Great Eastern Railway

The colour for Great Eastern Railway locomotives has been a source of considerable argument for a great many years.

When we took over Phoenix Precision Paints in September 2004, the only information available pointed to the fact that P500 Great Eastern Railway Royal Blue was the correct colour.

We soon started to hear stories of how an apprentice at Stratford works in the 1960's had been tasked with finding the correct colour for the painting of N°s 87 and 426 during their refurbishment for dispay in the, then, Clapham Transport Museum. 

A couple of years later we did a talk to the Colchester Society of Model Engineers and we recounted this story about the GE blue. There were a few sniggers and then a hand popped up at the back of the room and a voice said "I believe that you are refering to me". We were then told the complete story of how he had been charged with finding the colour, had found a couple of old tanks sitting at the back of the works painted in full lined GER livery and had used that colour to have the paint matched.

One of the biggest problems with blue pigments of the period was that they were affected immensely by Sulpher Dioxide a chemical that would have been everywhere around Stratford in the early 1900's. The effect of Sulpher Dioxide on the blue pigment is to darken it. This is what has probably given rise to the belief that there were two distinct blues - Stratford Blue and Cambridge Blue.

A Number of members of the Great Eastern Railway society, including ourselves, have done a large amount of resech over the last 5-8 years and have eventually come to the conclusion, based on official purchase records and board minutes, as well as reference to coloured German lithographs of the period, that the correct colour is Ultramarine (P507)

It is Ultramarine that has been used, with full black panelling, red lining and fully shaded GER letters as the heading picture to this section.


G.E.R. Royal Blue

G.E.R. Royal Blue

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

G.E.R. Loco Cream

G.E.R. Loco Cream

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

G.E.R. Loco Tan

G.E.R. Loco Tan

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

G.E.R. Freight Dark Grey

G.E.R. Freight Wagon Dark Grey

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

G.E.R. Light Freight Grey

G.E.R. Freight Wagon Light Grey

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

G.E.R. Ultramarine

G.E.R. Ultramarine

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

Black

Black

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

Buffer Beam Red

Buffer Beam Red

Great Eastern Railway

From £4.25

Lining Gold

Lining Gold

Great Eastern Railway

£4.25

About Phoenix Paints

Manufacturers and Suppliers of paint, Solder, Flux as well as associated Kits and bits and pieces for Railway, Military and Road Transport Models. The majority of our paint, whilst manufactured using the latest technology, is Traditional High Quality oil based paint formulated to original specifications to ensure your models always look their best. If you require sizes not listed on this website please contact us for pricing and availability. Please read our Disclaimer on colour accuracy and quantities/sizes.

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