Still work in progress but you get the idea. The former Skipton Station north water crane is being painted in what we think was a probable Midland Railway colour scheme. 'We think' because there was no standard colour scheme for these majestic items. We have studied dozens of black and white photographs of the period and concluded that this is a credible and quite pleasing colour scheme that toned well with the accurately known colours of the tank.
Note that the cross arm, or swan neck, is painted cream. Several photographs show the lighter colour on the cross arm - perhaps to make it more visible to train crews in the event of a crane swinging out over the track. Later in the Midland era they painted the water cranes white or red. White indicated a plentiful and reliable water supply. Red was a water supply of last resort - because of limited water supply, poor quality water or some other local problem.
Note also the now fitted 'elephant's trunk' water delivery hose, or bag.
One thing is for sure, water cranes did not stay newly painted in appearance for long - especially in winter when they were heated by a coal brazier to stop them freezing.
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