43096
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LNR don’t have and aren’t getting any 755s.
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In your opinion, what are the ugliest units/locos/liveries on the network? Interior or exterior.
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The poster has edited their post. It was originally a 755 but has now changed to a WMR 730/0
AverageTD
Member
Was wondering where all the confusion was coming from! I think the 730 looks fine but the 755 is on another level of train design
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Yep it was the 730 I was talking about.
i don't get yellow gangways. It emphasises the ugliest bit of the train. Full yellow or none at all for me.
Journeyman
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I know they're considered classics now, but I didn't ever like London Underground's "flared skirt" surface stock (CO, CP, Q and R). They looked very oddly proportioned to me. I know the D stock that replaced it was boxy and plain, but it all seemed to form a more coherent whole.
Milo T.K
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First gen diesels are ugly. End of.
Journeyman
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Some of them were, certainly, but not all. Most were just rather functional looking.
fgwrich
Established Member
You can definitely add the 458s to that list with their rebuilt "noses". Mind you, it wasn't hard to beat, the original versions weren't exactly lookers either.
The strange thing though is that 'ugly' units/locos can sometimes look characterful.
I've seen references to the 20 or to the 458 for example, and I would rate both as having a 'quirky' visual appeal.
I'd imagine that many would say the refurbished CEPs or BEPs (never saw the unrefurbished editions) had an 'ugly' front with all the wires etc on show, but again to me that would translate to characterfulness.
Around 2009-12 (not sure if they still exist) they had various strange-looking EMUs on the Belgian network, which some would call ugly I'm sure, but to me seemed very characterful: a two car 'museum piece' which looked similar vintage to something like a 4SUB (not sure if it was - it was on locals out of Liège) and something used extensively in the Brussels area with a front which looked like a stretched out rubber tyre (so it looked like a rectangle with rounded corners). Then in the Netherlands there was a strange all-yellow unit (I think it was an EMU) which had a 'bulging out' front rather reminiscent of a class 37/40/45.
I am a bit out of touch with the 'new generation' (7xx) units though so can't really comment - we don't get many round here. Only 7xxs I have seen are the 700 and the 707.
I've seen references to the 20 or to the 458 for example, and I would rate both as having a 'quirky' visual appeal.
I'd imagine that many would say the refurbished CEPs or BEPs (never saw the unrefurbished editions) had an 'ugly' front with all the wires etc on show, but again to me that would translate to characterfulness.
Around 2009-12 (not sure if they still exist) they had various strange-looking EMUs on the Belgian network, which some would call ugly I'm sure, but to me seemed very characterful: a two car 'museum piece' which looked similar vintage to something like a 4SUB (not sure if it was - it was on locals out of Liège) and something used extensively in the Brussels area with a front which looked like a stretched out rubber tyre (so it looked like a rectangle with rounded corners). Then in the Netherlands there was a strange all-yellow unit (I think it was an EMU) which had a 'bulging out' front rather reminiscent of a class 37/40/45.
I am a bit out of touch with the 'new generation' (7xx) units though so can't really comment - we don't get many round here. Only 7xxs I have seen are the 700 and the 707.
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CBlue
Member
Class 321's. It looks like someone tried to copy a 1990s car nose by stretching it across the front of the unit. 319s aren't lookers either with similar odd bits of fibreglass moulding around the front end that just made them date quicker.
317s meanwhile had no styling pretensions whatsoever and certainly didn't date as quickly - most people I know seem to think they are 1990s era stock.
317s meanwhile had no styling pretensions whatsoever and certainly didn't date as quickly - most people I know seem to think they are 1990s era stock.
317666
Established Member
You're thinking of AM62 (all withdrawn now) or AM66/73 (many withdrawn but some still going), and AM96 units for Belgium, and Plan V units (no longer in service) for the Netherlands.
Regarding the subject of this thread, I would have to agree that WMR's orange and purple looks absolutely hideous. Although unlike many it seems, I think SWR's 701s look quite good, even if the livery is a little uninspiring.
The Class 124 Trans-Pennine units looked OK and stood the test of time.
