Carnforth Station colour scheme

Friends of Carnforth Station

CARNFORTH STATION COLOUR SCHEME

At the first liaison meeting on 31 May I volunteered to research and suggest a colour scheme. I have been looking at Stations in the North West and East Anglia and have previous experience in station regeneration work in Scot Rail. We won the Ian Allen Heritage Award for best restored station for 3 successive years.

For the record and comparison:-

Perth	Yellow Sandstone Buildings	Brown, Yellow, Cream (1)
Kyle & Lochalsh Plus 8 other stations	Timber Buildings Verdant countryside and palm trees	Dark Green and Cream
Wick and Thurso Plus 20 other stations	Dark Slate Grey Adjacent to North Sea and Naval connections.	Trafalgar Blue and off White

In each case the judging panel commented that the appropriate selection of colours had been a major factor in their decisions.

For any engineering project I reject out of hand so called fashionable colours such as purples, pinks etc. which look dated before the gloss has faded from the paints and favour maroons and dark blues, but neither would blend with the stonework of the station buildings. I thought again of the joke "it must be like Brief Encounter - black and white".

After being impressed with the bold white signing at Hebdon Bridge I thought again - perhaps the ridiculous could be turned into the sublime by introducing an intermediate beige / coffee for large flat surfaces.

Therefore, I propose:-

Black	White	Coffee
Columns below 4'-6"	Columns above 4'-6"	All large flat surfaces e.g. Furness down platform.
Doors	All lettering
Truss & girders	lattice, bracing's	Underside of roof claddings etc.
(Top & bottom flanges)	Doorjambs, windows frames	All non-masonry (i.e. rendering)
Gutters, downpipes	Lettering & signs	Wall surfaces or timber cladding
Railings

Also any motifs or ornamental features picked out in bold red and green.

I believe this scheme with a neutral coffee / beige on the flat surfaces that attract and show dust would be both practical and present a subdued but distinctive appearance. It would be sufficiently compatible for 1945 and 2000 and unlikely to look "out of date" in 5 or 10 years time.

The scheme would also provide a useful marketing slogan - "The Black and White Coffee Station" which could be exploited.

Please consider and offer constructive criticism or counter proposals. All ideas will be considered and a final decision made at the Railtrack - Carnforth Station Trust Liaison Meeting on 26 July.

When I received the award for Perth from the Lord Mayor of London in the Guild Hall, I commented in public for the first time that the commercial colours for brown, yellow and green were whiskey, barley and straw, which were appropriate for a city with 3 notable distilleries. For some years Perth achieved publicity as the Whiskey Barley and Straw Station. Perhaps we could achieve similar accolades for Carnforth.