321-446 ?

[colchesterken]

Saw the above named "George Mullings" at Liv st today on a Braintree semifast
It was in a bit of a state the stripes of the One branding had been painted ober but still showed.vinal i guess and the general paintwork looked a bit tired

anyone know who george is or was ?

Thanks gang

 

[387star]

What a terrible looking train is all I can say.

I can only hope presentation improves soon though I don't blame NX for not bothering given they are handing back the keys plus decided to change the livery and then not get anywhere with it.

Most operators have much improved brand focus these days with strong identities which are carefully planned out like London Midland and East Midlands Trains.

Central Trains, Anglia Railways class 170 style, Anglia Railways class 153 style, First Great Eastern original, First barbie, Silverlink County, One Railway original, One Railway, National Express, National Express unbranded,

A lot of liveries! In till recently there were THREE Stansted Express liveries and WAGN to add to the mix

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

446 is a bit unloved.

I'd be very surprised if it does get repainted before the end of the franchise... theres a few units due before it, 354-366, 438-445 and now with the reactivation of 346 it just pushes 446 back a bit further.

 

[fgwrich]

I See what you mean!

http://railwayherald.co.uk/imaging.centre/showimage.php?image=177363

Nice...Just about sums up the last few years of NX, a company that like Arriva, just seems to have got so wrapped up in itself - In NXs case, it appears that NX tried to spend more time wondering what it would look like from one day to the next, than actually concentrate on one simple and smart livery...

(And in Arriva's case, seems as though Arriva themselves believed their own hype in Malta, but when it came to the first day of service introduction...it fell apart)

 

[321446]

I was told that George was a long serving shunter at Stratford.

I feel a certain connection with The Pride of the Fleet, as 446 is known colloquially, because of the unloved exterior & the fact that it spent most of last year running around with only one set of traction motors cut in. I look much the same & move at about the same pace! The old one livery has dated very badly, as a gander at any of the 315s will show you. Not sure if it was down the quality of paint or the fact it was paint not vinyl.

 

[SprinterMan]

There has always been an ugliness to 321446 since it's repaint into 'one' colours. Originally, I think the front skirts were left in FGE colours, then when NXEA took over the franchise, the skirts and rainbow stripes were vinyled over using the wrong colour of 'one' grey, 321446 being the darker colour and the vinyls being the of lighter colour. 170270 suffers from the same problem, but it's roof is still Anglia Green which is a little odd, as the roofs of all 3-car 170s were repainted. Last time I saw 321446, it looked like one of the sets of rainbow stripes had been painted over using the same colour as the light blue stripe in the old 'one' logo. THe paint hadn't been applied very carefully, and had been smeared over the bodyside, and run a bit. It is a truly sorry unit, and a sad end for a once classy livery (in my opinion :P).