CIE Carriage Liveries - The Green Era

[Mol_PMB]

Eventually all this research will get applied to some models, so I have ordered some paint:

[GSR 800]

Looks like I'll need to be painting a few roofs green!

[Mol_PMB]

19 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

Looks like I'll need to be painting a few roofs green!

Roof colours will continue to be an interesting topic as I proceed through the 1950s. For new-build stock, I think black roofs were introduced in 1958. 

So many of the colour photos of the green era are from around 1960 that our view is skewed towards that period, and we don't realise that things were different in the early and mid 1950s.

Getting ahead of the timeline a bit, I don't think anyone could claim these mid-1950s roofs were black:

 

[Horsetan]

44 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

... I have ordered some paint:

This looks like those terrible "healthy smoothies" you can get from those middle-class café and deli chains.

[Mol_PMB]

3 hours ago, Horsetan said:

This looks like those terrible "healthy smoothies" you can get from those middle-class café and deli chains.

Would you like the Spinach, Avocado or Celery flavour?

226 is Mid Brunswick Green (CIE dark green), 221 is Brilliant Green (as used on the Park Royals and Wedgehead railcars when new, we haven't got that far through the story yet) and 216 is Eau de Nil.

They are custom enamel colours, matched to the BS381C colours, and in due course I'll try spraying them with the airbrush. Six 50ml pots plus postage cost a total of £50.

The same firm can also provide them as rattlecans.

 

[Westcorkrailway]

48 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Would you like the Spinach, Avocado or Celery flavour?

226 is Mid Brunswick Green (CIE dark green), 221 is Brilliant Green (as used on the Park Royals and Wedgehead railcars when new, we haven't got that far through the story yet) and 216 is Eau de Nil.

They are custom enamel colours, matched to the BS381C colours, and in due course I'll try spraying them with the airbrush. Six 50ml pots plus postage cost a total of £50.

The same firm can also provide them as rattlecans.

 

The rattle cans will be handy….

[Mol_PMB]

18 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

The rattle cans will be handy….

https://onlinepaintshop.co.uk/product/custom-spray-paint-tinted-400ml/

 

[Horsetan]

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Would you like the Spinach, Avocado or Celery flavour?

....

The only thing that those things have got going for them is that they may assist the generation of a fart in a confined space. 

[Mol_PMB]

Staying on the subject of the plain dark green livery on the new stock built in the '1950 programme' (actually 1950-1952)

We've already seen that the livery of the first batch of compos was described as:

They are painted dark green, with no lining or light green band, but relieved by bright aluminium strips round the windows. The roof is also green, with the exception of a narrow black strip in the centre.

The livery of the next batch of thirds is not described in such detail and there is no explicit mention of the roof colour, although it looks the same as the body colour when viewed from the side. 

So this photo dated 9 May 1954 is interesting. In the foreground is one of the 1951 thirds in plain dark green livery, viewed from above. There is a clear demarkation in the paintwork on the roof, which might be the upper edge of the green paint: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509198220

I'm not sure the middle part of the roof would qualify as a 'narrow black strip in the centre' - it's actually most of the width of the roof - but perhaps there was a change in the width of the strip between the compos and thirds?

 

Roofs quickly got grubby, and good photos of clean roofs from elevated viewpoints are rare, which means that it's hard to be sure about the original roof colours.

However, modellers could reasonably paint them a dirty darkish grey all over without worrying too much about how much was originally painted green.

[Mol_PMB]

An interlude from the liveries as I have been experimenting with paint samples again. The colours shown here are all enamels, and were sprayed over a light grey primer as follows:

• D1 Humbrol 3 Brunswick Green gloss
• D2 Precision P892 Tank Green dull (this is what I was sent when I ordered CIE dark green)
• D3 BS381C 226 Mid Brunswick Green gloss  (custom enamel mix from onlinepaintshop.co.uk)
• D4 Revell SM363 satin
• D5 Revell SM364 satin (this is what we decided was the best match to CIE light green in an earlier thread)
• D6 BS381C 221 Brilliant Green gloss (custom enamel mix from onlinepaintshop.co.uk)
• D7 Railmatch SR Malachite Green gloss
• D8 BS381C 216 Eau-de-Nil gloss (custom enamel mix from onlinepaintshop.co.uk)

The photos were taken ourdoors in May under bright late morning sunshine. It might have been better if I had varnished them all - I could still do that.

