Train liveries - any faves?

[Bayum]

I was a big fan of the teal livery that Midland Mainline used for a few years. Particularly liked the deers incorporation to the mix.

 

[backontrack]

The 'barbie' livery looked great on the 322s, too, IMO.


180's just look good in anything.



Told 'ya.

And finally, here's a photoshop, just because.


Is anyone here good at photoshops? I'd be interested to see a 380 in the 'barbie' livery.

 

[Qwerty133]

Ct 170

 

[backontrack]

And finally, Midland Mainline 'bambi'

Midland Mainline HST Near Meadowhall. by neilh156, on Flickr

Got to agree with you there, Midland Mainline had some fantastic liveries. Their Meridians looked OK, but the HSTs looked the best.

I also quite like the Scotrail variant on 170420 for the Commonwealth Games:


And, as I've previously said, this rather vivid 350:


I wonder why this is different from the 185s and 170s?

(I'm going to need a bulletproof and fireproof chestplate, but here goes)

I didn't like the Central Trains livery.

 

[sprinterguy]

I didn't like the Central Trains livery.

I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it has grown on me considerably since. Probably because of all the corporate dross (and one or two ill-conceived TOC-specific schemes of recent years) that Arriva, First Group and National Express have inflicted upon us since.
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And, as I've previously said, this rather vivid 350:
View attachment 18794

I have to say, I think that it looks better in reality than it does in photos, and is a marked improvement on the standard “Dynamic lines” livery, which I cannot stand.
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Current TOC liveries

• SPT Carmine & Cream - The livery of my childhood. The variants carried by the 170/4s and the 334s looked particularly good.

Now I’m largely the opposite here (and hence in agreement with backontrack from a post earlier in this thread): I liked the SPT carmine and cream livery, but thought that it only really worked on the 156s with a more “traditional” outline. The blue stripe that was added to the livery on some of the 170s and the 334s really didn’t sit well in my opinion, and the traditional colour scheme didn’t suit the more modern body profiles. The Glasgow area electrics all looked better in the preceding orange and black scheme, which looked considerably more modern and I preferred overall.

 

[FQ]

I didn't like the Central Trains livery.

Same. Call me crazy but I prefer the London Midland City livery on the 170s...

 

[sprinterguy]

Surprised no ones mentioned two-tone grey. Great - especially on a tractor.

That’s a good point. The brightly coloured sub-sector symbols over a standard triple-tone grey scheme were very clever and looked very smart. I think the trainload coal liveried class 56s that I saw regularly in my youth (before all the collieries went!) looked particularly impressive, but there really was nothing that the livery didn’t suit.
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Loadhaul

Loadhaul

Loadhaul

Based on this and the following post from 33056, we really were treated to a good crop of bright freight liveries in the run up to privatisation, weren’t we? While I generally believe that freight locomotives should be grey (or, going back further in time, black) for ease of maintenance, and still have difficulty getting my head around most of the brightly coloured schemes of the current railfreight operators, I really can’t fault any of the Loadhaul, Mainline Freight or Transrail (which was, after all, just an adaptation of trainload freight grey) liveries. Loadhaul in particular was superb. Such a bold scheme that suited everything that it was applied to.

 

[talltim]

Guilford Rail Systems 'Ganta Fe' one off
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2653509

 

[FQ]

From other countries this is whopper.

http://www.easternrailroadnews.com/2012/05/05/cp-neus-to-get-boost-from-120-car-oil-trains/

 

[Strathclyder]

Based on this and the following post from 33056, we really were treated to a good crop of bright freight liveries in the run up to privatisation, weren’t we? While I generally believe that freight locomotives should be grey (or, going back further in time, black) for ease of maintenance, and still have difficulty getting my head around most of the brightly coloured schemes of the current railfreight operators, I really can’t fault any of the Loadhaul, Mainline Freight or Transrail (which was, after all, just an adaptation of trainload freight grey) liveries. Loadhaul in particular was superb. Such a bold scheme that suited everything that it was applied to.

Agreed. I simply can't fault it. The 60s in particular looked really good in it:

 

[Mikey C]

One of my favourites is the London Midland livery, which looks very smart to me and distinctive.
By Contrast, the various Southeastern liveries (apart from the 395s) and indeed all their predecessor companies back to Connex, have all looked very dull, the Networkers have never looked better than they did in their original NSE livery!

 

[DarloRich]

This thread reminds me how many youngsters there are on this board! (God i sound old. When did thta happen!)

Echoing the above - Loadhaul is a really nice livery.

I always liked 47's in large logo and 56's in red stripe/freight large logo/large logo. I also always liked the frieght sector triple grey with various symbols.

