Best and worst TOC liverys

[deltabravo]

Following on from the best and worst TOC names, now we have a discussion about the best and worst TOC liverys.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Best: Northern (all except WYM units), FGW, East Coast, London Midland, ATW (new one only, see 158 thread), ScotRail new.
Worst: Virgin, ScotRail's SPT design.
Indifferent: All others.

They'll now be loads of posts about NSE, InterCity etc.

 

[junglejames]

As much as it pains me to say it, I do think FGWs HSTs look smart and even modern, in their livery.
Im not sure that anything stands out as being the best though. Not anymore. I suppose once upon a time, GNER stood out as being the best, and before that, Intercity or NSE (beats everything we have now), but i cant think of one now. I do think the 175s look good in the ATW livery though.
As for the worst- NXEAs looks quite daft with those grey strpies across it.

Edit- Add Virgins to the worst livery. Hate those stripey doors. Also add Southern to one of the best.
The rest, im indifferent to. As i said, nothing relly stands out as being the best.

 

[deltabravo]

Best: Northern (all except WYM units), FGW, East Coast, London Midland, ATW (new one only, see 158 thread), ScotRail new.
Worst: Virgin, ScotRail's SPT design.
Indifferent: All others.

They'll now be loads of posts about NSE, InterCity etc.

I'm quite fond of the Virgin livery. I actually prefer Northerns Metro livery, and find the normal Northern livery a bit dull. Each to his own I guess.

 

[WestCoast]

Like: Virgin (very modern and striking, suits the pendolinos), London Midland, First Dynamic Lines in general (although it can be a bit OTT sometimes), CrossCountry, Grand Central, Heathrow Express

Not bad: Stagecoach SWT/EMT express lines (looks good on the 222s and HSTs), Scotrail, East Coast, Southern, Northern West Yorkshire Metro, Merseyrail

Don't like: plain Northern (too boring IMO), SWT/EMT local lines, Southeastern (not much thought), Arriva Trains Wales, NXEA, c2c

 

[Philip]

Best: Virgin ('97 and 2003 style), TransPenne Express neon, Arriva Trains Wales 158840 livery and previously the ghostly livery on 175110 and 008, First North Western on 175s, Central Trains (both versions), 158 original 'Express' livery and TPE maroon livery..

Worst: Northern Rail, London Midland, Stagecoach

 

[deltabravo]

Southern I like a lot.

I don't know what to make of the Stagecoach liverys.

The Transport Scotland Scotrail livery is nice.

The worst in my opinion was the old 'One' livery.

 

[northernrail]

Love: GBRF Europorte.
Like:Northern Rail, ATW Ghost, First Dynamic Lines, DB Schenker Red, Freightliner Powerhaul, London Underground.
Dislike:Virgin 1997.

 

[SS4]

I like London Midland's (always tried to get a refurbed train while LM were changing from centro livery). Indifferent to Virgin and haven't travelled enough to form an opinion on others

 

[tbtc]

I don't know what to make of the Stagecoach liverys

I like them because

• They are designed to suit trains, not designed to put a corporate livery (regardless of how well it suits a train)
  
• They haven't tried to put the same colour scheme on everything (look at how some operators put the same colours on 153s and inter-city stock or the same design on curved and straight units)
  
• There's a common theme (red, white, blue), but with different colours to distinguish the type of service operated. This is similar to how BR had the "red" Intercity stripe and the pale blue "Provincial"/ "Regional Railways" stripe and the dark blue "ScotRail" stripe

The trouble with threads like this (and the "best/worst name" one) is that they tend to be really about "favourite operator", and not objective about the thing we are discussing. I'd like to think I can separate the two (e.g. I think National Express ran ScotRail and Midland Mainline very well, but had poor liveries for both of them... Valley Lines were nothing special as TOCs go, but did have a nice Welsh colour scheme), but I expect that a lot of the "favourite liveries" will happen to also be the "favourite operators".

 

[Ivo]

As an example of how not to change a livery, just look at c2c. I know there were issues with the vinyls, but they've gone from half-decent to downright boring.

FGW and ScotRail are universally good; I also think that LM goes well on 350s and pretty much everything on a 180 works on a 180. On the other hand, ATW is boring (and not just because I'm biased), but even they can't compete with the old 'one' livery.