 

First up, the darker shades D1 to D4 against a black background and a white background:

Humbrol 3 is near-identical to BS381C 226 Mid Brunswick Green. The Precision colour is more bluish, while the Revell colour is more brownish. Pushing together three of them for another comparison, plus Eau-de-Nil on the left:

 

Next, the lighter shades D5 to D8 against a black background and a white background.

The Revell 364 is just a shade lighter than the Railmatch malachite, but very similar in tone. The BS381C 221 Brilliant Green is a slightly richer, warmer colour.

Eau-de-Nil isn't meant to be comparable with these, but included for completeness. Pushing together the other three we get:

 

Here's a comparison between EdN, light green, dark green and brilliant green, pushed together.

It's amazing how much the background colour and automatic exposure adjustment of the phone camera makes a massive difference to the apparent shades. Of course, in photos of the real thing the lighting conditions, camera settings and film sensitivity also make big differences.

I think the black background is more useful for colour comparison but the phone does tend to make the EdN look a bit luminous in the sunshine. So I've taken another photo of the samples indoors, with indirect lighting from natural light outside. And the same again under my layout lighting. For these photos I have added one more light green shade from my previous experiments: sample 7 is Revell SM360.

Indirect daylight:

Layout lighting:

 

I'd say that both D1 (Humbrol 3) and D3 (BS381C 226) are good for CIE dark green when new. For the weathered faded look when it often turned a bit bluish, D2 (Precision P892) is useful. D8 (BS381C 216) is the Eau-de-Nil shade.

Uses for the lighter greens will have to wait until this thread gets a bit further into the 1950s...

 

[Mol_PMB]

The AEC Railcars

While Inchicore was turning out new and old carriages in the plain dark green livery, the AEC Railcars were under construction in England. The underframes were produced by AEC and the bodies were added by Park Royal. Despite some opposition from the Irish government for some local content, they were entirely built and finished in England.

The first 20 had been ordered in 1950, and a further 40 in 1951. Construction followed those previously built for GNR, and the design was very similar. The first two arrived in December 1951, followed by another two in early 1952. Deliveries then stopped for a year, largely owing to strike action at Inchicore and sympathetic strikes by dock-workers who refused to unload them in Dublin. The disputes were resolved at the end of 1952 and deliveries recommenced in January 1953, with all 60 delivered by June 1954. The order had been for 60 main line cars but CIE later changed their mind and Park Royal outshopped three types of vehicle:

• 2600-2647 'Main Line' with first and third class, tables, toilets, guard's van plus a heating boiler in even-numbered cars.
• 2648-2657 'Suburban' as above but without tables or toilets, having an extra bay of 4 seats instead of the toilet.
• 2658-2659 'Waterford & Tramore' with high-density bus-type seating throughout, 2658 having a heating boiler.

In 'Diesel Dawn' (Flanagan), it is stated:

All the CIE railcars were initially painted in dark green, but later received a lighter shade than hitherto which looked very smart.

Photographs and memories (such as @Northroader's a few posts back) support the statement that all 60 were delivered in dark green. IRRS reports from 1951/2 describe the arrival of the railcars but do not mention their livery, perhaps further cicumstantial evidence that there was no change in colour worth mentioning.

At the time of their order, the CIE livery would have been the late 1940s elaborately lined dark green, but by the time they were being built the plain dark green had replaced it. The dark green scheme applied to the railcars used the same colours but was intermediate in style between the elaborate and the plain schemes. I bought a slide on ebay which shows this original livery very nicely; elsewhere I have seen this credited to Colour Rail but I cannot find it on their website. West Cork fans will like this shot of 2637 at Bantry in May 1955. It had been in traffic about 8 months, so this is a great illustration of the original condition:

The main colour is dark green, with a thin EdN line on the waist beading. Windows have shiny metal frames, and the buffer beam is red with black buffer shanks.

