The double arrow and steam locomotives

I rather like 60007 in blue, it looks pretty good, plus when we had 60009 in green and 4464 in LNER blue we had a rather nice representation of the A4's throughout the years. I've mentioned this before but I do wonder if someone would be brave enough to say 'Ok let's go Experimental Purple'

 

i wasn't talking about the colour, it was the lining that never looked right to me.....it should be streamlined front to back, not up and down.

 

Talking of blue, I actually liked the Duchesses in the BR light blue

 

Agreed. I think boiler band lining works OK on conventional steam locos, but goes against the grain on streamliners. Imagine what a streamlined Duchess or Merchant Navy would have looked like with vertical lining.

 

yes it's essentially picking out the boiler banding. makes an A4 look a bit like a Q1

 

But somehow revealing of the mindset of the railways at the time.

 

I think the lady that designed the Motorway signs did the Double Arrow. It's one of the few enduring pieces of 1960s design that we should honour. . Incidently lots of pre group coaches ended up in blue, certainly SECR/SR luggage vans, LMS GUVs(some still are, and Stanier Brake 3rds, LMS sleepers, Gresley/Thompson full brakes and Buffet cars, Hawksworth(and just found a Collett) Full Brake, and Syphons, not to mention SECR (I think) Pullmans on the Golden Arrow. Not to mention lots of SR&Altringham EMUs/Class 70/ LMS design shunters/Gresley Electrics(though sadly not TOMMY!). This list is not comprehensive, and a few yet lurk in rather faded blue!
Would be amazing to see a Class 98 back in Blue on the Vale of Rheidol, with coaches to match.

 

Agreed! Preferably the lined version with the brass double arrows on the cab!

 

An ex LNWR West Coast Joint stock coach got blue grey too, it had been converted to an exhibition coach and stripped out internally, but the exterior hadn't been altered. I found a picture of on flickr a while ago and it, surprisingly, looked quite good in it

 

It's probably the only item of 1960s Corporate Image design that is worth anything. I didn't mind the blue/grey coach livery, but the all-over blue was drab even when fresh, whilst the yellow fronts were stylistically horrendous.

Some of the 1950s diesel locomotives had clumsy body styling, often made worse by the need for connecting doors and/or indicator panels, but in many cases the original livery was individually styled to give a presentable, reasonably modern appearance to these engines. A good example is the Class 31. In Rail Blue these locos looked dreadful, and even locos with a nicely styled body (e.g. the Hymeks) looked very ordinary.

The HST fleet showed what could be done using the standard colours with a bit of imagination (and a very slight easing of the rules). The original HST livery has been described as a masterpiece of industrial design. Can't argue.

Aesthetics are a very personal thing, so I don't expect everyone to share my tastes. Some people have a fondness for the Rail Blue era. I'm afraid I associate it with a railway system that hadn't yet turned the corner, and bus shelters replacing stations.

 

Really? I always thought BR blue with yellow ends looked rather smart ex-works.

 

It did. Ex works. But how long did that finish last?

 

You are joking, who wants to be reminded of the lowest and most negative point in BR history. GWR green will do just fine.

 

I think that 37 looks smart too. I have an interest in the rail blue era as well as the steam period and it did have a unifying effect. I think it is infinitely preferable to the myriad of mostly trashy looking colour schemes on todays railway. Of the post rail blue liveries, the only one I thought was OK was Regional Railways

 

Well, clearly a vocal and influential group does want to be reminded of the lowest and most negative point in the entire steam age - the late BR era, so there's no accounting for taste.

 

I agree BR Blue had a unifying effect, but I'm with @Johnb in feeling that this level of unification was a low point in railway history - and the subsequent proliferation of liveries (including Regional Railways) - was tied to BR starting to actually get it's act together.

I think you can see that pattern with the ECML operators. BR blue and blue/grey were replaced by InterCity Executive (so-so), then Swallow (a very positive image that fitted IC well). Post privatisation, GNER (with or without red doors) demonstrated an intention to be seen as upmarket, replaced by National Express (cheap and nasty service), then the grey of the DOR era, after which we have the bright and shiny, but all surface show, Virgin trains.

 

Similarly I think express passenger blue is the best livery for steam locos, but yes the sheen soon wears off.

 

Talking about Rail blue, did the shade change over the time , or region, because i'm sure i can remember slight changes in the shade when looked at a freshly repainted 73 at an eastleigh open day and i simerly newly painted western one done at eastleigh, the other i think either cardiff or Swindon , it was just after the blue and grey livery came in,