Favorite and least favorite livery

[MonsooN]

Maybe the new livery would turn out like this?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_Trains_East_Coast_Super_Express_Train.jpg
Released in 2014.

The livery on that one looks a lot smarter than the one on the picture.

 

[backontrack]

Maybe the new livery would turn out like this?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_Trains_East_Coast_Super_Express_Train.jpg
Released in 2014.

That looks quite good.

 

[Saint66]

I thought it was widely accepted that the current livery on the test train is merely a placement livery, and it will be pretty different once fully in service? (Though I haven't seen anything official about that) To be fair, I don't think it looks too bad anyway really.

 

[Harbornite]

Maybe the new livery would turn out like this?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_Trains_East_Coast_Super_Express_Train.jpg
Released in 2014.

That livery reminds me of the 390s and looks better than the existing scheme.

Here it is for the benefit of people who struggle with links.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Both liveries look awful, but then I don't like corporate branding...

Any chance you could make that pic a bit bigger? I can't quite make it out.

EDIT. You have sorted it. Now I look stupid!

 

[SEClass375]

Favourite: Class 395/ Class 375 New

Least Favourite: Any mostly white liveries (e.g. Class 465/466, connex, old southeastern)

 

[fgwrich]

My Favourite has now changed a little. I never thought i'd be saying this by Dynamic Lines has been knocked off of the top of my list.

1. Caledonian Sleeper Midnight Teal.
2. First Group / First Great Westerns Dynamic Lines & Plain Blue versions.
3. London Midland.

An unusual step for me there as I really do like one of the best impressions designs used by Govia (I'm not particularly impressed by either companies work!)

The top 2 I like for the simplicity of them, but also the impact they bring. Dynamic Lines to me is the smartest the HSTs have ever carried, it's simple yet modern and unlike the horrendous new Green effort, The blue always stood out of the landscape. I really like the use of the place names from across the south west and wales in the Local Lines livery - it makes the stock feel more local to the area, an actual sense of belonging. But the plain blue and rubine red doors do look good on the 150s as well. Again, Simple, effective, smart.

My top 3 - it's a difficult choice this one! for the worst however are:

1. GWR.
2. The entire GTR Range including Southern.
3. NXEA / 'ONE' & Sliverlink.

The reason for disliking the new GWR scheme so much, is apart from the fact I feel Dynamic Lines and Plain Blue was smarter, It's not a simple livery. It's not as effective, and it doesn't stand out from the landscape - most make the GWR rolling stock try to blend in and disappear. In some lighting conditions it can look ok, but I feel that the idea of it is good. The application is poor and over the top - It doesn't need the silver line running all the way across, it doesn't need the operated by First Group repeated twice on the side, and most of all it doesn't need the stupid Matt sashes across the side - Most of which if you look at the Turbos is now collecting all the dirt and dust and turning it into a Matt brown sash - that isn't helped by it's positioning upwards from above the bogies! I don't like the idea of a Matt black roof as well - lighter colours reflect the heat, so why paint the roofs of an already poorly air cond unit black?!

GTR - Again, it's one of these odd ones where Simple can be effective. But if not done correctly it can also be bland, very bland. It doesn't help that GTR Cant seem to make up their mind from one minute to the next - shall we have this label on the side, Shall we call it Thameslink or Thames Link? Then you've got the 2/3 different versions of the 317 livery which seems to vary from GTR to GA styled. Southern itself is looking tired now after 13+ years. I've always felt that the versions applied to the slam door units looked better - less roundels, less curvy blobs. And Gat Ex. They've gone from lazily painting over the SWT livery but using it as a base - ironic given the 442 which was painted out of SWT at Ilford and into the earlier Gat Ex livery! To just Tomato Red and the stupidly large and meaningless typeface. I know it's a management contract, but it just seems to me to be a very confused one with a livery committee chosen in a game of pass the parcel.

NXEA / 'ONE'. Need I say more about the many faces of ONE and NXEA? I remember seeing one of Crown Points finest 156s in Central Trains base, peeled off 'ONE' and the standard NXEA White stripe sat on top of it. It also looked like it had been washed with water from the river! Mind you, it was sat next to one of the ex TPE/FTPE/Ccc Central / EMT 158s at the time so could have included those!

 

[greaterwest]

I must agree with you about the TL/GX livery, I hate the new GX livery and the typeface is absolutely awful and looks out of place. TL is just bland.

I think Southern's is fine, however.

