They all had them when freshly shopped, I think, JHB. Trouble was they quickly got covered in gunge. The red background with brass letter nameplates seem to coincide with Dundalk trips - official SLNC policy was to paint them black with red letters. Perhaps the Dundalk men wanted to see shiny brass adorning their workmanship. But as soon as Manorhamilton got a chance, painted black and red they were! On the other hand, buffer shanks were, unusually, painted black.
This still from the early 50s shows how luminous the rods could be when fresh….and Hamilton Ellis, who adored the SLNC and knew it first hand in detail, painted Lissadell with very clear red rods. Indeed in ‘The Engines That Passed’ he expressly states that the SLNC was his favourite Irish railway, so he’d want to get the details right. Sadly, his picture of the 4-4-0 hauled mail passing Dromahair in that book is only a line drawing rather than full colour! How glorious that would have looked….