On the sides, classes 1 and 3 are indicated by large EdN digits, and there is also a large snail transfer. Not obvious in this photo, the vehicle number was shown towards the right-hand end of each side as usual.

The vehicle number was also shown on the end. As delivered from England, the number was immediately below the waist line as seen in the image above. Photos indicate that Inchicore practice was to place it lower down, so the position of this number on the front end can be a guide to whether the car has been repainted. Later still, a larger size numeral was used, but that will have to wait until we get to the very late 1950s.

In the image above we can see that the solebars and skirts were also dark green, but not so obvious is that the bogies were painted silver. Here's a closer look at the bogies when new:

The front ends were obviously green, but not so obvious in many images is that the intermediate ends were also green. This IRRS photo of the blunt end of a newly-delivered car shows the black buffers contrasting with the green end:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53506776108

This photo also shows a green intermediate end, as well as the extent of the silver paint on the bogies and underframe equipment:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509287160

Here are some shots of the early trial runs:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508838923

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/54308511828

By May 1952 the first 4 cars were in traffic on Dublin-Waterford services, and there are quite a lot of photos of the new toys. Just a few linked here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53507783362

https://www.thetransportlibrary.co.uk/-/galleries/rail/lens-of-sutton-association/lens-of-sutton-association-irish-railways-part-2/-/medias/488ba1cc-ff73-4225-ab7b-933bc98bd438-cie-2600-twin-railcar-at-waterford-26-4-52-jn-faulkner

https://www.thetransportlibrary.co.uk/-/galleries/rail/lens-of-sutton-association/lens-of-sutton-association-irish-railways-part-2/-/medias/5a0f0819-e9a0-4316-b97f-f87fd2378bd5-cie-2600-2601-twin-railcar-set-at-inchicore-05-04-52-rk-kir

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53507047870

Once deliveries recommenced in 1953 the cars quickly spread across the network reaching the furthest extents of the system:

So, what colour was the roof in this original railcar livery? I'm pretty sure that the roof dome above the cab was green, same as the cab end. The rest of the roof is more matt in appearance, and often appears a little lighter when new and clean. I wonder if it was originally light grey as on the GNR AEC railcars?

Whatever it was originally, the roofs quickly became dirty dark grey as shown in the colour photo at the top of this post. But do have a closer look at the roof dome on that image - there are hints of green under the grime.

 

The books say that all 60 railcars were delivered in dark green; we've seen 2600, 2609, 2637 so let's finish with 2659, last of the Park Royal built cars built specially for the W&T. Here it is in 1957 when it was 3 years old - this images appears in 'Irish Railways in the 1950s and 1960s' (McCormack) p125. As a contrast, the second vehicle in the train is 2657 which was modified at Inchicore to W&T specification in 1955 and repainted at the same time into a lighter green scheme. They're both a bit grubby but you can see a difference, though it's not entirely conclusive. I'm tended to support the view that the AECs were all dark green initially.

 

I will deal with the later liveries of the AEC railcars as we get to them in the timeline.

My next post will consider the intermediate coaches that were painted to match the railcars they ran with - some new and some old vehicles.

[Mol_PMB]

While carriage construction at Inchicore was proceeding slowly owing to strikes and material shortages, construction of some new carriages to CIE design was contracted out to the GNR at Dundalk. The number of vehicles and the scope of work (complete carriages or components) was changed several times, but what emerged in 1952 was a fully-finished batch of 5 corridor thirds numbered 1351 to 1355.

They were very similar to their predecessors from Inchicore, but with alterations to the interior finishes, and an enhancement to Inchicore's plain dark green livery, according to the IRRS Journal:

The livery, still dark green, was much relieved by a narrow light green band along the waistline.

