Is the railway sign definitely back up at the MKM?

I'm sure I saw it at the Coventry game.

 

Well there a few of them, including the two originals from the steam locomotive. But if this sale is the last hurrah of our current owner's son, then it really does show the mark of the, err, man. Hope I'm wrong.

 

It was there for the Coventry game, although it could have been a plastic one again!

 

If that's brass then I'd be surprised if it's a replica.

Replicas are usually cast using a cheaper alloy due to the weight and cost of brass.

 

The original ones were blue, then they were black and then amber. As far as I am aware the ones on the loco were never painted with black and amber stripes.

 

I know the vast majority of its working life the loco plates were blue as that was the colour of our home shirt the year it was built.

I have a model of it in late BR steam livery (late 50s) and the plates are blue.

It may have been painted Amber (never stripes) following it's last overhaul before being scrapped.

 

Think they were black during the war and amber later. The model may have the plates blue but I don’t think they were in BR days. Might be wrong, of course.

 

Yeah, LNER wartime livery was black. I have a reference photo in late BR livery with blue plates. Obvs BR didn't exist until 1947 and late steam crest would have been late 50s onwards.

 

I remember it in stripes above the BP tunnel, but it never carried stripes in service.

 

To be fair at the en of its working life you probably wouldn't be able tell what colour it was supposed to be for the oil, soot, rust and scale from no-longer steam-tight gaskets and gland packings.

They were a right old state in those final years.

 

The famous painting of 61660 arriving with the first train at Boothferry Halt showed it with amber plates. Which doesn’t mean they were of course, could have been artistic licence.

 

Yeah. Think there was a bit of artistic licence in that painting. Done from B&W reference photos I assume.

 

I think this is a replica that was sold by Gilbert Baitson Auctioneers in September 2019 as lot 422. Hammer price £400

 

Will soon know when we see what it goes for. It won't be £400 if it's original.

 

I believe it is the same one, it was lotted as
a replica. Going by the photo of two people carrying it, I would guess that it is too light to be an original although I am not an expert.