This seems like a bizarre decision. I advocate the return of “Union of South Africa” to original condition in garter blue livery, as a lot of the heritage of that loco is lost when it is painted in late BR green as by that point in its’ history the train it was built to haul had long been disbanded, so the relevance of the loco is missed somewhat.
However repainting “Bittern” and disguising it as one of the sister “Coronation” locos to “…South Africa” seems very strange. Bittern seems to have spent a lot of its’ preserved life in the midst of an identity crisis, after spending some of the early nineties masquerading as “Silver Link”: So they took the skirts they fabricated for it off to return it to the main line in BR form, and now they want to put them back on again??? Make up your mind, for gods’ sake! The prospect of a garter blue A4 in original condition on the main line is absolutely mouth watering, and I find the oh-so-prevalent BR dark green livery an insult to the lines of the locomotives and very drab to look at: But what is wrong with doing that and letting the loco retain its’ true identity as 4464?
Thsi really does have all the makings of a wind up, if it actually is true as is being reported then I'm astounded!
