Brown Vale of Rheidol Caoch Liveries??

[Stephen Clulow]

Were the Vale of Rheidol brake vans and coaches ever painted in a brown livery? I think I remember reading that the early livery was brown.

If VoR used brown liveries can anyone let me know more details, were they painted or stained wood these garden railway coaches?
http://www.track-shack.com/acatalog/VOR-Matchboard-Sided-Guards-Van-Kit-IPVR005.html
http://www.track-shack.com/acatalog/VOR-Matchboard-Short-Passenger-Coach-Kit-IPVR001.html
http://www.track-shack.com/acatalog/VOR-Matchboard-Short-Summer-Coach-Kit-IPVR002.html

Advice on how to reproduce the brown VoR coaches for 009 would be appreciated....

Thanks
Stephen

[Elmgate]

I am in the process of painting a pair of early VoR coaches, and brake van. My information, from C C Green's book, is that originally they were varnished pitch pine, which matches the pictures you show. However, the oil in the pine reacted with the varnish, which began to peel off; so a local man (P B Loveday) was employed to paint the stock "dark chocolate with a coat of varnish". He actually applied two coats of varnish, at

[Stephen Clulow]

Hello Elmgate,
Many thanks for your replies on both forums, very helpful!
I really like the varnished wood look of the garden railway stock and so it is great to know that there is a prototype precedent. Thanks also for the paint advice. The repainting into the Cambrian livery occurred at around the time I want to model so now i'm not sure whether to go for that or to 'break the rules' and go for the earlier varnished wood.....

[Tigger]

I don't know if it's still available but for my Corris coach

http://www.buccabury.co.uk/ltr/p09.jpg

I used Humbrol Track Colour and then gloss varnished it which gave more depth to the colour. Phoenix Precision do a very similar brown.