 

[junglejames]

I like them because

• They are designed to suit trains, not designed to put a corporate livery (regardless of how well it suits a train)
  
• They haven't tried to put the same colour scheme on everything (look at how some operators put the same colours on 153s and inter-city stock or the same design on curved and straight units)
  
• There's a common theme (red, white, blue), but with different colours to distinguish the type of service operated. This is similar to how BR had the "red" Intercity stripe and the pale blue "Provincial"/ "Regional Railways" stripe and the dark blue "ScotRail" stripe

The trouble with threads like this (and the "best/worst name" one) is that they tend to be really about "favourite operator", and not objective about the thing we are discussing. I'd like to think I can separate the two (e.g. I think National Express ran ScotRail and Midland Mainline very well, but had poor liveries for both of them... Valley Lines were nothing special as TOCs go, but did have a nice Welsh colour scheme), but I expect that a lot of the "favourite liveries" will happen to also be the "favourite operators".

Agree with you regarding SWT, but still dont think any of their liveries stand out as being the best. Although admittedly the HSTs do look good in the new livery. Perhaps that can go up with being as good as Southern. But only because it really looks good on the HST.
Also, will add Northern livery now. So Southern, Northern, EMTs HSTs, and ATWs 175s.

Your probably right regarding fave liveries/ fave operators. I dont really have a fave operator though, so i cant be accused of that. Although i suppose i could be by saying Intercity/ NSE though, beens as though im an avid follower of Wolmars stance that privatisation was a bad idea.

Oh, are we allowed freight operators in this discussion? If so, then im adding DRS into the fave liveries. In fact, i have that livery up there with Intercity/ NSE. Now thats because i like blue, and because i like the compass design, and not because they have a nice selection of 47s!!! Admittedly though the 47s do look nice in that livery.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

As an example of how not to change a livery, just look at c2c. I know there were issues with the vinyls, but they've gone from half-decent to downright boring.

FGW and ScotRail are universally good; I also think that LM goes well on 350s and pretty much everything on a 180 works on a 180. On the other hand, ATW is boring (and not just because I'm biased), but even they can't compete with the old 'one' livery.

FGW and Scotrail are 'Universally' good. ATW are boring. Everything works on a 180.
Now im sure this is just a coincidence isnt it?!!!! Hmmm, yes.

Now let me see. Also on your like list would be Hull Trains, and also on your dislike list would be XC?!!! How far out am I?! Of course, im not trying to suggest anything!!

 

[Ivo]

I have never admitted to being a "fan" of First. I do however like their liveries (for the most part; TPE are no better than average and I am not overly keen on FCC, which feels like a cheap imitation of FGW HSTs). I am not overly impressed by the recent bland livery on 142 and 150s though.

As for XC, I have more issues with the interior than the exterior. Although I would stop short of calling it a favourite of mine (NSE would win without fail, with only the various InterCity liveries in BR days coming even remotely close), there are plenty of examples out there that I would overlook in favour of XC. In other words, Arriva can do decent liveries when the try, but they need to drop the corporate stuff. It's basic at best.

And I honestly believe that every livery I have ever seen on a 180 has looked good! Do note that I have only ever travelled on a Northern 180 (and then only once; whilst I'm at it, what will happen to 180106 and the others when they leave?)

 

[tbtc]

ATWs 175s

I think the ATW livery really suits the front end of a 175, but looks poor on a Pacer. That's the problem with trying to do the one livery on every train I guess.

I think one other problem is putting a "funky modern" livery on an old train. Things like HSTs really only suit a "traditional" livery (GNER having a really good colour scheme on a HST), which is why I don't think the Midland Mainline colours worked on a HST (turquoise did work better on a 170 though).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I am not overly keen on FCC, which feels like a cheap imitation of FGW HSTs)

That's the trouble when you try putting a "dynamic" livery from a fast train onto a slower unit. It can cheapen the "fast" train.

 

[WestCoast]

I think one other problem is putting a "funky modern" livery on an old train. Things like HSTs really only suit a "traditional" livery (GNER having a really good colour scheme on a HST), which is why I don't think the Midland Mainline colours worked on a HST (turquoise did work better on a 170 though).

I think I have to disagree, I believe that HSTs are very versatile because of their modern look. To me they look good in all their liveries, I feel they suit the new XC livery as much they looked good in GNER livery. In fact, the modern livery only makes them look younger to the average member of the public!

 

[tbtc]

I think I have to disagree, I believe that HSTs are very versatile because of their modern look. To me they look good in all their liveries, I feel they suit the new XC livery as much they looked good in GNER livery. In fact, the modern livery only makes them look younger to the average member of the public!

Sorry, but I'd have to disagree about "all" liveries - http://www.euanduklocophoto.co.uk/mm43.htm - this was a poor effort.

