disappearing liveries

[daccer]

As refurb programmes come to an end and the new franchises settle down we are inevitably going to see many old liveries disappear. What do we think will be the next livery to become extinct and what others are on life support clinging gamely to life.

Also what liveries are missed and which ones were an abomination and worthy of nothing but contempt?

Finally how long is it going to take EWS to rebrand into DBS. At the current rate they will be still doing it in 2049! Dont they have a fully fitted paint shop at Toton and also at Marcroft. I know in these difficult times it is not a priority but then why bother changing the identity when they did? Why not leave it til the business was in better nick and the expense could be justified?

 

[jopsuk]

I'm amazed that there's still one or two 317s on the West Anglia route carrying the white WAGN livery. Especially as it has worn back to the bare steel in places.

 

[TGVDUDE]

i miss gner soooooooooooo much but i don't know which one will go next?

 

[Phoenix]

At the Current rate it will be Central Trains next as XC are at a decent pace at repainting their class 170's and then it will just be the LM class 150's etc.

 

[j0hn0]

I just wish they'd remove that ridiculous compulsory high vis yellow front

No other country (that I can think of) does this despite having trains nearly twice the size.

Does anyone know the reason for this?

Yes, yellow does go with some colour schemes but in honesty, all UK trains will continue to look hideous until that stupid yellow front is removed. Virgin try to make it look smiley, which just makes it look childish, HST's have varying levels of aesthetic stupidity thanks to this despite looking otherwise awesome.

I liked GNER, but High vis ruined it, I like Virgin, but high vis ruins it etc etc

All MML trains have hideous livery, as do London Midland and those awful 'One' colours. There are hidoues liveries all over the country, come on DB, take over our whole network and rebrand it and widen loading gauges so we can have coherent strategies implemented across the network.

 

[Darandio]

As refurb programmes come to an end and the new franchises settle down we are inevitably going to see many old liveries disappear. What do we think will be the next livery to become extinct and what others are on life support clinging gamely to life.

Also what liveries are missed and which ones were an abomination and worthy of nothing but contempt?

Finally how long is it going to take EWS to rebrand into DBS. At the current rate they will be still doing it in 2049! Dont they have a fully fitted paint shop at Toton and also at Marcroft. I know in these difficult times it is not a priority but then why bother changing the identity when they did? Why not leave it til the business was in better nick and the expense could be justified?

Well, we will see the GNER/NatEx interim livery for a while yet, at least on the Mk4's. As for EWS, they have already said that it is for operational reasons and each locomotive will only be repainted when it is in for servicing.

 

[driver9000]

NWT blue/gold is hanging on for dear life on a few 142s and 153s definitely a candidate for becoming extinct soon.

The yellow warning panel isnt there for aesthetics, it was first applied in the mid 60s when trains didnt have a headlight as such, white marker lights and the headcode lamps were suffuciant. When diesels and electrics became the norm it was discovered that they were much quieter than steam locos from a distance and were able to travel at much higher speeds. After a few experimental versions including varying sizes of yellow and even yellow bufferbeams were tried out, but in the end the best visibility to lineside staff was the full yellow warning panel. With the advent of proper headlights in the mid 80s (I know HSTs had them from the 70s) trains still werent fitted with a headlight as a compulsory measure until the late 80s, so the yellow warning panel remained the most visible means of sighting an oncoming train, the colour is used as it stands out in the railway environment. As headlights became compulsory to be lit at all times the amount of yellow has reduced over the years but its still an effective way of sighting a train in the distance along with the headlight, modern trains travel very fast, very quietly and can be on top of you in seconds. What happens in other countries is their own business but the yellow front is an important safety feature for lineside staff so I cant see it being removed from the network any time soon.

 

[j0hn0]

thanks for the great explanation

I didn't presume it was there for any aesthetic reason, I assumed that it was safety but with the rest of todays overly protective safety measures concerning track workers, surely it is time that this requirement was removed.

The fact that we still haven't implemented in cab signalling, plus this (now) illogical yellow panel, shows me that we really are stuck in the dark ages when it comes to infrastructure development.

Subsequently, all our trains look ****

 

[222001]

thanks for the great explanation

I didn't presume it was there for any aesthetic reason, I assumed that it was safety but with the rest of todays overly protective safety measures concerning track workers, surely it is time that this requirement was removed.

The fact that we still haven't implemented in cab signalling, plus this (now) illogical yellow panel, shows me that we really are stuck in the dark ages when it comes to infrastructure development.

Subsequently, all our trains look ****

It's not illogical! It's safety. I would rather it be there then have slightly better looking trains. If anyone is on the track it is easier to see the yellow front, even more so when the sun reflects of it.

 

[Techniquest]

Personally I like the yellow on the HSTs. Maybe it's because I'm used to it and wouldn't be able to picture a train on these shores without some amount of yellow on the front, but I would definately not say it ruins any liveries. I would be much more inclined to say it complements the liveries quite nicely. Works well on FGW's sets in my eyes for example. Same could be said for those in the GNER/NXEC interim livery.

I agree with the gentleman who said NWT will be the next to go. I'm told only 2 142s are left in it (142004/068 I think). However FNW on the 175s cannot be far off being permanently eradicated now, with a number of 175s now in the ATW colours recently.

As for liveries that are missed, I'd say the old Express livery on the 158s and the Alphaline livery with Wales and West (and later Wales and Borders/Wessex Trains). Not to mention of course the classic Merlin and Fag Packet liveries. Both of those looked amazing on HSTs. Same could be said to a lesser degree about the FGW livery most recently gone, the Barbie livery. I still remember being amazed back in 2004 to see a FGW HST set entirely in the livery. It's also the livery on the HSTs I grew up with as an enthusiasts so I'll always have it way up on any favourite livery list.

Liveries depised? Tough call, but I'm not a big fan of ScotRail colours (ie, those before FSR). Just didn't look right. Also glad to see the back of Porterbrook's livery on 170397/398/399. When it goes (still on some 153s I believe) in Anglia the old Anglia Railways livery will not be missed by me.