 

[Rail Blues]

The BR Jaffa cake livery probably my favourite historic livery, or maybe a close second to Mainline Freight. Of the current crop, the Caledonian sleeper is undoubtedly my favourite. I'm yet to see the GWR livery in the flesh but it looks promising.

Lest favourite: Virgin East coast, looks cluttered and fussy and the shade of red used looks faded from new. I actually quite like the Azuma livery (although they might want to rethink the name as a zoomer in Scottish slang is a nut case) and the outgoing Northern livery looks like something from the 80s, which is maybe apt given the age of Northern's rolling stock. SPT's carmine and cream managed to make the trains look drab, especially on the 334s which looked too modern for that livery.

 

[sprinterguy]

I'm very fond of Regional Railways livery. Simple but effective. The idea of the 'fleximark', or the blue/white stripe emblem, is that it's indelibly stamped on the mind of the passenger. It still is for me, years later!

Also NSE livery as applied to the Turbos. Again a very striking and effective livery. Sectorisation was a colourful time and produced a lot of creativity.

Also, from the halcyon days of BR management buyouts, the very classy GWT 'Merlin'.

The modern crop don't do anything for me I'm afraid!

I must concur. The later sectorisation era liveries in particular, as the industry moved towards privatisation, produced a very colourful railway that looked professional. The range of PTE sponsored schemes which were derived from the standard Regional Railways layout certainly helped, and the "second round" of sectorisation era liveries also intermingled with those initially introduced, increasing variety.

The first tranche of privatised operators also produced a range of tasteful, well considered schemes which remain my favourites of the privatisation era: GNER midnight blue and red, Midland Mainline teal, orange & cream, Great Western Trains "Merlin" green and ivory, Virgin Trains red and black, Northern Spirit turquoise and North West Trains' "Gold Star" livery.

Since that time, the constant merry go round of refranchising seems in my opinion to have led to indifference from the TOCs towards the liveries that their trains wear. The liveries I dislike the most are insipid, generic, white or light grey based schemes such as the current TGSN and new Northern liveries that seem to require the minimum of thought as to their design, and I feel that Connex deserves a mention as a historical member of this same group.

 

[cactustwirly]

Favourite: First Group 'dynamic lines' or GWR, I quite liked the old Thames Trains livery as well!

Worst: SWT 'Metro' (the red one), looks like it belongs in a primary school

 

[DarloRich]

ah paint wibble - my favorite topic!

My favorites are:

Large Logo, Red stripe, Loadhaul and Sectors

 

[fairysdad]

I've never fully understood the disdeign that the 'one' livery gets. Okay, it wasn't the absolute best finest livery out there, but it was by no means the worst. Although I never saw it in person, I quite liked it. Simple, but with the bold colour stripes at the end, and seemed to work on all the rolling stock that 'one' operated.

I do wonder though whether the dislike of the livery is more down to the fact that the company itself was pretty useless, stupidly named, and the livery wasn't put onto the trains all that well.

My main dislikes were the old Wessex Trains advertising liveries as they just ended up losing the branding of WT (not that there really was one); likewise the dinosaur liveries that Island Line had, most unbefitting of old Tube stock! Although I never saw them used properly, not a fan of the 'Large Logo' livery (the BR logo is just a little too big!).

I do like the new GWR livery, not that I've seen it in the flesh yet, as it seems to work on all their stock - I even reckon it would work on the Pacers! Also like the simple BR Blue variants (large logo excepted!) as they just look neat and tidy on most stock it was attached to, as does the Regional Railways livery.

 

[yorksrob]

I've never fully understood the disdeign that the 'one' livery gets. Okay, it wasn't the absolute best finest livery out there, but it was by no means the worst. Although I never saw it in person, I quite liked it. Simple, but with the bold colour stripes at the end, and seemed to work on all the rolling stock that 'one' operated.
.

In truth, it was better than vast expanses of white and light grey that seems to afflict a lot of rolling stock.

 

[fgwrich]

I've never fully understood the disdeign that the 'one' livery gets. Okay, it wasn't the absolute best finest livery out there, but it was by no means the worst. Although I never saw it in person, I quite liked it. Simple, but with the bold colour stripes at the end, and seemed to work on all the rolling stock that 'one' operated.

I do wonder though whether the dislike of the livery is more down to the fact that the company itself was pretty useless, stupidly named, and the livery wasn't put onto the trains all that well.

In truth, it was better than vast expanses of white and light grey that seems to afflict a lot of rolling stock.