The best HST liveries are ones which took the large grille into account (like the "Z" on the blue Intercity livery). Its all about designing a look to suit the train, and it's constraints (e.g. big windows? curved end?)

 

[junglejames]

I think the ATW livery really suits the front end of a 175, but looks poor on a Pacer. That's the problem with trying to do the one livery on every train I guess.

I think one other problem is putting a "funky modern" livery on an old train. Things like HSTs really only suit a "traditional" livery (GNER having a really good colour scheme on a HST), which is why I don't think the Midland Mainline colours worked on a HST (turquoise did work better on a 170 though).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


That's the trouble when you try putting a "dynamic" livery from a fast train onto a slower unit. It can cheapen the "fast" train.

I agree with you regarding ATW, but we were never going to agree on everything were we?!! Therefore it wont surprise you that i disagree regarding HSTs. I actually thought MMs livery looked really good on them, plus I think everything would suit them, because, as WestCoast says, they are a modern looking train in a way. They dont actually look old. Plus the design/ shape of them lends itself to any livery.
One example. I find the only modern/ funky livery is FGWs pink/ purple swirls. Yet i think these work on a HST. They actually (as ive mentioned before), make Mk3s look even more modern than i think they already do.

 

[Fincra5]

Hmmm, I do like the London Midland livery and actually FCCs one on a 377, I think it suits it well. Southern livery is also good, except on 455 and 456s, they needed the same style as 313s really.
I also like EMT livery, SWT metro liveries look like playschool stuff

I dislike the Southeastern one, its bland and boring.

 

[junglejames]

Sorry, but I'd have to disagree about "all" liveries - http://www.euanduklocophoto.co.uk/mm43.htm - this was a poor effort.

The best HST liveries are ones which took the large grille into account (like the "Z" on the blue Intercity livery). Its all about designing a look to suit the train, and it's constraints (e.g. big windows? curved end?)

The only bit on the MM design, is i think they have taken the yellow too far up. They should have stopped it at the top of the windscreen.
Apart from that, i think they have got their livery to lok really good on the HSTs front end, curving around with the curvature of the powercar.

But, we each have differing opinions. Life would be boring otherwise!! So we shall agree to disagree. Dont think we need to get the boxing gloves out just yet!!

 

[tbtc]

The only bit on the MM design, is i think they have taken the yellow too far up. They should have stopped it at the top of the windscreen.
Apart from that, i think they have got their livery to lok really good on the HSTs front end, curving around with the curvature of the powercar.

But, we each have differing opinions. Life would be boring otherwise!! So we shall agree to disagree. Dont think we need to get the boxing gloves out just yet!!

Fair enough, I'm not going to argue, I just think a darker more "traditional" livery suits HSTs (like GNER, Grand Central). I'd hate to see one in a "patchy" livery like London Midland/ Southern, but I think that these liveries suit modern EMUs etc.

 

[WestCountry]

Really like: Stagecoach express and local liveries (look good, with some tweaking, on everything from a Meridian to a Desiro to a 153 to my local buses).
Like: Chiltern, Northern, Dynamic Lines, current Virgin, Southern, ScotRail, GBRf Europorte.
Dislike: PowerHaul, DBS, any variant of First 'Barbie', one.
Really dislike: East Coast

 

[starrymarkb]

I will say that the SWT livery came before the bus version (which IIRC started appearing around 2001)

 

[Popper]

Sorry if someone has said this already (and I wouldn't blame them) but I really like Grand Central's livery on one of its class 180s (orange & black). Shame they haven't painted the other 180's..

 

[WestCoast]

The only bit on the MM design, is i think they have taken the yellow too far up. They should have stopped it at the top of the windscreen.
Apart from that, i think they have got their livery to lok really good on the HSTs front end, curving around with the curvature of the powercar.

I agree with you, I think the Midland Mainline livery was fine. HSTs hide their age so well, especially in the more modern liveries.

 

[Class172]

Really Like: London Midland, FGW (dynamic lines), Crosscountry
Like: Northern, Grand Central, Chiltern, Southern, GNER, Central, Scotrail
...ish: Southeastern, FGW (local lines), FCC, NSE, Intercity
Don't like: FTPE, ATW, East Coast, FNW, Regional Railways
Hate: NXEA, SWT, C2C, Merseyrail, First 'barbie'

I don't think that London midland would look good on an HST, it is more suited to shorter modern trains. It does look good on a 222 though.