I think these were the first coaches to be built new with fittings for operation with CIE's AEC railcars - through-wiring and jumpers plus an extra high-vacuum pipe for quicker brake release. Dundalk would have been familiar with these additions, as they had recently been modifying GNR stock to run with their own AECs. The light green (actually EdN) waist line also matched the railcars, although it could not be placed at exactly the same height owing to the different window geometry. Let's look back at that nice colour photo in Bantry to see one of these Dundalk-built corridor thirds. Note that it does not have '3' class digits or a snail - the livery is simply plain dark green plus a waist line. I cannot confirm the initial roof colour; I suspect the ends were black.

There's just a hint of slightly different shades of green between the railcar and the intermediate, possibly different primer coats or paint batches. Remember, the railcars were painted in London and the carriage in Dundalk, so they may have had different paint suppliers from Inchicore.

Here's a late 1950s photo from Trainiac on Flickr and also on the west Cork. By this time the nearer railcar has been repainted in a lighter shade of green, but the intermediate corridor third is still in original dark green with waist line:

 

The delays in building carriages at Inchicore meant that new buffet cars were not available to run with the first railcars, and the catering department reluctantly had to use old wooden-bodied tea cars as a substitute. At first these weren't even through-wired and had to be hauled, which was considered very unsatisfactory as most people in the train (including the first class passengers) did not have access to refreshments. However, a small fleet of tea cars were quickly through-wired and piped, and photos indicate that most were repainted to match. The catering department still considered them very unsatisfactory and lobbied hard for a new fleet of buffet cars which would arrive in 1953/4. There still weren't enough and some of the old vehicles lasted a few more years on secondary duties.

They were as follows:

• Tea car 838, converted in 1952 and used with 2600-3 on some of the first railcar services.
• Tea car 841, converted in 1952 and used with 2600-3 on some of the first railcar services.
• Tea car 843, converted Feb/March 1953
• Tea car 343, converted Feb/March 1953
• Tea car 350, converted Feb/March 1953
• Tea car 74D, converted in mid-1953

In the IRRS Archives there's a whole box of corrrespondence from the 1950s about catering provision, especially on the railcar trains, here's just one page relevant to the tea cars:

This photo from Irish Broad Gauge Carriages (Coakham) p16 shows 343 in a railcar set with matching livery, in April 1953. Incidentally this was not the only clerestory coach that ran with the railcars - I think there were three in total.

This photo from Ernie shows 350 in a railcar set with matching livery, in August 1953:

838 seems to appear in more pictures than most, but this photo shows it fairly clearly; again it was finished in matching livery:

841 and 843 seem to have been camera-shy as railcar tea cars in the early 1950s. I have photos of them in later and earlier eras in different liveries.

74D appears to have been painted in a lighter green, a livery we will come to in due course.

Other old catering cars were also converted for use with the railcars; these were mainly larger heavier dining cars that were less suitable for use in short, rather underpowered railcar trains. They don't appear often in photos of railcar sets in this era, and the photos I have found are not clear enough to show their livery. 

 

Inchicore's carriage construction programme restarted in 1953, focused on railcar intermediates, and my next post will consider those. However, there will be a complication because they started experimenting with shades of green. I'm still trying to get my head round this.

 

[Mol_PMB]

A brighter green: developments in 1953

From 1945 until the end of 1952, the carriage liveries applied by CIE were all dark green. We have seen that there were variations in lining and lettering:  the early elaborate scheme of the 1940s, then the very plain dark green used from late 1950, also the AEC Railcar livery with a simple waist line.

Someone must have decided that a change was needed. Bulleid may have had an influence – apparently the lighter Malachite Green used by the former Southern Railway was his favourite colour. But I haven’t found any official documentation of this change in livery or the reasons why it happened. 

The rate of carriage production at Inchicore in 1953/54 was higher than ever before, a fact recorded in the CIE annual reports of that time. It appears that several green liveries may have been used in this period, but documentary sources are scarce and vague, and colour photos very hard to find.
 
