Let’s discover a set of photogravure bronze plates for 141 R locomotives
Plates and History of the 141 R 789
The 141 R locomotives arrived from the United States equipped with plates that were quite similar to the standardized model, initially cast in cast iron for the very first units, and later in bronze with a weight of over 15 kg. These plates had a window for indicating the depot assignment. On the back of these plates were the initials of the manufacturer and the production number. The plates on their tenders, also made of bronze, did not have depot assignment windows.
These plates were typically painted with a red background, but this could vary from one depot to another. There was also yellow on a dark green or red background with the outer frame in green or black, matching the locomotive. It’s worth noting that the Mans depot had the unique practice of painting the background of all its standardized plates in light blue.
A manufacturer’s plate, also made of bronze and featuring the factory serial number and the year of construction, was attached to each smoke deflector screen.