 

[Harbon 1]

Loadhaul

Loadhaul

Loadhaul

Isn't it common knowledge that you have to look a long way to find a class of loco that doesn't look good in Loadhaul

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Isn't it common knowledge that you have to look a long way to find a class of loco that doesn't look good in Loadhaul

Not that far.....
Picture from therailwaycentre.com

 

[sprinterguy]

Not that far.....
Picture from therailwaycentre.com

Looks fine to me. At least it’s a bit different from the limited pool of prototypical liveries you can apply to a class 50, and a damn sight less bland than plain BR blue. I think it’s a shame that “Ark Royal” is losing its’ Loadhaul livery!

 

[Harbon 1]

Not that far.....
Picture from therailwaycentre.com

It's different yes but Loadhaul suits the flat sides and doesn't really look that bad :P

 

[317663]

Does anyone here have any favourite TOC liveries?

One of my faves is Scotrail's 'saltire' livery. Hull Trains have a great livery - their old one was good too. Grand Central's 180s, with their orange strips running down the train, look very sharp.

Perhaps surprisingly, I quite liked First Scotrail's 'barbie' livery too. I'm not quite sure why. It looked particularly good on the Class 90's, I thought.

Any others? Feel free to post your least favourite, too. I never liked Greater Anglia's, or anything National Express - I hate grey.

Past TOCs count, too.

Network SouthCentral

 

[DarloRich]

Not that far.....
Picture from therailwaycentre.com

looks fine to me

 

[GatwickDepress]

I do adore Loadhaul, but I bet it wouldn't look that great on an 73.

 

[Beveridges]

Loadhaul looks OK on a 50. If the 50 was a dedicated freight locomotive it would look good but it doesn't make sense when all it is doing is hauling a short rake of steam liveried carriages on a preserved line at 0-23mph.

 

[CC 72100]

Foreign trains look downright weird without the yellow fronts!

I'd have to disagree with that. In terms of actual colour schemes, two of my favourites from my time abroad look very normal with having the livery on the front too.

Also been a fan of SNCF 'En Voyage' (see left)

...As well as the RATP/STIF livery found on the MI09 stock on the RER A

However, put a yellow front on a french loco, and it just looks a little weird - search on google for BB 7321, it ain't pretty!

Ok, so it's not a yellow front as we'd know it, it's the result of the TER Bourgogne livery being applied to a loco. BB 7321 was the only one painted in the livery to match the rakes of coaches used on these services, and to be honest, you can see why!

 

[sprinterguy]

I'd have to disagree with that. In terms of actual colour schemes, two of my favourites from my time abroad look very normal with having the livery on the front too.

Indeed. Continental liveries (and further afield) are designed to work without the need for a yellow front, and in my opinion often look all the better for it.

In fact I would say that it is some UK liveries that look ‘forced” when the yellow front end looks to have been left as an afterthought, rather than being incorporated into the livery in any way.

 

[59CosG95]

Indeed. Continental liveries (and further afield) are designed to work without the need for a yellow front, and in my opinion often look all the better for it.

In fact I would say that it is some UK liveries that look ‘forced” when the yellow front end looks to have been left as an afterthought, rather than being incorporated into the livery in any way.

Eurostar, SWT's Desiros, Virgin and London Midland's Desiros managed to integrate the livery quite well in my opinion.

 

[Strathclyder]

Not that far.....
Picture from therailwaycentre.com

It honestly doesn't look that bad on a 'Hoover'. It does look slightly ridiculous when it's hauling a rake of MK1s on a heritage line, though.

 

[FQ]

It honestly doesn't look that bad on a 'Hoover'.

No it doesn't look bad on a 'log'. I honestly hate the livery on a 60.

 

[318259]

One thing I really liked about NatEx's "post-privatisation" TOC identities was the liveries they chose and the avoidance of 'corporate' marking of territory.

This is what I liked about ScotRail: it was hard to even know it was National Express. Then First took over and plastered their name everywhere! It didn't help that I detest that Barbie livery!

I like the new saltire livery. I also really like the SPTrail livery on the 318s. It's a classic livery that suits them.

 

[WillPS]

Central Trains branding was brilliant; their own livery was good but their minimal vinyl redoes of other operators colours (the MML 170s, the Porterbrook 170s, the TPE 158s) was really clever. A really good brand that didn't rely on a complete repaint to work effectively.

 

[starrymarkb]

I'd have to disagree with that. In terms of actual colour schemes, two of my favourites from my time abroad look very normal with having the livery on the front too.

Also been a fan of SNCF 'En Voyage' (see left)

...As well as the RATP/STIF livery found on the MI09 stock on the RER A

However, put a yellow front on a french loco, and it just looks a little weird - search on google for BB 7321, it ain't pretty!

Ok, so it's not a yellow front as we'd know it, it's the result of the TER Bourgogne livery being applied to a loco. BB 7321 was the only one painted in the livery to match the rakes of coaches used on these services, and to be honest, you can see why!

Didn't the Class 22s get the yellow end on top of their SNCF livery when BR hired them.