I hate SWT, it looks as if it was designed using wax crayons; it's just too bright and childish. The 'white' express variant looks the best out of the three

 

[sprinterguy]

Good:
Northern Spirit: A bold simple image, using bright, vibrant colours that sat well together on both the local livery and TPE operation.

North West Trains: Dark blue with gold star. Very nice.

Central Trains: A pleasing mix of blues and greens, fired together by a flash of red.

NatEx Scotrail: Took the BR devised "Swoosh" symbol to a new level of visibity to the public, and was generally a bright, positive colour scheme.

Caledonian Sleeper: Purple and silver was a very stylish combination. If the Cornish Sleeper can have the dynamic lines livery of it's incumbent operator instead of the corporate First group "swirl" scheme, then why couldn't the Caledonian Sleepers have retained some sort of individual identity of their respective operator. Although if the sleeper stock is repainted into the new Scottish saltire livery in the future then I'll be a very happy bunny.

Strathclyde PTE Orange: Well, the official term for the base colour was "Strathclyde Red" after the original title of "Govan Orange" upset a key component of the Strathclyde community, but nonetheless, the stark contrast with the dark window band was pleasing, and the orange shade a very rich one.

Regional Railways North West: A simple variant of the standard Regional Railways colour scheme, using a very satisfying shade of dark green.

Tyne and Wear PTE: Part of the all pervading "yellowness" of Tyne and Wear public transport in the early nineties, something which I get very nostalgic about. The mix of white, yellow and blue was a happy one.

Centro: An adaptation of the Regional Railways standard livery using emerald green instead of dark blue above the light blue stripe. A simple but effective change.

GMPTE mark 2: Executive dark grey, flame red and light grey was a stylish mix.

Scotrail saltire: Nice shade of dark blue, and a bold, stylish symbol linking into the countrys' national heritage.

Northern: Reminds me a bit of the old BR Provincial livery, updated for the twenty first century. Pleasing muted colours, very simple. I like the "N" logo as well.

Great North Eastern Railway: Simply oozes class and atmosphere. The heraldic crest and the "Route of the Flying Scotsman" motif were the icing on the cake and a stroke of marketing genius.

Great Western Trains: Nice contrast between the dark green and ivory, with links to the GWR heritage of the routes operated. The Merlin logo was very stylish as well. Shame that it lasted such a short amount of time.

Midland Mainline Version 1: Flowing lines along the bodyside designed to match the contours of the train in question. Pleasing teal green main bodyside colour.

Arriva Crosscountry: I'm not usually keen on liveries featuring an abundance of silver. But I like Crosscountrys' angled "warm black"(?) segments, and the "X" logo, plus the way the window bands have been treated to match with the original Virgin era black surrounds.

Intercity swallow and Regional Railways. Simple, recognisable designs displaying a good use of colour.

Rail Express Systems: The roundel design team could do no wrong.

BR Trainload freight:An absolute gem from the minds of Roundels' greatest. The clear cut division between the different greys (also easy to keep clean for operational ease), and the standard basic design that linked the different sub-sector symbol which clearly identified which sector of the operation it related to. The depot plaques were a great idea as well. Many happy memories of scruffy coal sector 56s being worked hard at the head of lengthy MGR trains.

Loadhaul: Awesome on every class of loco it was applied to.

Mainline Freight: Hooray for aircraft blue and silver! Nice rolling wheels logo as well.

Valley Lines: An attractive scheme linked to national identity. I'd like to see this considered as a standard livery for an "all Wales" franchise.

Southern: I like the way that thought has been put into the history of the routes that Southern cover to create the green roundel livery they have today.

Bad:
First Group corporate "swirl" livery: A confusing array of curves and straight lines, linked in no particular way to the shape of the train that they adorn. Too messy, and responsible for killing off many of the "good" liveries as it's been rolled out everywhere over the years.

First Capital Connect: Lacks definition. I'm not keen on the mix of purple and white.

First Local Lines: As above

First dynamic lines: A confusing arrangement of meandering squiggles does not constitute a livery.

Arriva Trains Northern/Wales: A vast unrelenting swathe of mid green that just looks hopelessly bland.

Stagecoach swirl livery: I have to say I like the way the Sagecoach have developed different liveries to reflect different types of service. But the swirl scheme does nothing for me. There's far too much white on the Intercity livery for my liking.

Midland Mainline version 2: The stylish teal green and tangerine scheme replaced by a drab dark blue, grey and white arrangement of coloured bands. No thanks.

