Class 31 No.31018 in the standard Rail Blue colour scheme

It was decided in 1965 to standardise the BR colours which became known as Rail Blue. Also known as "Monastral Blue", It was a dark, greyish blue tone which hid the effects of dirt well. The colour often appears inaccurately in photographs, generally appearing brighter and bluer than the real colour.

          In the early years the colour faded quite badly, becoming lighter and paler with time although this problem had been overcome by the late 1970s. United Kingdom paint "Ocean Blue" is a good match to Rail Blue.

The new British Rail "double arrow" symbol were appled to the  locomotives and the vehicle number and other ancillary markings were written in the Rail Alphabet typeface

          The colour was applied to all the diesel and electric locomotives, with the exception of the ends, which were painted yellow to improve visibility, and the underframes and buffer beams which were painted black; As Rail Blue was introduced, the last locomotive recorded  were  being outshopped in a previous livery the  Class 43  Rapid which left Swindon Works in August 1968 in maroon.

 

Take 3

This is the  latest stage of the rebuilding of my 1973 Stock, the rolling stock used on my Piccadilly line.

I'm still using the cut down versions of my old Mark 1 British Railways’ lines coaches.

I have now installed the engines in the front car and completed the  wiring to light this and other trailing cars.  

lower frame work has yet to be installed.

OPEN ALL HOURS

is a BBC television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which premiered in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. Open All Hours ranked eighth in the 2004 Britain's Best Sitcom poll. A sequel, entitled Still Open All Hours, was created in 2013.

The setting is a small grocer's shop in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The owner, Arkwright (Ronnie Barker), is a middle-aged miser with a stammer and a knack for selling. His nephew Granville (David Jason) is his put-upon errand boy, who blames his work schedule for his lacklustre social life.

Across the road lives Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron), occupied by her professional rounds, and her elderly mother. Arkwright longs to marry her, but she resists his persistent pressures.. Though short-tempered with Arkwright, she is concerned for his and Granville's welfare.

Arkwright

Arkwright is a pragmatic, miserly man with old-fashioned values, whose world seems to stop at his shop door, except for his uncontrollable lust for Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, which may prompt him on occasion to wander across the road, usually with a ladder, to gain access to her bedroom window.

 

I have placed Arkwright ,Granville and Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in Metro land which allows me to have this famous shop in my train layout. At  present there is a lot to do but I've got Arkwright's ladder ready and  Granville is standing at the door ready to load his bicycle to do his deliveries

Nurse Gladys Emmanuel must be home, as her car is still parked in front of her house.