The liveries of Privatisation - Diesel locomotives

Privatisation has brought enormous change to the structures within the British railway industry, and one obvious way in which this change can be seen is in the liveries of railway vehicles. Although the variety of different types of motive power has declined from the late 1980's onwards, the number of different liveries seems to have expanded exponentially, and at least in the early days of Privatisation, there were numerous detailed differences to be seen, due perhaps to experimentation to find the best pattern and colours.

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Click below on one of the pictures to see more varied liveries.
Electric Locomotives	Diesel Multiple-Units	Electric Multiple-Units	Liveries at Basingstoke

Class 08

Here's a pre-privatisation picture of Class 08 shunting locomotive 08 631 EAGLE at Cambridge in 1994. The trend towards different liveries had already started as a result of the "Sectorisation" process. Replacing the rail blue that had adorned it previously, here's the red-white-and-blue of Network SouthEast.

Class 20

This view of class 20 locomotive 20 904 JANIS at Reading on 22 April 1997 does not benefit from having been taken towards the sun. The two-tone grey livery is that of Hunslet-Barclay, who operate a fleet of six of these class 20's, which are usually to be seen in pairs, one at each end of a weedkiller spraying train.

Class 37

Locomotive 37 116 Sister Dora, seen at Woking on 15 November 1997, is operated by English, Welsh and Scottish Railway, but wears a unique livery. The overall colours are the former corporate British Rail blue, with markings to show that this locomotive was operated by Transrail before the EWS takeover. (Most Transrail locomotives had a grey livery.)

Photographed at Westbury on 11 April 1998, green-liveried 37 403 carries its original number, D6607, as well as the name Ben Cruachan. Although operated by EWS, on this occasion it was employed on a Wales & West passenger train from Bristol Temple Meads to Weymouth. Apart from the livery, this locomotive also differs from most others in its class by being fitted with miniature snowploughs.

A comparison could also be made with the coaching stock in the September picture below. In this April picture, there are two yellow stripes on the leading carriage, whereas a few months later there was only one.

On 4 September 1998, 37 411 Ty Hafan was photographed arriving at Bath Spa with a Weymouth service. This later form of EWS livery does not include an ampersand between the letters, and uses a Gill Sans-like font. For a comparison, see the picture below. One apparent difference which is an illusion, however, is whether EWS or the number appears first in the yellow bodyside stripe - on both sides of the locomotive, EWS is next to the square grille on the bodyside.

Stabled at Newport (Gwent) on 9 April 1998, 37 668 has been repainted into EWS livery, but in this case, the earlier version with lettering in an Arial-like font with the ampersand between the "W" and the "S". Other differences of detail are the absence of an EWS "beasts head" logo and the way the locomotive number has been applied to the nose.

Passing light through Newport (Gwent) on 9 April 1998, 37 892 Ripple Lane, like the vast majority of class 37's, is an EWS locomotive. The livery is that of Railfreight with Mainline Freight markings. Mainline Freight was one of the three freight businesses separated out for privatisation and then recombined by the EWS takeover.

Standing in a row of class 37 locomotives at the stabling point just west of Newport (Gwent) station on 6 April 1998, locomotive 37 894 is in the "Railfreight black diamonds" livery which was formerly used to designate locomotives used on coal traffic.

Class 43

The class 43 locomotives used on Great North Eastern Railway services from London Kings Cross to Yorkshire and beyond have been repainted in the predominantly navy blue livery of that company. Here is one of them, photographed at London Kings Cross on 26 September 1997.

The Midland Main Line services run between London and the major towns of the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. Here, one of the High Speed Trains is seen between duties at London St. Pancras on 8 Feb 1998. Locomotive 43 055 Sheffield Star wears the new livery well.

Below is a picture of 43 055 taken at St. Pancras almost a year earlier, on 18 Feb 1997, before the new livery was applied, for comparison.

Photographed at London Paddington on 21 March 1998, no. 43 189 RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST is in the dark green and white livery of Great Western Trains. GWT operates main-line services from London to Bristol, South Wales and South West England. There is a slight variation of this livery on the coaches, where a beige stripe along the bottom of the bodyside helps to give a more pleasing effect.