Strathclyde PTE carmine and cream: This traditional livery looked good on class 156s, but was absolutely lousy on modern multiple unit classes such as 170s and 334s. Adding a blue stripe in the middle really wasn't the way to go about alleviating this issue.

Merseytravel PTE: While the yellow, blue and white Tyne and Wear PTE was very pleasing to the eye, the change to a grey and black pair of stripes (and a darker yellow) left something to be desired.

West Yorkshire PTE Version 2: Red, with silver semi circles serving no particular purpose.

Greater Manchester PTE version 1: Aaargh!! Orange!!

First Great Western "fag packet": While I am impressed with the way it solved the problem with the old GWT livery of keeping the light coloured lower bodysides clean, by introducing a darker lower bodyside, it didn't really do much for me visually.

Connex South Eastern & South Central: Far too much white on show, and not enough contrast.

Virgin Trains silver: A lot of silver. Not a lot else going on.

Wales and Borders: When "Wessex Trains" and "Wales and Borders" were originallty split from "Wales and West", I liked the way that too similar identities were developed along similar lines but using different colours, even if the overall effect has never particulalrly been to my liking. But now that the remaining units have been stripped of much of their bodyside vinyls, the vast swathe of bland and uninteresting silver is monumnetally boring.

DRS Compass.

 

[junglejames]

Yep, definitely agree with the old GWT livery. Up there with GNER for the best privatisation liveries.

Good:
Northern Spirit: A bold simple image, using bright, vibrant colours that sat well together on both the local livery and TPE operation.

North West Trains: Dark blue with gold star. Very nice.

Central Trains: A pleasing mix of blues and greens, fired together by a flash of red.

NatEx Scotrail: Took the BR devised "Swoosh" symbol to a new level of visibity to the public, and was generally a bright, positive colour scheme.

Caledonian Sleeper: Purple and silver was a very stylish combination. If the Cornish Sleeper can have the dynamic lines livery of it's incumbent operator instead of the corporate First group "swirl" scheme, then why couldn't the Caledonian Sleepers have retained some sort of individual identity of their respective operator. Although if the sleeper stock is repainted into the new Scottish saltire livery in the future then I'll be a very happy bunny.

Strathclyde PTE Orange: Well, the official term for the base colour was "Strathclyde Red" after the original title of "Govan Orange" upset a key component of the Strathclyde community, but nonetheless, the stark contrast with the dark window band was pleasing, and the orange shade a very rich one.

Regional Railways North West: A simple variant of the standard Regional Railways colour scheme, using a very satisfying shade of dark green.

Tyne and Wear PTE: Part of the all pervading "yellowness" of Tyne and Wear public transport in the early nineties, something which I get very nostalgic about. The mix of white, yellow and blue was a happy one.

Centro: An adaptation of the Regional Railways standard livery using emerald green instead of dark blue above the light blue stripe. A simple but effective change.

GMPTE mark 2: Executive dark grey, flame red and light grey was a stylish mix.

Scotrail saltire: Nice shade of dark blue, and a bold, stylish symbol linking into the countrys' national heritage.

Northern: Reminds me a bit of the old BR Provincial livery, updated for the twenty first century. Pleasing muted colours, very simple. I like the "N" logo as well.

Great North Eastern Railway: Simply oozes class and atmosphere. The heraldic crest and the "Route of the Flying Scotsman" motif were the icing on the cake and a stroke of marketing genius.

Great Western Trains: Nice contrast between the dark green and ivory, with links to the GWR heritage of the routes operated. The Merlin logo was very stylish as well. Shame that it lasted such a short amount of time.

Midland Mainline Version 1: Flowing lines along the bodyside designed to match the contours of the train in question. Pleasing teal green main bodyside colour.

Arriva Crosscountry: I'm not usually keen on liveries featuring an abundance of silver. But I like Crosscountrys' angled "warm black"(?) segments, and the "X" logo, plus the way the window bands have been treated to match with the original Virgin era black surrounds.

Intercity swallow and Regional Railways. Simple, recognisable designs displaying a good use of colour.

Rail Express Systems: The roundel design team could do no wrong.

BR Trainload freight:An absolute gem from the minds of Roundels' greatest. The clear cut division between the different greys (also easy to keep clean for operational ease), and the standard basic design that linked the different sub-sector symbol which clearly identified which sector of the operation it related to. The depot plaques were a great idea as well. Many happy memories of scruffy coal sector 56s being worked hard at the head of lengthy MGR trains.

Loadhaul: Awesome on every class of loco it was applied to.

