Horrible liveries

[muddythefish]

I lived and photographed in the 1970s and early 1980s. A huge number of locos and units were standard boring BR blue. Any -and I truly mean ANY livery is better than that. I loved Chris Green's Network Southeast livery introduced mid-late 80s and all since then.

DMUs and EMUs looked awful I agree but the blue and white coaches and blue locos (when new or clean) were very smart. I loved the corporate look personally and hate the hotch-potch vinyl liveries we have now.

If we have to have company liveries how about a touch of class?

1. Chocolate and cream with green locos/power cars for the west.

2. Green and cream for the old LNER/ Eastern region areas.

3. Smart Midland red and the WCML and old LMS areas?

4. Southern can have its old malachite green.

 

[sprinterguy]

Porterbrook purple never looked quite right on that poor Deltic...

Now I quite liked that: It added a bit of interesting variety, and at least it adhered to the same layout as the original two-tone green! What I thought was really incongruous about that livery was the UIC standard headlight clusters that the Deltic had fitted.

In fact, I've been quite fond of the three different schemes that Porterbrook have applied to locos (47807/817, D9016, 87002).

 

[Deepgreen]

I think it would be hard to top (bottom?) the old yellow and white Connex livery for its insipid, faded look even when newly-applied.

 

[sprinterguy]

The new VTEC HST looks horrible!

Too right. With VTEC having spent so long "developing" a specific design for the HSTs compared to the roll out of the corporate identity on the 225s, I was expecting something that put some thought into respecting the lines of the power cars.

Here's my main gripes with the new livery, quoted from the East Coast livery update thread:

None of the three BR era liveries applied to the HSTs (which are popularly held to have been well designed) cut the lower front skirt in two aesthetically, or ran light colours over the bodyside radiator grille as this area is prone to dirt build up (In fact, on the VTEC livery this is even more incongruous as the radiator grille is painted black and the white sweep runs slap bang into it): BR did paint over the lower sections of the radiator grille in warning yellow on the first couple of Intercity Executive repaints, but then very quickly and sensibly reverted to incorporating into the livery a broad diagonal band of a dark colour (previously rail blue, then falcon grey) across this area.

This looks very much like "a bodge of the 91s livery" in my opinion.

 

[GatwickDepress]

I think it would be hard to top (bottom?) the old yellow and white Connex livery for its insipid, faded look even when newly-applied.

As applied to the slammers it was tangibly bearable at night if the moon wasn't out, but the variant as seen on the Networkers were absolutely horrible.

 

[GospelOak117]

As applied to the slammers it was tangibly bearable at night if the moon wasn't out, but the variant as seen on the Networkers were absolutely horrible.

I agree that the Connex livery was pretty rank and especially the blue version on the 465's seemed a half arsed job, but strangely I think that livery really suited one class of unit, maybe that's because the 455s are just so ugly anyway!

http://www.wymann.info/EpsomDowns/pics/MotivePower/455_01A.jpg

Would like to have seen what a Connex liveried 455 would look like with their current plated up gangway.

 

[yorksrob]

As applied to the slammers it was tangibly bearable at night if the moon wasn't out, but the variant as seen on the Networkers were absolutely horrible.

Personally I think the version with the blue stripe on the networkers was the one that worked best. The version on the slammers was the most hideous, possibly because they were built to have a decent livery.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Personally I think the version with the blue stripe on the networkers was the one that worked best. The version on the slammers was the most hideous, possibly because they were built to have a decent livery.

True, but it was relatively subdued. I have to admit, I liked the bare undercoat on the slammers... used to call them "ghost trains" as kids.

 

[BurtonM]

Virgin West Coast is inoffensive, but it looks very, very tired and needs a refresh. 390s always have a sickly, dirty feel to me, inside and out.

XC is unimaginative and lazy as it just stinks of Virgin (and toilets) inside and out.

SouthEastern's units with blue doors don't look good.

I despise Northern's livery - the recently added bicycle section stripe (does it count as a cantrail?) looks terrible, too. The 'Welcome To Yorkshire' 150s look especially bad.
Don't like either TPE livery but the standard one is the lesser of two evils, the 350 is godawful.
Whoever out of Northern and TPE was second to choose purple really should have thought of brand awareness and chosen a different base colour...

Frankly, I dislike Northern's whole brand image. It just feels cheap and nasty.

I like ATW...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Virgin West Coast is inoffensive, but it looks very, very tired and needs a refresh. 390s always have a sickly, dirty feel to me, inside and out.

Interesting. I always find them spotlessly clean. VT are very big on train cleaning inside and out, and almost always have a travelling cleaner on board.

The livery is basic but almost timeless in my view. And unusually for Virgin, not overbranded.

 

[yorksrob]

Virgin West Coast is inoffensive, but it looks very, very tired and needs a refresh. 390s always have a sickly, dirty feel to me, inside and out.

XC is unimaginative and lazy as it just stinks of Virgin (and toilets) inside and out.

SouthEastern's units with blue doors don't look good.

I despise Northern's livery - the recently added bicycle section stripe (does it count as a cantrail?) looks terrible, too. The 'Welcome To Yorkshire' 150s look especially bad.
Don't like either TPE livery but the standard one is the lesser of two evils, the 350 is godawful.
Whoever out of Northern and TPE was second to choose purple really should have thought of brand awareness and chosen a different base colour...