I'll agree with you on those points, The Abellio livery isn't too bad but only as long as the stock is kept clean. But when you have a 153 or 156 that's almost going brown from not being kept clean...

I think my problem with the 'ONE' branding is 3 things of which you've partially hit the nail on the head with. The refresher stripes - indicating each section and route would have been a better idea if NX wasn't so useless about it - like the way First had Local Lines for GW locals and Dynamic Lines for High Speed, the stripes would have worked if each correct subsection had the apprise colours on the end of the vehicle, not the collection. My other problem with it was the changes they made in colours from the start - metallic, flat metallic to just the flat grey blue colour, which rather showed when you had a rake of Mk3s with 2/3 different versions of the same scheme in one rake. And finally, the name. Like I said with the refreshed stripes, if each section was branded or announced as 'ONE Anglia' / ONE Great Eastern' etc like First Great Western for example then it may have worked.

 

[SEClass375]

I can see that they don't clean their trains as their parent company NS in the Netherlands don't clean theirs.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

A big issue with the "ONE" name was announcements at Liverpool Sreet saying things like "Platform X for the twelve thirty ONE service to Sixfingersham". Sure, it's only one minute- would've been worse if they'd been called SEVEN of course.

The entire branding launch was ill conceived, not just the silly name but the odd livery, especially considering the wide variety of legacy liveries on their stock.

 

[anti-pacer]

What's yours?

I really like TPE's new livery. I also like LM's and EMT's, and liked Central Trains.

I know it wasn't a TOC livery but I used to like the old NSE livery.

 

[anti-pacer]

It seems I'm in a minority as I actually rather like the new TPE livery, but then again anything would be an improvement on Dynamic Lines!

Me too. Best livery out there by a country mile!

 

[Tetchytyke]

Of the current operators, probably Scotrail:

From scot-rail.co.uk

Historically, probably Regional Railways:

From trainsandplanes.co.uk

Though I did like the North West Express livery on the 156s:

From dysgraphyk's website

 

[anti-pacer]

BEST: TPE (new), LM, EMT, NSE.

WORST: ATW, VTEC, AGA, Northern.

 

[SEClass375]

I tend to prefer the dynamic lines livery especially the livery on the class 350

 

[yorksrob]

Me too. Best livery out there by a country mile!

The light blue/dark blue design would have been brilliant if they'd just carried it along the carriage.

 

[anti-pacer]

The light blue/dark blue design would have been brilliant if they'd just carried it along the carriage.

Agreed.

 

[Harbornite]

.

WORST: ATW,

Which version?

 

[anti-pacer]

Which version?

The one on 175's. The other is OK.

 

[317663]

Will rate my 30 best or worst liveries. 1 being best, 30 being worst.
These are just ones ive known of.

1. Silverlink. How come nobody has said this?
2. The old swt livery before 2005.
3. NSE
4. ONE, actually thought it was alright.
5. New gwr livery i like.
6. Virgin west coast, love it.
7. Thames trains/first great western link was my childhood train. Shouldve put this higher in the list but hey.
8.central trains, suited the 150. Did not suit the 170 though.
9. EMT (both blue and white)
10. SWT red, much more appealing than blue and white.
11. Southern, suits 455 and 456 but not 377 or 171.
12. NXEA just appealed to me somehow
13. TFL rail. Again, Shouldve put this higher, probably tfls only good livery i think.
14. London underground.
15. Northern WTYPE (you know, the old red one that 317s had)
16. New Chiltern railways. Good but dont like the unit numbers on front.
17. Brown an and cream scotrail.
18. Southeastern
19. Fcc, fgw, yuck.
20. White swt livery is just ugly.
21.blue northern
22. All east coast main line liveries including vtec.
23. london midland
24.C2C. Like the trains, hate the boring livery,
25. Eurostar
26. Tpe
27. Crosscountry
28. Arriva trains wales
29. London Overground
30. Grand central

They need to bring silverlinks livery back though. Was my childhood when i lived in harrow.

 

[43096]

9. EMT (both blue and white)

20. White swt livery is just ugly.

How does that work, then? They're basically the same livery!!!

 

[317663]

How does that work, then? They're basically the same livery!!!

I think the emt livery suits their trains more than swt. Get what you mean though but in EMT i like how the blue line at the bottom sort of goes up then down where as on swt 158s its virtually flat.

 

[SEClass375]

18. Southeastern

Which one?