Mainline Freight: Hooray for aircraft blue and silver! Nice rolling wheels logo as well.

Valley Lines: An attractive scheme linked to national identity. I'd like to see this considered as a standard livery for an "all Wales" franchise.

Southern: I like the way that thought has been put into the history of the routes that Southern cover to create the green roundel livery they have today.

Bad:
First Group corporate "swirl" livery: A confusing array of curves and straight lines, linked in no particular way to the shape of the train that they adorn. Too messy, and responsible for killing off many of the "good" liveries as it's been rolled out everywhere over the years.

First Capital Connect: Lacks definition. I'm not keen on the mix of purple and white.

First Local Lines: As above

First dynamic lines: A confusing arrangement of meandering squiggles does not constitute a livery.

Arriva Trains Northern/Wales: A vast unrelenting swathe of mid green that just looks hopelessly bland.

Stagecoach swirl livery: I have to say I like the way the Sagecoach have developed different liveries to reflect different types of service. But the swirl scheme does nothing for me. There's far too much white on the Intercity livery for my liking.

Midland Mainline version 2: The stylish teal green and tangerine scheme replaced by a drab dark blue, grey and white arrangement of coloured bands. No thanks.

Strathclyde PTE carmine and cream: This traditional livery looked good on class 156s, but was absolutely lousy on modern multiple unit classes such as 170s and 334s. Adding a blue stripe in the middle really wasn't the way to go about alleviating this issue.

Merseytravel PTE: While the yellow, blue and white Tyne and Wear PTE was very pleasing to the eye, the change to a grey and black pair of stripes (and a darker yellow) left something to be desired.

West Yorkshire PTE Version 2: Red, with silver semi circles serving no particular purpose.

Greater Manchester PTE version 1: Aaargh!! Orange!!

First Great Western "fag packet": While I am impressed with the way it solved the problem with the old GWT livery of keeping the light coloured lower bodysides clean, by introducing a darker lower bodyside, it didn't really do much for me visually.

Connex South Eastern & South Central: Far too much white on show, and not enough contrast.

Virgin Trains silver: A lot of silver. Not a lot else going on.

Wales and Borders: When "Wessex Trains" and "Wales and Borders" were originallty split from "Wales and West", I liked the way that too similar identities were developed along similar lines but using different colours, even if the overall effect has never particulalrly been to my liking. But now that the remaining units have been stripped of much of their bodyside vinyls, the vast swathe of bland and uninteresting silver is monumnetally boring.

DRS Compass.

 

[deltabravo]

I'm actually quite fond of the First 'dynamic lines' livery. The London Midland livery I like as well, although as others have said, I wouldn't like it on a HST.

 

[WestCoast]

I'm actually quite fond of the First 'dynamic lines' livery. The London Midland livery I like as well, although as others have said, I wouldn't like it on a HST.

I think liveries are personal taste again, there are going to be conflicting opinions. But from what I can see, livery "tastes" tend to fall into two groups. Those who lean towards preferring more traditional subtle liveries and those who tend to preference more modern liveries (e.g. dynamic lines). I am not saying that is always true but from what has been said on here, that's what I can decipher.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Of liveries found on British trains over the last 30 years or so, I declare the following...

BEST:

GNER, by a long way. Classic, elegant and refined. And clearly designed for trains, and express ones at that.

Strathclyde PDE Carmine and Cream - stylish and classic.

New Scotrail saltire

SWT (cream-based express variant). Again, elegant and clearly designed for trains. (I don't mind the blue-based variant either)

Inter-City (final version before privatization)

Southern. Not quite perfect, but the basics work well.

OK:

one: blue and white was a good combination (and the shade of blue was particularly suited to the stock that got painted into it), and the rainbow stripes at the end of units added a bit of interest, too.

Provincial Sector/Regional Railways: now seems a bit staid compared with the commercial competition of post-privatization years, but attractive

London Midland. Much more acceptable (and less garish) shade of green than favoured by Central, and quite stylishly thought through

WORST:
anything but anything that involved painting trains bright orange, whether Strathclyde PTE or Greater Manchester PTE were responsible. Just painful on the eyes and headache-inducing.

Great Eastern (blue/grey/green): somehow managing to be both dull and clashing

Network South-East. Who decided that trains should resemble toothpaste tubes anyway?

Central Trains (green version): a ghastly shade

Northern (purple version): again, not a colour that should be seen on trains

And almost anything that First has come up with...overwhelmingly dark, with gimmicky touches that don't add anything substantive, as well as being another case of bland corporate identity replacing anything local or regional....