A sucker for unusual liveries

[Karhedron]

I am not quite sure why but for some reason I seem to acquired a fondness for locos that ran in liveries unusual for their class. I tend to model the transition era on the Western Region so there is plenty of scope for this. The Western Region painted most of its tank engines and mixed traffic engines (apart from the Halls and counties) in plain black. But with great many classes, one or two examples seemed to slip through in lined livery. There were also a few other oddities such as a pair of Churchard moguls that received elaborately lined green livery (right down to fender panels on the tenders) for Royal Train duties.

 

The early diesels also offer a few interesting one-offs with Westerns sporting both desert sand and ochre liveries. Going back to pre-nationalisation days, there was even a unique Terrier which was lucky enough to received GWR green and monogram after it was acquired from the Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Railway.

 

Do other people have a fondness for such off-beat examples or do you prefer your models to be more representative of typical motive power? I shall finish off with my own efforts in this area. An N gauge Dapol 1400 which I have lined out myself and renumbered as 1470 (one of only 2 members of the class to receive lined livery) as she appeared in the early 50s while working the Ashburton branch.

 

[SRman]

I can understand your penchant for the unusual. My own weakness has been the odd-man-out prototype diesels which mostly have no place at all on my current Southern and London Underground-based layout.

I do have a Bulleid 10203 built from an MTK brass kit, but the rest don't really link to the Southern Region at all. I want to get a black 10000 or 10001 with the correct details and livery for when they were on the SR, but so far those have not appeared RTR. Otherwise, I have models of Deltic, DP2, Lion, Falcon and Kestrel.

 

Incidentally, I quite like your lined black 14XX.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Oh to be able to fully reproduce a 9F in gloss brown, trailing clouds of glory in the sunshine. (A really filthy 9F that had just been drenched by a passing express on Langley troughs, unforgettable sight.) I did it on a Hornby 9Fconverted to loco drive, must repeat on a Bachmann 9F some day.

 

The NRM/Bachmann DP1 truly satisfies. Worth it for that livery rendition alone, which in reality contrasted so much - and so variably dependent on lighting conditions -  with the BR late steam era livery schemes: the model has it, a complete delight.

 

Now, if any manufacturer chose to release the AM9 'Clacton express' sets in their original all-maroon livery scheme I would fall. It may not belong anywhere near the ECML, but did they ever look smart.

[HillsideDepot]

Interesting topic. In general terms we probably have too many unusual liveries in our fleets, and I'll plead guilty!

But I was thinking along similar lines out on the real railway earlier this week. I was on the GWML for a few days, and obviously saw a good proportion of the GWR HST fleet, even if it was just zooming past my window at a closing speed somewhere near 200mph. GWR have a number of special liveries on their power cars, from 43002 in original style, to Harry Patch in remembrance black, a couple in Bristol 2015 Green Capital livery, Plymouth Ocean City, Building a Greater West, and of course the green GWR set (have I missed any?). Add to that the normal liveried power cars with a name as being "unusual" and still there were plenty of sets which were "bog standard" blue from end to end. I didn't keep count, but even with so many specials, I'd estimate half the fleet is "usual".

So what of my model fleet? For my present modelling era liveries were pretty standard; BR Blue without embellishment. OK, some locos had names, but they were "leftovers" from the green (maroon) era, and looking back perhaps it is surprising even these few plates survived the corporate dictate. "Unusual" for me then, is something which has avoided the Blue paint brush and hangs on to faded green, although with full yellow ends and sometimes Rail Alphabet/TOPS numbers. But I certainly have them in my fleet, and disproportionately so! Therein lies the problem though, a plain blue 47 is pretty much a plain blue 47. OK, a few had names, some had two double arrows (in board of the cab doors), but well over 450 of them looked pretty much alike. To be representative on a small layout then you only need a couple in standard livery, but you can't have part of a two-tone green one, to meet the mathematical percentage of the fleet, it has to be a whole one, and that skews the figures. Balancing that though would be Bristol's 03 fleet which was 50/50 green and blue pretty much throughout the 1970s - but they only had two of the class on the allocation!

But, so what, I have green examples of class 03, 08, 25, 37 and 47 in my otherwise Blue fleet. Add to that a 37 and 47 with two arrows on the side, and yes my fleet is definitely biased to the unusual. I'd better not mention that Falcon also features on my roster (standard livery, very unusual loco), or that one of the pair of bargain 08s ordered yesterday will have its arrows below the number on the cab-side...

[jessy1692]

I can understand your penchant for the unusual. My own weakness has been the odd-man-out prototype diesels which mostly have no place at all on my current Southern and London Underground-based layout.

 

I do have a Bulleid 10203 built from an MTK brass kit, but the rest don't really link to the Southern Region at all. I want to get a black 10000 or 10001 with the correct details and livery for when they were on the SR, but so far those have not appeared RTR. Otherwise, I have models of Deltic, DP2, Lion, Falcon and Kestrel.

 

Incidentally, I quite like your lined black 14XX.

 

You need one of these too, odd livery and a very odd prototype.

Just need a Heljan Clayton and a lot of plasticard!

