LMS Black Five No. 5000
The appeal of an engine built to do many jobs.
Bring the engine
to life.
Start with the suggested palette or choose your own colours. Build gentle layers around the engine's distinctive shapes.
Suggested pencil shades and approximate screen swatches. These are not historical paint specifications.
Start lightly and build the darker surfaces gradually. Preserve the printed details.
Leave fine white highlights to separate the moving parts.
Keep the surroundings quieter than the locomotive. Retain light sky areas.
Look a little closer.
Monochrome elevated view of Black Five No. 5000 hauling a train. The photograph shows the overall boiler and tender proportions but does not establish paint shade. Read each caption before using it as a colour or configuration reference.
Monochrome elevated view of Black Five No. 5000 hauling a train. The photograph shows the overall boiler and tender proportions but does not establish paint shade. Photograph of the named locomotive. Preserved appearance may differ from its original working condition.
David Ingham from Bury, Lancashire, England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Monochrome side view of No. 5000 at Chester, showing the three coupled driving axles and separate tender. Photograph of the named locomotive. Preserved appearance may differ from its original working condition.
David Ingham from Bury, Lancashire, England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Monochrome view of No. 5000 approaching through a rural cutting. Photograph of the named locomotive. Preserved appearance may differ from its original working condition.
David Ingham from Bury, Lancashire, England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
No. 5000 on museum display in lined black with pale numbering and a red buffer beam. Photograph of the named locomotive. Preserved appearance may differ from its original working condition.
Hugh Llewelyn · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Rear three-quarter view showing No. 5000’s lined black tender with large LMS lettering. Photograph of the named locomotive. Preserved appearance may differ from its original working condition.
Peter Broster · CC BY 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Know the version.
The source below supports the locomotive identity and history. The photographs record the finish visible when each image was taken. A preserved or replica finish does not establish the original paint specification. Exact original paint shades and all period marking details have not been established for this guide.
The pencil example uses charcoal and cool grey. Its palette is interpretive. The gallery records the particular appearances described in its captions; preserved engines, replicas and monochrome photographs cannot establish every original shade or marking.
Science Museum Group: Black Five No. 5000Did you know?
Black Five production continued beyond the creation of British Railways in 1948. The design also influenced the later BR Standard Class 5MT.
Make the details count.
Use several greys to avoid a featureless black boiler.
Leave tiny white highlights between the rods and wheel faces.