New Great Western Livery

[Steadfast]

This train had a single barrier behind the pair of locomotives and a pair of barriers at the end. I have no idea why. http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/departmentalcoachprivate I only identified the lead loco, Titan Star http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/class47/e7a89c7c0

 

Paul

 

The barriers had been through overhaul too apparently, the extra one being a balancing move to get it back to Laira

 

Jo

[modfather]

I wonder if the new livery will make it work better?

There has been a lot of standardisation done I believe, 150 fuel tanks etc. I understand however that the differences between both 150/0's means they cannot share the same safety case/method of work however.

 

* I am willing to be corrected, I last saw underneath a sprinter two months ago. Long live the 800!

[brianusa]

I have now had the misfortune to encounter loco-hauled, HST, 150 and 166 stock in this drabness of a livery.  Under most lighting conditions it appears an oddly black shade - not truly black but definitely not green.  I'm not a fan of the silver doors / detail either.

 

A deep green could have looked superb though fails to contrast with the predominantly green countryside of the region served.  Instead the shade is too dark and the trains merge into the shadows.  How long until someone fails to see one approaching ........ ? 

 

Having commented earlier from having seen only photos and video clips I can now comment from first hand experience.  It's truly awful but could have been so good.

 

A lot depends on the light; dull days make it darker while the sunlight shows it in the dark green which I think looks quite good. The CRS today shows a new HST set where the comparison can be clearly seen The name however leaves a lot to be desired!

 

Brian.

[hmrspaul]

A lot depends on the light; dull days make it darker while the sunlight shows it in the dark green which I think looks quite good. The CRS today shows a new HST set where the comparison can be clearly seen The name however leaves a lot to be desired!

 

Brian.

 

This is going to be a very difficult colour to reproduce!

 

In the current Model Rail no. 224 August 2016 Dave Lowery has done a repaint of a HST power car in to this livery. There is a prototype photo which shows the green quite well, but the photo of the model appears as a very matt black to me - Dave explains he has mixed GWR green with 10% black.

 

The power cars don't appear to have the relieveing lighter green stripe or grey doors of the coaches http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/dmu/e71f38da4

 

Paul

[surfsup]

Will it Wont It? Will it Wont It? the what seems to have become something of a pantomime horse, 150001 finally returned to Reading Depot this evening. So hopefully it wont be long before it's out and about on the branch again. What I do know is that it has (fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you feel - I'd liked it to have stayed original for a little longer until early Pres) received the new DDA Bog. I'm surprised they're still different underneath though - I thought the reason for 001s extended stay at Brush Loughborough a few years ago was to have some standardization work?

 

As I said in the Caledonian Sleeper thread, I still remain yet to fully be convinced by this new livery. Given that both Caledonian Sleeper and First Groups GWR Schemes rolled out around the same time, and are both designed to distance themselves from the Parent company - I feel that the Caley Sleeper's got it right. It's not too dark, not too light, simple smart and equally modern without both A - allowing the stock to blend into the landscape and B, Doesn't need silly embellishments like the Matt Band, Silvery Stripe and shiny metal effect vinyl's. I'll agree that it suits the `150/0 Better than the /2 though!

[HillsideDepot]

Apologies for the poor quality of the photo, taken with my phone through an HST window on "The Devon Express" this morning, but painters are busy at work painting the platform canopy columns at Taunton into GWR dark green.

 

 

Also seen today was the first green (and refurbished) class 158 which had a car and a half outside the shed at Bristol Barton Hill, where the work has been done. No photo as I was on the wrong side of a very crowded 153, but it looked very smart from the glimpse I had of it.

[wombatofludham]

I really don't like the idea of dark green canopy supports.  It'll make them virtually invisible to those with partial sight or other sight problems.

Where the hell has the Department for Transport's Disability Unit disappeared to?  First GWR get away with a very low contrast foggy drizzle grey on their doors and now they are painting hefty roof supports in stealth dark green.  Are they deliberately trying to exclude those with vision impairment?

[The Stationmaster]

Apologies for the poor quality of the photo, taken with my phone through an HST window on "The Devon Express" this morning, but painters are busy at work painting the platform canopy columns at Taunton into GWR dark green.

 

20160628_094709.jpg

 

Also seen today was the first green (and refurbished) class 158 which had a car and a half outside the shed at Bristol Barton Hill, where the work has been done. No photo as I was on the wrong side of a very crowded 153, but it looked very smart from the glimpse I had of it.

 

Are you sure it was green - at our local station the bottom several feet has just been repainted black!

[HillsideDepot]

Are you sure it was green - at our local station the bottom several feet has just been repainted black!

I should be back in Taunton on Saturday, so will have another look. I think Totnes has also been done, that looked green the other day, but not the same green that the trains are, more a concoction of 'bodywork green' and 'door grey' I'd say.

[brianusa]

Whatever colour it turns out to be, there has to be a happy medium between corporate livery and consideration for those as mentioned above. The general public can't be subject to extreme needs or else there would be little authentic restoration of buildings, locos or rolling stock.

 

Brian.

[wombatofludham]

Whatever colour it turns out to be, there has to be a happy medium between corporate livery and consideration for those as mentioned above. The general public can't be subject to extreme needs or else there would be little authentic restoration of buildings, locos or rolling stock.

