Class 69 - Return of the body snatchers?

[big jim]

Not in the cab, no screen or indeed space for it  

[08221]

No.5 has broken cover.....

 

 

[4630]

Interesting.  Adds a little bit of variety.

 

I wonder if the entire class will have different 'one-off' paint schemes?

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Certainly is interesting. I wonder if it is inspired by the class 33 BR green livery? Perhaps a homage to 33008, if it is going to be named 'Eastleigh'.

[adb968008]

5 hours ago, Claude_Dreyfus said:

Certainly is interesting. I wonder if it is inspired by the class 33 BR green livery? Perhaps a homage to 33008, if it is going to be named 'Eastleigh'.

It very much looks like that, a picture elsewhere shows it carrying the name “Eastleigh”.

 

interestingly the choice of Cream, rather than White bands… the very opposite of what 33008 Eastleigh was, and the opposite “mistake” that Heljan made in its recent model of D6515. The GBRF branding is white though.

 

Either way its now an authentic livery for 69005.

i’m begining to think Bachmann has sponsored the liveries of this fleet.
 

weve not had plain Rail Blue yet, or Railfreight red stripe, Sectors or Dutch… as weve gone RTC maybe BRT or Technical Services liveries might make a comeback ?

 

i’m hoping for a Tonbridge yard openday in the future, with all of them on display. (Its a bit like that at weekends now).

Edited April 29, 2022 by adb968008

[adb968008]

Class 69 Preservation group…

https://www.cl69lg.org/

[big jim]

38 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

 

i’m begining to think Bachmann has sponsored the liveries of this fleet.
 

weve not had plain Rail Blue yet, or Railfreight red stripe, Sectors or Dutch… as weve gone RTC maybe BRT or Technical Services liveries might make a comeback ?

 

 

inwas thinking the same thing earlier re Bachmann! 
 

i suggested NSE to John smith a while back, that and loadhaul 

[Davexoc]

13 minutes ago, big jim said:

i suggested NSE to John smith a while back, that and loadhaul

 

But which version?

I'd go for early upswept ends but with the darker blue.

 

Then there is Dutch, Parcels or RES, and how about GWR150?

[newbryford]

The stripe under the grille looks awful as it tapers in width.

 

[newbryford]

6 hours ago, Claude_Dreyfus said:

Certainly is interesting. I wonder if it is inspired by the class 33 BR green livery? Perhaps a homage to 33008, if it is going to be named 'Eastleigh'.

 

Errr, It is named "Eastleigh"

[big jim]

3 minutes ago, newbryford said:

The stripe under the grille looks awful as it tapers in width.

 

the leading cab looks droopy, hopefully just an illusion because of the line

[Claude_Dreyfus]

15 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Errr, It is named "Eastleigh"

I know. Turn of phrase on my part which probably doesn't translate very well in writing.

 

 

[Phil Mc]

Can’t believe they didn’t wait until 69008 to do this livery and name……

 

cheers,

Phil.

[Godfrey Glyn]

A good selection of photographs on the excellent site - https://www.47soton.co.uk - of it coming out of the Eastleigh works. Quite stunning!

 

all the best

Godfrey

[37114]

13 hours ago, newbryford said:

The stripe under the grille looks awful as it tapers in width.

 

Am I alone in thinking it looks awful? I don't get the homage to all these past BR liveries which as a company that has no BR era heritage have little relevance? I get the enthusiast popularity and maybe they are a result of a "design a loco livery competition" for GBRF employees but it seems a missed opportunity for either customer liveries or promoting any GBRF affiliated charities.

Edited April 30, 2022 by 37114
Typo

[big jim]

I like them, something a bit out of the ordinary, be interesting to see why else comes up, I really am hoping for original NSE livery personally 

 

The one thing I don’t like rhough is the the speed whiskers on the other member in the class 

Edited April 30, 2022 by big jim

[John M Upton]

Given the US origin of the 69's innards and some outer bits, how about thinking outside the box and going for a livery that may have graced the EMD parts on the other side of the Atlantic.