Class 47

Not every company or group owning locomotives and stock has large numbers of items on its books. Fragonset Railways is one of the smaller players, having acquired a handful of class 47 locomotives after they were retired due to high engine hours. After maintenance, some have been hired by Virgin Cross Country and reappeared on main-line services.

Here, 47 703, wearing Fragonset colours, heads a southbound Virgin service into Winchester on 8 May 1998.

The red and dark grey livery of Rail Express Systems on locomotive 47 789 Lindisfarne is superficially similar to the "Parcels" livery, but is modified by the addition of pale blue flashes. This picture was taken at London Kings Cross on 26 September 1997. 47 789 is an EWS locomotive.

47 806 is one of a small number of locomotives from the class to receive the red black and white livery of Virgin. It was photographed at Birmingham New Street on 2 August 1998.

The livery adorning locomotive 47 807 seen at Bristol Temple Meads on 2 November 1997 is unusual on several counts.

As these two photographs show, the asymmetric nature of the livery means that one end of the locomotive is predominantly purple, whilst the other end is predominantly white, with the result that the cab window surrounds are different colours at each end.

Another thing which is unusual about this Porterbrook livery (which is actually a magnified portion of the logo which can be seen on the bodyside) is that it signifies ownership of the locomotive as opposed to an association with the services that it is used on. Porterbrook is one of the leasing companies which owns stock but operates no services. The train which this locomotive was hauling was a Virgin Cross Country service.

Some class 47 locomotives have apparently fared less well since being taken out of daily service. One in a very poor state is 47 547, ~~rusting away~~ "stored unserviceable", at Crewe diesel depot on 27 April 1998. The shabby Network SouthEast livery bears a scar showing where the nameplates which once identified this locomotive as "University of Oxford" have been removed. A replacement windscreen could make it seem more likely that this loco might re-enter service at some stage, but with EWS, who own it, buying new ones, this seems a distant prospect.

Class 56

56 117 was photographed while stabled at Newport (Gwent) on 9 April 1998. It is in the second form of EWS livery.

The vast majority of the time, class 56 locomotives are employed on freight duties, but 56 134 Blyth Power was on a passenger train (a Pathfinder railtour visiting Manchester, Liverpool and Blackpool) when photographed at Liverpool Lime Street station on 1 November 1997. It is in Railfreight livery, with Coal Sector decals.

Class 58

Seen stabled at Westbury on 11 April 1998, 58 023 Peterborough Depot is in the full version of Mainline Freight livery - all over blue with a silver stripe half way up the bodyside - complete with matching colours on the nameplate.

58 030 was on railtour duty when photographed at Wolverhampton on 13 June 1998 in EWS livery.

Both versions of the Mainline Freight livery are seen on this pair of class 58 locomotives stabled at Leicester on 13 June 1998. 58 042 is the blue one.

Class 60

The Loadhaul freight livery was applied to relatively few locomotives. One of them, 60 025, was photographed at Grantham on 13 June 1998.

In a Railfreight livery with Transrail markings, 60 081 Bleaklow Hill passes westwards through Cardiff Central with a train of steel flat wagons on 8 July 1997.

In a Railfreight livery with Coal Sector markings, 60 091 An Teallach stands at Leicester depot on 13 June 1998.

Class 66

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The first booked passenger working for the new class 66 locomotives was the "Route 66" railtour organised by Hertfordshire Railtours on 28 November 1998. This ran from London Paddington to South Wales, covering rarely-visited sections of the Vale of Glamorgan and Vale of Neath lines. Here, 66 011 heads the train into Reading on the outward journey. On arrival at Cardiff Central, locomotive 66 009 was added to the rear of the train for top'n'tail operation on the Welsh branch lines.

NB: the vertical streaks in this photograph are the result of taking this picture with a digital still camera - one significant drawback to that particular technology.

The smaller picture below of sister locomotive 66 008 broadside on shows the distinctive "Thunderflash" variety of EWS livery which has been applied to these locomotives. In this versions, the livery is much more like that of the American parent company of EWS, the Wisconsin Central. This photo was taken from the railtour train, as it passed Cardiff Canton depot.

Click below on one of the pictures to see more varied liveries.
Electric Locomotives	Diesel Multiple-Units	Electric Multiple-Units	Liveries at Basingstoke

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