First class yelkow stripe marking

I recall the yellow first class stripe and the red catering vehicle stripes appearing on trains through Havant around 1963 or so. Almost all electric units had applicable stripes by the time I left in January 1966.

-- Cheers

Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

I concur. I started spotting in 1961, when station destinations were still applied by boards mounted on the carriage roofs or on the side of the guard's compartment, even on the semi-fasts. This was done away with at the same time as the cantrail stripes appeared, and I remember thinking this was the beginning of the downhill slide.

You didn't need a cantrail stripe at that time. You could always locate the first class area by the bloody great gold "1" on the door, and the fact that the door was being held open for you by a railway employee with his cap doffed.

Cheers, Steve

See what you mean about the door numbers - Who did introduce the yellow stripe then? I know it was in the 1920s, London suburban services. If there were still big numbers on the doors I assume the stock was still in pre nationalisation livery.

Mike

The yellow stripe was introduced by the Great Eastern on commuter routes into Liverpool Street. It first appeared on the livery introduced in 1919, although it took a while before all the stock used it. I'm not sure when it was picked up by other companies.

According to OS Nock, the colours were to aid passangers in finding the right compartment in a busy station where stopping times were reckoned in seconds rather than minutes, particularly where sets were not necesarily consistent - first class might be at any position in the train, and being able to see from a distance (over the heads of people on the platform) which carriages were first class would minimise time spent walking along the platform. But other sources suggest that it wasn't originally intended as an indication to passengers, as such - the door numbers were still the primary means of identification - it was more of an art deco design feature created to emphasise the modernity of the company. Take your pick of the various theories about the origin.

Mark

Thanks for that - Most informative, appreciated

Mike