Traditional Livery Guide.

Painting, lining and livery advise has been kindly supplied and written by Craftmaster Paints.

This is not meant to be a definitive guide, all the information is largely taken from the engine list in the rear of ‘Burrell Style’ a most excellent book written by Geoff Gilbert
Traction Engines

The predominant colour for Burrell traction engines was Crimson Lake. Wheel colours would mainly have been either Crimson Lake or Red. For the red shade we often suggest Post Office Red though the actual shade may range from our more sedate Alfa Red through to the more vivid (orange red) Vermillion.

However a significant percentage of traction engines were painted in Quaker Green. Wheel colour for these would have been Chocolate, Maroon, or Quaker Green.

The last of the more common colours to mention is Burrell Plum. A deeper more purple shade than Crimson Lake, wheel colours were Chocolate, Plum, or Red. This colour has proved very popular with modellers as an alternative to the widely used Crimson Lake

Other livery combinations are listed below

Body Colour Wheel Colour
Black Black
Chocolate Red

There is also an interesting shade referred to as ‘Lead Colour’ but no record of what it constituted exists


Road Locomotives

Again the main colour was Crimson Lake with either Crimson Lake or Red wheels, although there were a few with yellow wheels. Plum was also an option with the same range of wheel colours above in addition to Plum

Other colours from the listings are as follows

Body Colour Wheel Colour
Black Black
Chocolate
GWR Green Red
Plum Yellow

Showmans Engines

The widest choice of livery options is reserved for showman’s engines. By far the most popular combination was Crimson Lake with Yellow wheels, followed by Red wheels and then Straw. A further option used on a few engines was Cream wheels.

Perhaps the most famous colour scheme though is that on ‘Ex Mayor’. Tuby’s had a unique colour scheme of Great Eastern Blue with Yellow wheels, which we now have on file for anyone wanting to replicate ‘Ex Mayor’.

Other colours schemes used are as follows

Body Colour Wheel Colour
Bright Red Yellow
Coronation Red Light Yellow
Crimson Lake Bright Red
Crimson Lake Creamy White
Green Red
Green Vermillion
Lead Colour Straw
Plum Deep Straw
Plum Plum
Plum Red
Plum Straw
Plum Yellow
Royal Blue Red
Verona Red Verona Red


Preserved Engines

Examples of preserved engines in the above colours are listed below and may aid in livery choice

Crane Engine ‘Old Tim’ Crimson Lake with Yellow wheels
Crane Engine ‘Joe Chamberlain’ Crimson Lake all over
Road Loco ‘The President’ Black all over
Showmans ‘Ex Mayor’ Tuby Blue / Tuby Yellow (our colours)
Showmans ‘Busy Bee’ Plum with Straw wheels