In D. Kennedy’s article ‘Modern CIE Coaching Stock’ in the IRRS Journal 37 (June 1965, so 12 years after the event) the start of the brighter green era is described in the following paragraphs:

[describing the Dundalk-built 1351-5 of 1952 that I covered in the previous post] 
The livery, still dark green, was much relieved by a narrow light green band along the waistline. These were the last coaches so painted, but despite a number of mid-green liveries which followed, the light green band was retained.

[describing open thirds 1356-71 and brake thirds 1904-8 built in 1953] 
When new, they were painted apple green, but this livery was most unsuccessful; within a short time the numbers were hardly legible, and the coaches were almost impossible to clean. During 1953 and 1954 various other liveries, all shades of mid green, were tested on many vehicles, but all were unsuccessful.

[the article goes on to describe the coaches built in those years, but there is no further reference to their livery]
[then a detailed description of the Park Royals including]
The “Park Royals” as these coaches have become known, are Nos. 1379-1418; they were originally all painted “brilliant green” lined light green, and this became the standard livery for the following 6 years.

These references are useful but not very specific, especially considering the large number of carriages built in this period. No doubt other older vehicles were being repainted at the same time. I’m going to try and make sense of this for the new-build carriages first, and to consider this as a timeline based on information from the CIE annual reports, the contemporary IRRS Journals, and photographs. First I will consider the carriages built on conventional underframes and bogies during 1953. These were primarily intended for use with the railcars and on ‘Radio Train’ specials, rather than normal loco-hauled services. In date order, they comprised:

• 3 buffet cars, 2405-2407: completed in March 1953 
• 16 open thirds, 1356-1371: 3 completed in March and the rest by Autumn 1953
• 5 brake open thirds, 1904-1908: completed by Autumn 1953
• 11 more buffet cars, 2408-2418: commencing in late 1953 and all in service by March 1954

We’ll look at a few photos showing these coaches in 1953/54 when they would have been carrying their original liveries, and when other rolling stock including the AEC railcars would have been dark green.

This photo dated May 1953 shows a railcar set with buffet and open third intermediates. At this date they were all only a few months old and the buffet must be one of the first three built.  There is no obvious difference in shade between the vehicles and I conclude that they were all dark green.

One for the ‘800’ enthusiasts, here’s 802 in June 1953 and her train contains a brand-new buffet car (one of the first three built), two early 1950s composites in plain dark green, and a Pullman. These all look to be a similar colour. 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235287610

 

A Woolwich on the Radio Train and the first coach behind the van is a 1953 buffet, which looks dark green:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508776166

 

This IRRS photo dated July 1953 shows one of the new open seconds (and beyond it diner 2400 or 2401). It’s inconclusive but the open second looks a bit lighter.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235482405

This photo dated 1954 appears in ‘Rails around Dublin’ (Murray) p53. We see a long 4+4 railcar train. In the leading set, the intermediates are a new buffet and open third. In the trailing set, they are tea car 838, and a Dundalk-built corridor third. Again, there is no obvious difference in shade between the vehicles and I conclude that they were all dark green.

This photo dated 5th September 1954 appears in IRRS Journal 184 p66. Again we have a long railcar train but this time in 6+2 formation. The intermediates are two Dundalk-built corridor thirds, tea car 838, and a new buffet. Here there is a stark difference in shade between the buffet and the rest of the train – the buffet is a much lighter green.

This photo from the early 1950s shows a 4-car set, with intermediates comprising tea car 74D and a new open third. The open third is clearly a much lighter shade than the railcars, and 74D might also be a lighter colour. We saw in the previous post that 74D was converted for use with the railcars a little later than the other tea cars, and may have strayed into the period when a lighter green was used.

