Heritage Railway Volunteers Spend More Time Arguing About Paint Colors Than Running Trains

The Millbrook Heritage Railway has confirmed that its flagship 1923 steam locomotive, No. 4472, has been stationary in the paint shop since January 2023 due to an unresolved dispute among restoration volunteers over whether the engine's original livery was Brunswick Green, British Racing Green, or what one faction insists is a 'completely distinct shade called LNER Apple Green that you wouldn't understand.' 'We have seventeen volunteers,' said railway chairman Arthur Tender. 'Twelve of them have strong opinions about green. The other five have stopped coming.' The dispute began when volunteer painter Colin Gauge mixed what he believed was an accurate recreation of the locomotive's 1923 finish, only to be informed by three separate committee members that his shade was 'categorically wrong.' Each critic identified a different correct shade, supported by what they described as 'definitive photographic evidence' from black-and-white photographs. 'The photographs are in black and white,' noted Gauge. 'You cannot determine the shade of green from a black-and-white photograph. I have pointed this out eleven times. They do not care.' The committee has since consulted two paint historians, a color scientist from the University of Birmingham, and a retired LNER employee who is 97 years old and whose recollection of the color has been described as 'vivid but contradictory.' 'He told us it was definitely green,' said committee secretary Margaret Bogie. 'Then he said it might have been blue. Then he fell asleep.' The railway's annual ridership has dropped by 60 percent since the locomotive was removed from service. Visitors who arrive hoping to see a steam train are instead offered a guided tour of the paint shop, where they can observe the locomotive in primer and listen to volunteers argue. 'It's actually quite educational,' said one visitor. 'I now know more about the history of green paint than I ever wanted to.'