Strange clean squares on side of Thameslink trains

[bubieyehyeh]

Can anyone explain why there are cleaner squares of the sides of thameslink trains as shown in attached photo.

 

[RUK]

They’re starting a buffing programme, so it might have been trialling for that? See the previous thread linked below:

Class 700s Being 'Refreshed"

An article on BBC News talks of the 700s having an exterior clean and work to make toilets more graffiti-resistant, costing £3.6m. Peter Hendy is quoted as saying it proves nationalisation puts passengers first, to paraphrase. I would have thought a train washer should be able to clean the...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[800001]

Can anyone explain why there are cleaner squares of the sides of thameslink trains as shown in attached photo.

Most likely where there has been dents or deep scratches (eg off ballast, trees) and they have been repaired.

You will see this on nearly all trains across the country.

It's most prominent on trains where a light paint scheme and dirty train.

Very common to see on LNER Azuma fleet.

 

[bubieyehyeh]

Thanks to both of you

 

[Scotty Dog]

And Pendolinos.

Pity they don't clean them first, most that i have seen have a brown edge between new paint and dirty bodyside!

 

[sprinterguy]

And Pendolinos.

Pity they don't clean them first, most that i have seen have a brown edge between new paint and dirty bodyside!

I've wondered how that works on Pendolinos, as quite often the patches are underneath the areas of what I understand to be light grey vinyl over the white base coat. I'm not an expert on these things but that doesn't seem like something you can peel back and stick back down afterwards: Are they just patch painting white over the top of the vinyl that soon turns to a lighter shade of manky brake dust brown?

 

[CR165022]

I've wondered how that works on Pendolinos, as quite often the patches are underneath the areas of what I understand to be light grey vinyl over the white base coat. I'm not an expert on these things but that doesn't seem like something you can peel back and stick back down afterwards: Are they just patch painting white over the top of the vinyl that soon turns to a lighter shade of manky brake dust brown?

The base grey you can see is the plain grey Virgin painted them in. The lighter white by some sets of doors is vinyl though.

 

[sprinterguy]

The base grey you can see is the plain grey Virgin painted them in. The lighter white by some sets of doors is vinyl though.

Having spent some time squinting hard at photos of the set that just had the driving cars vinyled and questioning the evidence of my senses, I'm happy to accept that.

Thank you for that, that makes the patch painting make a lot more sense to me.

Always looked bright white to me when they were first repainted, but evidently its not as white as it could be!