 

This IRRS photo dated 21st August 1954 shows a 4-car set with new buffet and open third. Both the intermediates look much paler than the railcar. 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53498866628

 

These IRRS photos from around 1954 give the same impression:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235122659

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235122674

 

This IRRS photo shows open third 1365 when brand new in June 1953.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53507832507

In the absence of other references, I can’t be sure what shade of green this is. However, it helps to confirm the other aspects of this livery. The underframes, bogies and ends appear black, and the roofs appear to be relatively light: either green or grey, or a bit of both. There are no class designations on the doors, and the snail remains absent.
This photo shows a couple of these coaches newly in service on 19th April 1953 on the Galway service, confirming some of the livery details: 
https://www.thetransportlibrary.co.uk/-/galleries/rail/lens-of-sutton-association/lens-of-sutton-association-irish-railways-part-2/-/medias/0b7558b9-80c0-4b1f-bda8-aab6428a6915-cie-375-ex-gsr-k1-2-6-0-at-galway-on-radio-train-19-4-53-jn-f

 

This is a nice portrait of 2408, from the second batch of buffet cars built in late 1953, and seen here in May 1954. It is a distinctly lighter shade than the plain dark green coach on the left:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509040109

 

Photos of the brake thirds when new are hard to find, but this shot dated June 1954 shows one in a ‘Radio Train’ which is composed of 1953 stock. The first 3 carriages look to be in the lighter shade of green.

From this information, I conclude that the carriages built in early 1953 (the first 3 buffet cars and some of the open thirds) were outshopped in dark green with waist line, the same as the Dundalk-built corridor thirds completed in late 1952.
At some stage in mid-1953 the experiments with different shades of green began, with some open thirds, the brake thirds, and some of the second batch of buffets receiving a much lighter shade.

This was probably what D.Kennedy described in 1965 as ‘Apple Green’ as applied to the open thirds and brake thirds:
When new, they were painted apple green, but this livery was most unsuccessful; within a short time the numbers were hardly legible, and the coaches were almost impossible to clean.
I have not been able to confirm what colour this was – apples exist in many colours. There is no paint named ‘Apple Green’ in BS381C, nor in its predecessors the CC and BCC colour standards. The LNER was the most famous railway user of apple green, but Doncaster and Darlington used two different shades of it. On CIE, the livery may have only been applied to about 20-30 carriages, and appears to have been short-lived in service. I am not sure whether this livery was applied to many older vehicles. 

I have not found any colour photos of the ‘Apple Green’. This raises a question – was ‘apple green’ just a different description of the ‘brilliant green’ that followed it?
D Kennedy’s article stated that the 
“brilliant green” lined light green, … became the standard livery for the following 6 years.
To me, these statements indicate that ‘most unsuccessful’ apple green was different from the brilliant green that ‘became the standard livery’. 

So the information presented in this post is not as clear-cut as I would like. There is some evidence of Apple Green’s brief existence in 1953/54 as a colour distinct from both Dark Green and Brilliant Green, but most of it derives from an article written in 1965, rather than 1953. Certainly some of the carriages described as carrying Apple Green appear as a lighter shade in monochrome photos from 1953/54.

 

[Mol_PMB]

1954: Silver Underframes and Brilliant Green

In the last post, I described the coaches built in 1953, of which the last few buffet cars were completed in the early months of 1954. These were the final CIE coaches to be built on traditional design underframes and bogies. For the next decade, CIE carriages would use ‘Commonwealth’ cast steel bogies, and Bulleid-designed ‘Triangulated’ underframes. From their introduction in 1954, the new bogies and underframes were painted silver, and this made a dramatic change to the vehicles’ appearance. However, the bodies of the first two batches were near-identical in construction to their predecessors.

These coaches were intended for loco-hauled services and were not fitted for working with the AEC railcars. In date order, they comprised:

• 25 corridor composites 2137-2161, 10 completed by March 1954, the remainder by Autumn 1954
• 7 corridor seconds 1372-1378, completed by the end of 1954

Also built on the same type of underframe, but with an unconventional body, were the 50 Park Royals; construction of those started in 1954 but I will consider them in a separate post. 

IRRS Journal 14, Spring 1954, says:
Coaches are now being painted in a much brighter shade (officially Brilliant Green), with a narrow light green band along the waist-line, to match the railcars.
Five of the 11 buffet cars mentioned in the last journal are in service and work has started on 20 side-corridor compos. Though a prototype coach (assembled) has arrived at Inchicore, assembly of the Park Royal coaches has not begun yet.

