appear in black after rebuild, but not sure why! When I've helped with paint jobs on the engines, we have always painted the whole engine with the main colour, completely covering the original black!

Adam82:80677 wrote:Tal would have run in Black when it was (re)built until it was fully painted a few months later. Most of the FR locos appear in black after rebuild, but not sure why! When I've helped with paint jobs on the engines, we have always painted the whole engine with the main colour, completely covering the original black!

It is for a couple of reasons I believe, 1. To provide a reasonably quick and easy to apply finish to complete a loco and allow it to enter traffic when perhapes up against a tight deadline and 2. If for some reason a problem with the new/rebuilt loco means it has to be stripped down again then if it has simply been finished in black then it doesn't potentially ruin a nice (expensive) paint job that then has to be done again

We have often said that it would be just as easy (and the same cost) to paint them in the final colour, less boarders and lining as it would to paint them black. Painting over the black makes alot of extra rubbing down and also an extra layer of paint, the undercoat! If the engine did have to be part stripped then it would just need a slight rub down and a blow over with the top colour.

The worst thing to happen was when we spent a few weekends prepping and painting an engine, only to see it a couple of weeks later with chipped paintwork on the Fireman's side where the driver couldn't be bothered to place the "carpets" over the side talks and so just threw the coal at the newly finished paint........

Adam82:80687 wrote: ....with chipped paintwork on the Fireman's side where the driver couldn't be bothered to place the "carpets" over the side talks and so just threw the coal at the newly finished paint........

Well, -isn't that how natural weathering occurs?

Nice with some first hand information!

RuneK:80728 wrote: Well, -isn't that how natural weathering occurs?  ;)

Nice with some  first hand information!  :D

Sort of, however Boston Lodge don't have the time to be repainting locos every other year

In former times the IMR shop at Douglas used to turn out a locomotive painted in its livery colour, but with the lining incomplete, and the dome and safety valve covers missing. They would then blast it up Nunnery & Oakhil Banks a couple of times with a full load, play with the timing if it needed correcting, and then finish the little cosmetic jobs before signing off on the job. Somewhere or other I have seen a picture of the late works foreman, Colin Goldsmith, putting a dome cover back on a locomotive just before she was due to go out with the 10.10am to Port Erin!

Cheers,
Peter in AZ