 

Southern Pacific Black Widow will do for a starter....

[Steadfast]

2 hours ago, 37114 said:

Am I alone in thinking it looks awful? I don't get the homage to all these past BR liveries which as a company that has no BR era heritage have little relevance? I get the enthusiast popularity and maybe they are a result of a "design a loco livery competition" for GBRF employees but it seems a missed opportunity for either customer liveries or promoting any GBRF affiliated charities.

No I quite agree. If nine of the 69s were GB livery, then one was in large logo or triple grey as a historical nod I think it'd work better. The less said about speed whiskers, the better!

 

With the green livery, whilst as an enthusiast I can see the merit of the class 56 liveries being used as a throwback, a livery designed for the 33s that doesn't sit well on the 56 / 69 shape just looks off. It needs the green band over the windscreens to break up the mass of cream and grey at the front. Perhaps class 47 style green would have sat better? 

 

Still,  doesn't matter what we think, it keeps the Twitter / Facebook  / LinkedIn propaganda machine's wheels turning!

 

Jo

[rob D2]

I’m not a fan.

Im waiting for GBRf to announce exclusive limited edition models in conjunction with blue box, of their random colours fleet , that’s the only reason I can think of this hotch potch ££££££…

 

Alternatively could have done the whole fleet in Large logo , guaranteed sell out !

[Nova Scotian]

I really like 69002 (large logo blue) and 69004 (red derby). 69001 and 69003 are... fine... but same opinion of the speed whiskers as many here.

However, this one has missed the mark imho - although I applaud them for trying. 

 

I think it'd look better with the Hymek two tone (move the light colour band to the bottom, so no variable thickness), and then white rather than cream window surrounds.

 

I'm glad there's variety and it gives us all something to talk about. Interested to see what comes next! I'm hoping for the large loco grey, yellow front, black windows a'la class 58 , red beam. Think it would look even better than my second choice (dutch engineers). NSE could be fun, but the not sure about the grille/grids getting in the way, which also might make the two tone class 47 (green) look a bit off.

[BR traction instructor]

I’d approach a suitable livery for these aesthetically challenged locos by searching for other similarly uninspiring loco designs around the world and apply whichever magic livery transforms a ‘sows ear into a silk purse’ over there. Might be a new opportunity…internationally liveried loco fleet.

 

BeRTIe

[Nova Scotian]

19 minutes ago, BR traction instructor said:

I’d approach a suitable livery for these aesthetically challenged locos by searching for other similarly uninspiring loco designs around the world and apply whichever magic livery transforms a ‘sows ear into a silk purse’ over there. Might be a new opportunity…internationally liveried loco fleet.

 

BeRTIe

Love this idea.

 

BNSF, Santa Fe, Union Pacific from the US. The SNCF two tone blue and white (think CC 72000). Maybe the DB class 102 (cream and red), or the cream and dark teal/blue/green from some of the 60s diesels. An homage to the CP Class 1800 would be fun too, it's not exactly a looker though...

 

Licensing could be a challenge though...

[woodenhead]

Certainly couldn't use a live company livery - BNSF or UP for example - it would be very confusing for the general public that it was not owned by that company but by a UK company painting in that livery for 'fun'.

 

And if there was a problem, potentially tarnishing their brand.

[BR traction instructor]

…there has to be many lost liveries that could be reactivated and perform a valuable service in doing so.

 

BeRTIe

[uax6]

18 hours ago, newbryford said:

The stripe under the grille looks awful as it tapers in width.

 

 

The question needs to be asked.... Just why is that cream line tapering under the grills?

The grills themselves seem to be fitted level with the roof, so I suspect that the line coming round from the front of the cab is actually kicking up, so maybe a measuring fault, or is that climbing line actually an optical illusion because of the tapering cabsides? But it looks very strange.

 

Andy G