IRRS Journal 14, Autumn 1954, says:
All coaches mentioned in the last Journal are now in service, 5 more side-corridors finished and another 7 started. All recent coaches are on Americal cast-steel bogies: underframes and bogies are finished in aluminium paint. 

The CIE annual report to the end of March 1954 notes that all the buffet cars had been completed by then, as well as 10 of the new compos.

D. Kennedy’s article ‘Modern CIE Coaching Stock’ in the IRRS Journal 37 (June 1965, so 11 years after the event) also mentions Brilliant Green:
The “Park Royals” as these coaches have become known, are Nos. 1379-1418; they were originally all painted “brilliant green” lined light green, and this became the standard livery for the following 6 years.
Looking briefly ahead, D. Kennedy also noted that in 1957 the Bulleid ‘wedgehead’ railcars were delivered in Brilliant Green.

‘Brilliant Green’ is a colour defined in BS381C, number 221. It is a rich warm mid green colour. We know that CIE had been using BS381C as a reference for their earlier shades of green, and the wording of the IRRS journal (a much brighter shade, officially Brilliant Green) is consistent with that. The documentary evidence indicates that brilliant green was introduced in early 1954.
Here’s a comparison between dark green and brilliant green from a BS381C colour chart, and from my own paint samples on white and black backgrounds:

     

If we work on the basis that brilliant green was introduced in early 1954 as described in the contemporary IRRS journal, then it follows that it was applied to the new stock built in 1954 with silver triangulated underframes and commonwealth bogies. Let’s have a look at some photos of these coaches when newly introduced to service. 
The IRRS archive includes several photos of 1954-built compo 2146 when almost new in May 1954. The silver underframe and bogies stand out when clean, and the body side is clearly a lighter shade than the adjacent plain dark green coach. The roof appears to be the same shade as the body side, and the ends look black. Other aspects of the livery are the same as the 1953 stock – EdN class digits on the first class door only, running number near the right-hand end of the side. A thin EdN waist line, and no snail.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508672646

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508990164

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509198220

Here, the recent uploads to the IRRS Flickr archive are very useful as they include many steam-hauled expresses during this period.
Here’s a nice shot of a Woolwich with a train including several green liveries. The first coach is a 1930s GSR corridor third in plain dark green, followed by a 1900s GSWR coach in the elaborately lined dark green. The third carriage is one of the new 1954-built composites; the silver-painted bogies and the light roof colour stand out.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235148304

Another shortish train, and another compo standing out:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235143539

In these lengthy trains of older stock, the silver underframe and light-coloured roof of the new compo are unmistakeable:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55234895526

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235044223

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235142774

In 1954 one of the new compos was marshalled in an MGWR express, and is seen in several photos sandwiched between an MGWR TPO, and a former Pullman diner that appears to have been repainted in matching brilliant green livery:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235049648

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235306150

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/55235148734

Colour photos of the early 1950s are very hard to find, but I have found one excellent photo from July 1956 which shows two of the corridor thirds built in late 1954. This is reproduced in ‘Keith Pirt Colour Portfolio’ p20.

The colours on this image are open to various interpretations. It is lit by bright and contrasty sunlight, over-exposed in places and appears to have a yellow cast perhaps caused by slight deterioration of the slide.  At first glance the two corridor thirds appear a very bright yellow-green, but I think this is a false impression and that they are actually brilliant green. The buffet car beyond them may be dark green, subject to the same colour and brightness issues.

Alternatively, the carriages may be in experimental green shades, perhaps including apple green. I think this is less likely, because the documentary evidence says that the corridor thirds were built after brilliant green had been chosen as the standard colour. 
Whichever it is, the underframes and roofs have received a generous coating of grime and their original colours are concealed.

The brilliant green livery with silver underframes and bogies was also applied to the Park Royals when new, as well as the West Clare diesel locos. Older rolling stock was also painted brilliant green, although those retained black bogies, underframes and roofs. I’ll look at some examples of these in the next posts, and should be able to provide a better selection of colour images showing how I think brilliant green looked.

