BR Depot 'pets' and special liveries

[alexl92]

This is fantastic, thanks everyone - keep them coming. What was with that Celebrations train though?

The Laira Blue is actually my favourite Cl50 livery - didn't realise that was what it was called!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

There was also a Carlisle 108 that got a coat of green if I remember rightly. I'm sure I have a picture somewhere when I went to an open day at the depot at Upperby.

I tweeted pictures of that a couple of weeks ago showing it at Carlisle in service - but I'm out shopping at the moment so I can't get to the images at the moment...

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Didcot Railway Centre is the home of the former Class 08 shunter 08604. When allocated to Tyseley, one of the GWS volunteers, Simon Grego (who was a fitter there) , the engine became well known as he repainted the loco in full BR lined out green. Upon withdrawal, she moved to Didcot and is now owned by the GWS. She has spent some time in a fictitious black war department livery with the number WD40, then in the "Tyseley" BR lined out green followed by a plain green livery. In August 2017, she was repainted in BR Blue with the number 604. She is now used on non-open days for shunting the yard at Didcot Railway Centre and sometimes helps out during open days with various shunting moves.
Here's an extract from the GWS website, from which this abridged note has been taken:
08604 - Phantom | Didcot Railway Centre

 

[Cowley]

Didcot Railway Centre is the home of the former Class 08 shunter 08604. When allocated to Tyseley, one of the GWS volunteers, Simon Grego (who was a fitter there) , the engine became well known as he repainted the loco in full BR lined out green. Upon withdrawal, she moved to Didcot and is now owned by the GWS. She has spent some time in a fictitious black war department livery with the number WD40, then in the "Tyseley" BR lined out green followed by a plain green livery. In August 2017, she was repainted in BR Blue with the number 604. She is now used on non-open days for shunting the yard at Didcot Railway Centre and sometimes helps out during open days with various shunting moves.
Here's an extract from the GWS website, from which this abridged note has been taken:
08604 - Phantom | Didcot Railway Centre

That’s a good one, I remember seeing 08604 back in the 80s and very smart it looked too.
Another green 08 was 08011 (I think it was the oldest one still owned by BR at the time too):

Retrospective - Class 08 - Mark-Beal-TMD

Many views of the humble class 08 shunter.

mark-beal-tmd.smugmug.com

 

[HSP 2]

There was also a Carlisle 108 that got a coat of green if I remember rightly. I'm sure I have a picture somewhere when I went to an open day at the depot at Upperby.

IIRC I think that it was painted for a Carlisle Kingmoor open day, as the 108s were based there. When it was first painted back into green it was used as the shuttle service for Citadel to Kingmoor.

 

[73001]

IIRC I think that it was painted for a Carlisle Kingmoor open day, as the 108s were based there. When it was first painted back into green it was used as the shuttle service for Citadel to Kingmoor.

Yep, that was it... I was only around 11 yrs old then and I'm hard of thinking now! I seem to remember they did some nice cream whiskers on the front as well.

 

[306024]

306 017 is already mentioned, but Ilford also had 321 334 painted in Dutch Railways livery, which looked quite smart.

 

[Helvellyn]

Nobody has mentioned 87006 that gained an experimental version of large logo, with a dark grey rather than blue bodyside.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6uM8zKWsAApCdD.jpg:large

 

[Cowley]

Nobody has mentioned 87006 that gained an experimental version of large logo, with a dark grey rather than blue bodyside.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6uM8zKWsAApCdD.jpg:large

Very smart actually.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Honourable mention to Neasden (LUL) which painted red roof domes on overhauled A60 / A62 sets in the late 80's for a while - till "authority" stopped it.

Apart from brightening up the units - which were a bit tarnished by graffiti criminals , I suppose it represented the red tiled roofs of suburbia. Or maybe not.

 

[Helvellyn]

Very smart actually.

It looked good. I think it was an experiment to see what livery locomotives could carry for InterCity services. Remember, the Class 87 fleet was actually common user and utilised on a lot of overnight freight services (and daytime) over the Northern fells. I think it was using Executive Dark Grey as the bodyside colour, so would have complemented stock in InterCity colours. 87012 was painted at the same time in a trial version of InterCity Executive colours. Interestingly the loco doesn't have InterCity branding on the bodyside, and nor did the slightly tweaked version applied to many Class 86 and 87 locomotives (unlike the Class 47s that gained the same livery).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc2ylBEW4AEEu2Q?format=jpg&name=large


I think 37501 might have been an unofficial pet at Thornaby after it gained its distinctive British Steel livery. Thornaby also had their colour kingfisher logo applied to the bodysides of the majority of their locos, which can be clearly seen on 37501 as well. Another Thornaby addition was that pretty much all their locos in the original Railfreight livery gained the red stripe (as seen on 37502 leading 37501). Many of the Class 37s upon refurbishment emerged from Crewe without the red stripe, and remained that way until gaining the later Railfreight triple grey livery. But I'm pretty sure Thornaby added the red stripe to all their locos after this livery variation became official.

For those who are interested here's a rare photo of 37501 in the original variant of Railfreight grey, complete with small black cabside numbers.

https://glostransporthistory.visit-...content/uploads/2016/03/37-501-Gloucester.jpg

 

[Mag_seven]

Nobody has mentioned 87006 that gained an experimental version of large logo, with a dark grey rather than blue bodyside.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6uM8zKWsAApCdD.jpg:large

It looked good. I think it was an experiment to see what livery locomotives could carry for InterCity services. Remember, the Class 87 fleet was actually common user and utilised on a lot of overnight freight services (and daytime) over the Northern fells. I think it was using Executive Dark Grey as the bodyside colour, so would have complemented stock in InterCity colours. 87012 was painted at the same time in a trial version of InterCity Executive colours. Interestingly the loco doesn't have InterCity branding on the bodyside, and nor did the slightly tweaked version applied to many Class 86 and 87 locomotives (unlike the Class 47s that gained the same livery).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc2ylBEW4AEEu2Q?format=jpg&name=large

These locos in these new experimental liveries were used on the first day of timetabled 110mph running (of loco hauled sets) on the WCML. 87006 worked the southbound "Royal Scot" with 87012 working the northbound.

