Andy Neil
Most secondary line locos, (passenger and freight), had minimal cleaning in the 1950’s and 60’s, unless they had a dedicated enthusiastic regular crew. (My opinion from reading!).
Early Emblems were ‘Early Emblems or Totems’.
Late Emblems were actually, ‘Crests’ (Coats of Arms), which should have the Lion only facing to the left. Early on in the introduction of these, some of these roundels were also produced in reverse, with the lion looking right. This was for use on the right-hand side of steam locomotives, so the Lion faced forward. This was how the original Early Emblem had been used .
This only lasted for a short time before someone pointed out it was not acceptable to reverse the designs of coats of arms. But, I do not know if any locos were corrected. I know some were not.