 

 

Finally, a couple of footnotes for completeness.

Four of the 25 composites built in 1954 gave up their commonwealth bogies in the mid-1950s, receiving old GSR/CIE type bogies instead. This was a permanent swap for 2139/44/52/55, and the beneficiaries were state coach 351, AEC driving trailers 1906 and 1907, and ambulance coach AM12. Commonwealth bogies were normally silver at this time, while the older bogies were black, so there would nominally have been a colour mismatch between the bogies and underframe. In practice they were all soon dirt-coloured. In 1957, the driving trailers were repainted at Rocksavage and the underframes and bogies were painted silver - normal for the commonwealth bogies but very unusual for a traditional type underframe.

There remains a puzzle in the wording of the 1954 IRRS Journal reference, in the phrase ‘to match the railcars’.
Coaches are now being painted in a much brighter shade (officially Brilliant Green), with a narrow light green band along the waist-line, to match the railcars.
The narrow light green band along the waist line would indeed match the railcars, but is this comment also suggesting that the railcars were brilliant green? I had earlier concluded that they were delivered in dark green, and they were still being delivered in early 1954. The railcars were overhauled more frequently than the carriages, but it would be a surprise if any were being repainted so soon. Also, the new stock delivered in early 1954 was not fitted to run with the railcars. My interpretation is that the comment relates only to the waist-line and not to the shade of green – but I accept that other interpretations are possible and would be delighted to see any more documentary evidence or colour images showing the carriage and railcar liveries around 1954.

 

Next up, the Park Royals, again there will be a short pause while I collate information. 

 

[jhb171achill]

Superb stuff, mol.

The pic above in Sligo, though, while interesting in terms of whart was painted what colour, is so badly compromised by age and printing processes that as far as actualy shade is concerned, it has become completely inaccurate. Colour hues on the track, the two vans, the station roof glass and the station stonework are wrong too. Interesting, as a separate issue, to see the two ancient Midland mail vans there too. There was one (not one of those two) still in use up to about 1960, which dated back to 1877!

Edited 3 hours ago by jhb171achill

[Mol_PMB]

20 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Superb stuff, mol.

The pic above in Sligo, though, while interesting in terms of whart was painted what colour, is so badly compromised by age and printing processes that as far as actualy shade is concerned, it has become completely inaccurate. Colour hues on the track, the two vans, the station roof glass and the station stonework are wrong too. Interesting, as a separate issue, to see the two ancient Midland mail vans there too. There was one (not one of those two) still in use up to about 1960, which dated back to 1877!

Yes, I agree, I think these colours look far too bright and yellow. 
It is useful in showing a difference in colour between the seconds and the buffet. 

I have some better colour photos of brilliant green on other coaches, but need more hours of research first, before I do the writing up.
This image from Ernie is a better representation of brilliant green:

 

[GSR 800]

51 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Yes, I agree, I think these colours look far too bright and yellow. 
It is useful in showing a difference in colour between the seconds and the buffet. 

I have some better colour photos of brilliant green on other coaches, but need more hours of research first, before I do the writing up.
This image from Ernie is a better representation of brilliant green:

 

Is this not the dark green?

[Mol_PMB]

5 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

Is this not the dark green?

I don’t think so. If it was, then there would be a dark green Park Royal in the rake, and the documentary evidence is firmly that they were delivered in brilliant green. There are also colour photos of new, brilliant green Park Royals next to dark green coaches and there is an obvious contrast.

However, photographic evidence suggests that the late 1958 light green was a lighter colour than brilliant green. 

I’ll get onto this in the next post but I need some more time to collate all the images. 

[MD220]

Downpatrick's Park Royal, 1944, is painted in dark green, the carriage guys there insist that there is photographic evidence that it carried this livery in service. Perhaps the documentary evidence is slightly misleading.

As an aside, can I just say that I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread, I applaud you on your research, you've obviously put a lot of effort into it!