Spray painting at Inchicore - when did it start?

[Mol_PMB]

As you'll know I'm interested in liveries and this has led me to a question about spray painting.

The book 'The Works - Celebrating 150 years of Inchicore Works' contains many reminiscences of works staff and one of those relates to the introduction of spray painting for carriages (page 54).

This notes that the traditional method of painting required 6 coats of paint applied by brush by skilled painters. This had been identified as one of the most labour-intensive and time-consuming practices in the works but carried on "through to the late 1950s".

The tale in the book says that many spray-painting trials were carried out, using a wide range of paints, but the paint would never stick properly to the coach surface. Eventually this was traced to a chargehand who had been deliberately contaminating the paint with paraffin. Presumably over a fear of job losses if a quicker, more efficient painting process was introduced.

I'd be interested to try and date this more accurately, as there may be a connection to observed changes in livery in the 1950s.

The method of application and the number of coats can influence the appearance of paint, even the same colour paint can look different. But often the change to spray painting was accompanied by a change in paint formulation and supplier too. 

I've also seen some 1950s photos of carriages where the paint appears to have peeled off, and there are other mentions of experiments in the 1950s with different shades of green paint which could not be kept clean in service.

Can anyone give a more definitive date for the introduction of spray painting at Inchicore?

 

Many thanks,

Mol

 

P.S. It's worth remembering that for the 1956-8 period, new-build carriages from Inchicore weren't painted at all on the body. Older carriages would still have needed repainting though. Green was reintroduced as a livery for new carriages in late 1958 - might this tally with the introduction of spray painting or was it more to do with the departure of Bulleid?

Edited May 12 by Mol_PMB
PS

[exciecoachbuilder]

Hi MoI, just seeing your question now. Spray painting, using airless spray equipment in Inchicore works started in 1971. The black colour would be sprayed first, the golden brown (orange) and the single white stripe on top would be then hand painted in the paint shop, and the carriage shop. Hand painting in the carriage shop was discontinued in 1972. They changed the painting technique to pressure pot spraying mid/ late 80's? and sprayed the orange first, on both locos and carriages. Then hand painted the black bands and white single stripe. There is a picture of an A class locomotive just after being sprayed on page 21 in the book Irish railway rambler. Everything changed when the new paint paintspray facility was built in inchicore in 99/ 2000...

                                                                                                                            Paul.

[Mol_PMB]

Ah, that's very interesting, thank you. I thought you might be the man who would know.

So the technique and equipment changed several times, even in the orange and black era. 

Although there's an anecdote of spray painting being trialled at Inchicore in the late 1950s (with some problems), perhaps it wasn't successful at that stage and had to wait another decade. 

 

I think British Rail introduced the airless spray system in the mid-1960s with the blue livery, but again there were several changes in equipment and technique.