Mikey C
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The 456s are the worst of both worlds, the nose of the 321, but covered with external coupling cables!
Scotrail314209
Established Member
334s look a bit bulbous at the front personally.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
PEPs are also fairly timeless. My sister thought the 507/508s were late 90s build due to the heavy refurb then.
I thought they were pretty good looking too, right up until I saw a class 777 next to them. I wouldn't go as far as saying they are ugly, but, I would say they look pretty dated next to the new trains.
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
321s are definitely the least-worst of the 20m Mk3 derivatives, when I saw them new they looked so futuristic compared to the 307s they replaced on Leeds to Doncaster. There is something a bit "1990s hot hatch" about them though, I agree.
An opinion I've seen on here before is that the PEP-derived units look more modern than the Mk3 units. I can't see it myself, and in the case of the 455/7s the odd-one-out 508 car looks more dated than the rest, to me at least.
Strathclyder
Established Member
Some were hardly shining achievements in aesthetic design, true (the NBL Type 2s/Warships & Metro-Vick Type 2s are perhaps the most notorious examples, putting aside all their other flaws). But most merely followed the 'function over form' principle. Heck, even with all the flaws that bedeviled the above examples (styling being the least of them!), they had their good qualities, namely good visibility and exceptionally good ride quality (in the case of the NBL 21s/29s & 41s).
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Because this is about the ugliest, not just ugly.
CBlue
Member
Fair the 321s looked tidy enough when new, but 30 years on they've not aged well.
The units with no styling however don't tend to look much older...
I'd say the 458s as built looked "quirky".
The 458s after refurb look "unfinished".
Personally, I quite like the Desiro City design, I think it's probably tied with the flirts for best design of the "new age" units.
I can't help but think the flatter fronted Aventras look angry, and the original Aventra front looks like someone just let some air out of a Talent 2.
I'm also quite partial to the 195/331 front, it's much better than the 196, which looks a bit like someone saw a 380, and went "well it's nice, but it's just a bit too pretty..."
Plush1
Member
How very dare you! The 323 is a beautiful Unit. I hereby sentence you to a Week of riding Pacers on jointed track!
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
I suspect I'm in the minority in feeling that gangway ends don't automatically make a unit ugly. To me the Northern Civity units look unfinished compared to the 196s. Likewise the flat-faced 150s look like there's a bit missing.
I agree that gangways don't automatically make a unit ugly (look at 350/444/450 vs 360, or 376 vs 377), but I much prefer the more angular design of the 195s, to the sort of 'gloopy' rounded stuff the designers seem to be trending towards. If the 196 had had the same angular design as the 195, but tweaked to accommodate a gangway, I'd have liked it a lot better.
Gangway units can definitely look good, but it takes work to make it look like the gangway is supposed to be there, rather than just plonked on as an afterthought. Likewise, some of the gangwayless designs look like someone just took an eraser to a gangwayed unit, which looks odd too. The difference in front between (most) turbostars and (most) electrostars is a good example of this, it differs in a lot more than just the presence of a gangway.
Gangway units can definitely look good, but it takes work to make it look like the gangway is supposed to be there, rather than just plonked on as an afterthought. Likewise, some of the gangwayless designs look like someone just took an eraser to a gangwayed unit, which looks odd too. The difference in front between (most) turbostars and (most) electrostars is a good example of this, it differs in a lot more than just the presence of a gangway.
The 350 does a good job of that, IMO.
Yes, the Desiro UK range is an example of a good looking gangwayed unit. The 360s look kind of weird in comparison (though the 185s less so. I suppose the different light clusters do a lot to make it look less like a 350 that someone's pinched the gangway off of).
Honestly, based on the look of the 717, I reckon a gangwayed Desiro City would probably look alright as well. Maybe not quite as good as the original, but it wouldn't stick out quite as much as some of the offerings we've had
Honestly, based on the look of the 717, I reckon a gangwayed Desiro City would probably look alright as well. Maybe not quite as good as the original, but it wouldn't stick out quite as much as some of the offerings we've had
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