 

[Helvellyn]

I know someone brought up that the the thread has mainly touched on locomotives, and there have been mentions of DMUs regaining original green, but there were some other special liveries as well.

Class 118 in British Telecom yellow advertising livery.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Mobile_Billboard_-_geograph.org.uk_-_582849.jpg

Class 104 "Mexican Bean" livery for West Highland line use.

https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/rock_dinosaur/77029914/1200588/1200588_1000.jpg

Also, whilst the Class 117 unit that gained Chocolate and Cream for the GWR 150 celebrations is well known, less well known is that the pioneer Class 121 Bubble Car, 55020, was also so treated. Spot the Class 210 Driving Motor coach in the background (the inward opening cab door gives it away as being one of the motor coaches along with the extended blue on the bodyside).

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_04_2013/post-6971-0-28998600-1366272842.jpg

We had the unique South Yorkshire PTE liveried Class 114 unit as well in the mid-1980s.

https://tonybuckton.smugmug.com/Trains/DMUS-Heritage/i-LGM8Stn


There was also the departmental Class 302/305 hybrid unit used as a mobile instruction unit that carried InterCity livery, complete with white roof normally associated with the VIP Charter Fleet, seen here in one of the bays at Darlington.

https://twitter.com/salopianlyne/status/1245081583998173185

We probably should be glad that Class 312 unit 312204 remained unique in carrying this scheme representing West Midlands PTE! Though as it appears to be at Preston it's slightly outside of its usual operating area.

http://martynhilbert.railpic.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=234



Finally, I can't locate a photo but looking on one of my old Platform 5 books (the 1986 combined volume) I was reminded that Class 303 unit 303001 carried original Caledonian Blue with small yellow warning panels in the mid-1980s prior to refurbishment (where it gained hopper windows, new interiors and carried the standard Strathclyde PTE orange and black colours). Everyone tends to remember 303048 that regained that livery in the early 1990s.

 

[Cowley]

Really enjoying remembering all of this stuff, it’s completely in my era.
I travelled on the Telecom DMU so many times in the 80s and it was always a colourful sight amongst the sea of blue and grey.

 

[Mag_seven]

Who could forget these (not my photos):

 

[Cowley]

Who could forget these (not my photos):

Oh yes, although the 37 could be described as a depots nightmare rather than a pet.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Here's that green DMU at Carlisle that we were talking about earlier... Note that it still retained a Chester fleet number at both ends!

 

[Richard Scott]

Wasn't there a 127 parcels unit also painted green?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Wasn't there a 127 parcels unit also painted green?

Yes, that'll be the one they reclaimed from the NRM, but I don't think I have a picture of it.

 

[RPM]

Aylesbury's pet Sandite unit 960010 (55024). Painted maroon with Railtrack lettering, then later when Network Rail ordered a repaint in standard yellow, Aylesbury accidentally painted it maroon again!

I remember the 31 in BR green and I think that was a Stratford job, as was D6700 (37119/350). There was also 33008 ‘Eastleigh’ which was a bit of an Eastleigh pet.
Laira did quite a few unusual liveries on their class 50s towards the end, off hand there was:
50007 GWR green (obviously it was done a few years before but still a bit different)
50008 and 50019 in Laira blue
50015 in Dutch (the only member of the class and I think done for railtours)
D400/50050 back into original BR blue and working on the Waterloo route.

I seem to remember a third 50 got the Laira blue treatment but it got transferred back to NSE within days and painted in NSE livery. Was it 037?

 

[Cowley]

Aylesbury's pet Sandite unit 960010 (55024). Painted maroon with Railtrack lettering, then later when Network Rail ordered a repaint in standard yellow, Aylesbury accidentally painted it maroon again!


I seem to remember a third 50 got the Laira blue treatment but it got transferred back to NSE within days and painted in NSE livery. Was it 037?

Yes I’d forgotten about 50037, there’s (I think) a photo of it here:

https://twitter.com/_doublearrow/status/1030534792708870146

 

[eastwestdivide]

Also, whilst the Class 117 unit that gained Chocolate and Cream for the GWR 150 celebrations is well known, less well known is that the pioneer Class 121 Bubble Car, 55020, was also so treated. Spot the Class 210 Driving Motor coach in the background (the inward opening cab door gives it away as being one of the motor coaches along with the extended blue on the bodyside).

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_04_2013/post-6971-0-28998600-1366272842.jpg

Just pointing out that that's my photo you've borrowed there. Reading depot open day in (I think) 1985

 

[Helvellyn]

Just pointing out that that's my photo you've borrowed there. Reading depot open day in (I think) 1985

Hope that's not a problem? I have linked the source where I found it.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Hope that's not a problem? I have linked the source where I found it.

Not a big problem - it's on the web for people to see after all. But I'd have preferred a link to the thread it was in, rather than a direct link to the picture file itself - that way there's more available by way of information and attribution:

Kernow Class 121 (N Gauge) in WR choc/cream

I have a rather splendid Kernow LImited Edition of the Dapol Class 121 sat on the desk in its attractive WR chocolate and cream livery applied for the GW150 celebrations and unveiled on 1st June 1985 at Reading. The model features: 5 Pole skew-wound motor Low friction mechanism pinpoint metal whe...

www.rmweb.co.uk