Cheers

James

[bike2steam]

Ah, another excuse to get this old favourite out again, apologies to those that have seen it before ( some more than once).

[Horsetan]

Has anyone tried recreating the DTG's 1990s rendition of a Warship in Deutsche Bundesbahn V200 livery?

[ColinK]

I didn't know about that Warship, looks fantastic. Scope for a limited edition model?

[SRman]

Someone did a model Western in that livery, and it also looked superb, like the livery 'belonged' on it. 

[newbryford]

(Likewise apologies as per above if you've seen this one before)

 

 

There can't be many locos with very distinct and different liveries on either side.

 

I much prefer this side

 

to the other.

 

This is not the forthcoming Rail Express limited edition - I painted it over 4 years ago.

(Photos courtesy of AndyY)

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Talltim]

Has anyone tried recreating the DTG's 1990s rendition of a Warship in Deutsche Bundesbahn V200 livery?

Another pic on this site http://www.westernchampion.co.uk/loco-d821-history-pres.php

Also here https://www.flickr.com/photos/migrandadworabutcha/15359284324 here http://www.preserved-diesels.co.uk/2005b/821_1.htm

And here https://www.flickr.com/photos/northamptontoffeeman/8460739045

[SRman]

I hope no one minds me linking to another forum, but here's that Western model I referred to before: http://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=12175&view=findpost&p=407425

[JCL]

Here you go. A different livery and an advertising hoarding on this GNR L1. This has often caught my eye.

 

© National Railway Museum and SSPL

http://www.nrm.org.uk/ourcollection/photo?group=Doncaster&objid=1997-7396_DON_Y17

[bike2steam]

Here you go. A different livery and an advertising hoarding on this GNR L1. This has often caught my eye.

 

image.jpeg

© National Railway Museum and SSPL

http://www.nrm.org.uk/ourcollection/photo?group=Doncaster&objid=1997-7396_DON_Y17

Probably done so 'cause it spent most of it's working life working ecs into Kings Cross platform 8 ?? 

[Horsetan]

(Likewise apologies as per above if you've seen this one before)

 

 

There can't be many locos with very distinct and different liveries on either side.

 

I much prefer this side

66720a.jpg

 

to the other.

66720b.jpg

 

...I painted it over 4 years ago.

 

Does this also qualify under the heading of "Guilty Pleasures"?

 

....and, most importantly, what would it be worth on eBay? 

[Reorte]

I was rather surprised once when the train I was waiting for turned up hauled by the Police-liveried Class 47.

[melmoth]

(Likewise apologies as per above if you've seen this one before)

 

 

There can't be many locos with very distinct and different liveries on either side.

 

I much prefer this side

66720a.jpg

 

to the other.

66720b.jpg

 

This is not the forthcoming Rail Express limited edition - I painted it over 4 years ago.

(Photos courtesy of AndyY)

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

Not so much the LTSR as the LSDR

[newbryford]

Does this also qualify under the heading of "Guilty Pleasures"?

 

....and, most importantly, what would it be worth on eBay? 

 

Bearing in mind that the Rail Express limited edition is imminent, probably no more than that.

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Jenny Emily]

Many years ago I saw for sale secondhand in the Farnworth Model Centre (gone and much missed) a class 52 that had been repainted into FGW livery, and it really suited that. I didn't buy it, but still think that perhaps I should have as it had been really well done.

[jcm@gwr]

I repainted an HST set (Hornby) into GWR livery a couple of years ago,

it was for a competition on another forum, and based on a photo on the

Ficticious Liveries website. It certainly creates raised eyebrows at shows!

 

I'm also repainting a Big Big Hymek into the maroon livery carried by the

Westerns and Warships, it's a 'possibility' that it could have happened.

[SRman]

I have shown this before, but I had the same idea with a refurbished and detailed Triang Hymek. This is how it might have been.

[jessy1692]

Nice touch with the grey stripe SRman, i did one but all over maroon after it was extended a bit..

[Horsetan]

Nice touch with the grey stripe SRman, i did one but all over maroon after it was extended a bit..gallery_5804_1208_1630167.jpg

 

Reminds me of the DB Br.218s.

[SRman]

Very nice, Jessy! A stretched, double engined Hymek. If they really had done that, that would have given it around 3,500 hp, using the existing Maybach engines. That's more powerful than a Deltic!

My model was also double motored, with two chassis cut and joined through the middle. Mine is an early one with the non-ringfield metal bogies, and runs very sweetly (albeit not all that quietly!), and with all wheels driven and picking up power, it will pull anything I put behind it. There is one TCS T1 decoder feeding both motor bogies.

I like your full yellow ends as they spark up the plain maroon. I was debating what treatment to give mine, but settled on the 'traditional' style matching the green ones, although I did try grey cab window surrounds rather than white: that did nothing for the appearance and looked quite drab. Keeping mine as a class 35 meant I had a dilemma as to what to do with the numbering too. I ended up using transfers and chose a random Hymek number, D7013.

 

p.s. I note we both used the BR coach stock crest.

[Mark Saunders]

Is the "unusual livery" not the bread and butter for most of the manufacturers and the "limited edition" market that was/is being milked by some!

 

Mark Saunders