Frankly, I dislike Northern's whole brand image. It just feels cheap and nasty.

I like ATW...

I find Northern's livery one of the less offensive modern ones. Relatively dark, soothing colours which are much less likely to look dirty and tatty over time.

 

[backontrack]

Virgin West Coast is inoffensive, but it looks very, very tired and needs a refresh. 390s always have a sickly, dirty feel to me, inside and out.

I for one agree with you there.

 

[Whistler40145]

I still wonder why BR painted 31/4s into Departmental Grey, not very appealing with oil stained bodysides!

 

[alexl92]

Virgin West Coast is inoffensive, but it looks very, very tired and needs a refresh. 390s always have a sickly, dirty feel to me, inside and out.

XC is unimaginative and lazy as it just stinks of Virgin (and toilets) inside and out.

SouthEastern's units with blue doors don't look good.

I despise Northern's livery - the recently added bicycle section stripe (does it count as a cantrail?) looks terrible, too. The 'Welcome To Yorkshire' 150s look especially bad.
Don't like either TPE livery but the standard one is the lesser of two evils, the 350 is godawful.
Whoever out of Northern and TPE was second to choose purple really should have thought of brand awareness and chosen a different base colour...

Frankly, I dislike Northern's whole brand image. It just feels cheap and nasty.

I like ATW...

Hate Northern's branding too. I think the blue and purple clash badly, the advertising on the 150s/155s looks utterly dire and it doesn't weather well. I look forward to a new franchisee.

I still wonder why BR painted 31/4s into Departmental Grey, not very appealing with oil stained bodysides!

I don't like the Dutch livery at all to be quite honest. Find it a bit bland.

 

[smudga331]

In my opinion for the worst, it has to be the old class 322 stansted skytrain livery. White with a gold stripe.

See here: http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/page/Class+322+Previous+Liveries

 

[61653 HTAFC]

In my opinion for the worst, it has to be the old class 322 stansted skytrain livery. White with a gold stripe.

See here: http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/page/Class+322+Previous+Liveries

The "refreshed" livery that the 322s currently carry is very nice though. Perhaps a bit dull, but the standard Northern livery does divide opinion. The all-over navy blue with white doors is simple but effective.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The "refreshed" livery that the 322s currently carry is very nice though. Perhaps a bit dull, but the standard Northern livery does divide opinion. The all-over navy blue with white doors is simple but effective.

I think the swept bits look odd on the regular Northern livery; it'd be better if they went towards the centre of the unit rather than away from it.

 

[alexl92]

The "refreshed" livery that the 322s currently carry is very nice though. Perhaps a bit dull, but the standard Northern livery does divide opinion. The all-over navy blue with white doors is simple but effective.

The best looking part of their entire fleet is the 158 centre cars. Incidentally which have no purple/white sweep!

 

[mr_jarhead]

BR's 'jaffa cake' livery

 

[Whistler40145]

Yeah, rather dull livery.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Vastly improved with a 1066 Electrics sticker though.

 

[Whistler40145]

Petty a Crompton never had Jaffer Cake livery.

 

[GatwickDepress]

The omnipresent fictiiousliveries.co.uk did do a mock up of one.

 

[alexl92]

I've just remembered this - 91114 in the Lindisfarne Gospel/EC grey combo as 'Durham Cathedral'. EC could have done something fantastic with the tie up with the lindisfarne gospel event but the result was really tacky and looked dreadful.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5523/9316106456_cc050c6269_b.jpg

 

[Whistler40145]

Nothing could be worse than a Class 142 in West Country Chocolate and Cream or GMPTE Red and Grey.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Nothing could be worse than a Class 142 in West Country Chocolate and Cream or GMPTE Red and Grey.

I quite liked those, though not so much the 142s they were applied to! The non-West Country version of Provincial livery was never my favourite but that could have been down to the disappointment whenever a 142 showed up rather than the preferred 110 or (even!) 141.

I personally rather liked Jaffa Cake, it gave a bit of variety in the days of ubiquitous toothpaste!

One bad livery I don't think has been mentioned is the early sprinter version of Provincial, as applied to 150/1s.

 

[Bletchleyite]

GMPTE Red and Grey.

I quite liked the Regional Railways variant liveries. To me, the way they all looked like a family of liveries (similar stripe positions etc) but represented their local area was a good thing.

 

[MCR247]

I've just remembered this - 91114 in the Lindisfarne Gospel/EC grey combo as 'Durham Cathedral'. EC could have done something fantastic with the tie up with the lindisfarne gospel event but the result was really tacky and looked dreadful.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5523/9316106456_cc050c6269_b.jpg

Don't think I ever saw that livery at the time - lucky escape!

 

[Bodiddly]

I find Northern's livery one of the less offensive modern ones. Relatively dark, soothing colours which are much less likely to look dirty and tatty over time.

Was really surprised at how comfy and clean looking the Northern and the East Midlands 158's are internally compared to the Scotrail units (tired) and FGW units (too much pink and pastel blue).
It's not all about the outside but after seeing one up close recently, the new livery for the VTEC HST power cars are absolutely minging. They look like one of those muppet motors that a chav tries to turn into a rally car using cheap paint!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Nobody has mentioned the Pilkington Glass Mk 1 set yet?!