 

Brian.

 

It's perfectly possible to have a colour scheme that respects "heritage" whilst providing the necessary contrast to allow those with visual impairment to see the obstruction.  A light stone or grey above waist height would do the trick.

 

However, it is not an extreme need to require that any obstruction that might potentially pose a hazard to persons of reduced vision or mobility be dealt with especially as it only really needs a decent contrasting colour.  According to the RNIB in 2015 over 95%.of blind and partially sighted people had collided with an object in their locality (street furniture, advertising hoardings and the like) with many sustaining some sort of injury.  Given people with reduced vision by default cannot drive and are more likely to be using public transport, and are largely able to do so independently if simple aids and features, like tactile paving, distinguishing colours and proper audible announcements are provided, using a light colour that stands out well in a dark environment isn't really an extreme need.  To be honest though, if it comes down to "preservation" versus making a station accessible by independent disabled users, accessibility trumps every time.  The railway is about providing a service, not a museum for pretty photo ops.

[WCML100]

To add to the above west ealing has now got GWR station signs as the new platform nears completion as well as platform numbers, in the new GWR font. Seemed a little unnecessary to. Me donsidering this is going to be passed to crossrail control soon? Would of thought a 'standard' scheme for the station was used if it is going to be all replaced with crossrail styled branding like when the overground stations had the same treatment.

[HillsideDepot]

Further to the repainting of stations, I was at Westbury (Wilts) today and noticed that it has had a green repaint (although it hardly looks green in the photo I admit).

 

However, it has also had a visit from the black paint brush.

It is very hard to tell from the photo, and not much easier in real life, but the column is green and the fence around the subway stairs is black.

Edited June 30, 2016 by HillsideDepot

[WCML100]

Unusual that they decided to repaint a lot of the station as the above post shows but left in place the fgw "westbury" signs.

 

Further to the repainting of stations, I was at Westbury (Wilts) today and noticed that it has had a green repaint (although it hardly looks green in the photo I admit).

 

20160730_0001a.jpg

 

However, it has also had a visit from the black paint brush.

20160730_0006b.jpg

It is very hard to tell from the photo, and not much easier in real life, but the column is green and the fence around the subway stairs is black.

[eastwestdivide]

All those dark columns need for visibility is a couple of door-colour (light grey/silver) bands around them, maybe 4-5 foot off the floor. You don't suppose they're coming back later with the lighter paint?

A bit like the dark bands visible on the grey lamppost in the first photo in post 488 above.

[John M Upton]

Look what I just found down Pompey Harbour:

https://flic.kr/p/JFTW1J

[Banger Blue]

Unusual that they decided to repaint a lot of the station as the above post shows but left in place the fgw "westbury" signs.

Was at Oxford Station yesterday, the up platform (3 which used to be 1) has nice new GWR branded signs, the down platform (4 which used to be 2) still carries FGW branding!

[The Stationmaster]

Checked our local station last week - base of the columns is indeed black, above that is something akin to the new GWR green.  You have to look carefully to see the difference between the two! 

[Taz]

On my trip into an out of London yesterday I noticed several 387 units in unbranded GWR green. Haven't noticed any mention of these on the thread. What services are they for?

[Gwiwer]

387/1 are the 165/166 replacements for GWR services as opposed to those which will become operated under the Crossrail franchise.  So Paddington - Reading / Oxford or Newbury is my guess at least for starters.

[SwissRailPassion]

On my trip into an out of London yesterday I noticed several 387 units in unbranded GWR green. Haven't noticed any mention of these on the thread. What services are they for?

These are part of the batch for the Hayes service which goes electric on 5th September. H &H to Padd will have 387s from then.

[Gwiwer]

These are part of the batch for the Hayes service which goes electric on 5th September. H &H to Padd will have 387s from then.

 

 

Timetable change?  Nothing currently terminates at Hayes & Harlington.  Heathrow Connect will continue with its 360s until Crossrail opens as I understand it; almost everything else serving Hayes goes to at least Reading.  Phased handover to sparkage?

[Zomboid]

It's a new service to make use of the trains. It'll take the Greenford paths on the main line, and the branch will use the new bay at West Ealing.

I imagine in the fullness of time, West Ealing to Greenford will be absorbed into the Overground, like Romford - Upminster has been.

[Gwiwer]

It's a new service to make use of the trains. It'll take the Greenford paths.....

 

 

Thanks.  I was aware of the changes to Greenford.  Those might just kill the service off as it's lightly used as it is and has done better since it ran through to Paddington than it ever did from the previous Ealing Broadway shuttle.  As it doesn't link to any other LOROL service nor is it likely to I can't see them taking it on.  It will become an isolated diesel shuttle costing an arm and a leg in the middle of a newly-electrified network and no longer taking most of its passengers where they want to go.

 

That, ultimately, is what killed off Staines West and Uxbridge Vine Street though the Southern Region and Metropolitan Line offered better at either end.  Just as the Central Line does at Greenford.

[Zomboid]

It will ultimately connect Crossrail to a tube line, exactly like Romford - Upminster, and I suspect it'll do better just from appearing on a TfL map.