Freightliner Class 90 liveries

[47513 Severn]

Hello all. I'm one of those long term lurker/new poster types.

Anyway...I have a question for you having seen 90044 and 90047 at Ipswich today. Both locos are in very tatty looking Freightliner grey livery and both bear scars showing where the metal BR arrows and depot plaques once were. Looking up some old photos of the 90s when delivered it seems their original Railfreight livery is pretty much the same as they have now just with Freightliner logos instead of RFD diamonds.

So, have these locos ever been repainted? It looks as though the original Freightliner grey was designed to allow a simple change from the RFD red diamonds livery without the need for a full repaint. It seems very unlikely that they have been running for over twenty years in the original paint job but, looking at the state of them today, the possibility did cross my mind.

Does anyone know for certain?

47513

 

[sprinterguy]

First of all, welcome to the forum.

I cannot say that I know for certain, unfortunately, but modern paint finishes used on locos and rolling stock are designed to have a lifespan of up to fifteen years. The Freightliner 90s were still a few years shy of ten years old when they lost their RfD diamonds in favour of the Freightliner logos, so it is not unreasonable to assume that these locos still carry their original two-tone grey base livery.

However, Googling images of 90144 as it previously was shows that it's paintwork was looking distinctly weather beaten as early as 1994 (With RfD logos) but had been tidied up considerably after it gained Freightliner logos, so a full repaint could have taken place. The metal BR arrows and depot plaques were retained for several years on locos carrying the grey Freightliner livery.

In short, I cannot confirm one way or another, but felt inclined to add my thoughts on the matter. Sorry that I could not be of more help!

 

[dubscottie]

I would say that they all were repainted as the Freightliner logos were applied.

According to the "Railfreight Design Guide" I have, the sub-sector logos were applied on top of the undercoat and then the two-tone grey and varnish added after.

The idea was that this would make the paint surface flush and prevent brake dust etc gathering round the edges of the logos.

I would presume that this would make it difficult if not impossible to remove the RFD logos without destroying the paintwork, however if this method of painting was ever used I don't know!

 

[47513 Severn]

Having Googled some pictures this weekend I'm inclined to agree with dubscottie that they must have been repainted. There is a good picture here (not mine) that shows two locos in Freightliner grey livery in 1998. Their paintwork looks in far too good a condition to be the original which would have been getting on for ten years old by then. There is also no trace of where the RFD diamonds were. I'm sure they would have been nigh on impossible to remove so cleanly regardless of however they were painted on in the first place.

Presumably the grey Freightliner livery was deliberately similar to the original RFD grey to avoid the need for a full repaint on locos that were not destined for a long term future. Is is a very unimaginative design if not.

47513