Which livery for mid 70s engine's

[negativepitch]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, as I didn't have a clue where it should go, or even if it would be ok on the site.

I don't have a layout, I just collect various things for a nostalgic display case I have.

I live in South Wales, Cardiff.

In the mid 70s myself and a friend used to stand on a bridge overlooking the line from Cardiff Central and up to London etc.

There used to be various freight, and passenger coming through.

Does anyone know what mid 70s class 37, 47 and also a class 08 model/livery I should be looking for in 00? if there are any?

Rather than saying this and that, as I wouldn't have a clue, would it be possible to have a picture of each, and who makes it?

As I say, it's just for a display case.

Many thanks for any replies.

Steve (Now in his 60s 😁)

 

 

[fezza]

Almost all would be plain blue with yellow ends.

 

A few might still be green with yellow ends, but these would be very rare by the mid 70s (mainly a few 25s, 40s and 47s).

[SRman]

1 hour ago, fezza said:

Almost all would be plain blue with yellow ends.

 

A few might still be green with yellow ends, but these would be very rare by the mid 70s (mainly a few 25s, 40s and 47s).

 

... and don't forget the 'wasp' stripe ends on the 08 mentioned in the OP, and likewise for any other small shunters.

[negativepitch]

8 hours ago, fezza said:

Almost all would be plain blue with yellow ends.

 

A few might still be green with yellow ends, but these would be very rare by the mid 70s (mainly a few 25s, 40s and 47s).

Blue with yellow ends do stick in my mind for the class 37, but a bit vague on the 47.

Blue with yellow ends for the 08, but I wasn't sure if there were particular variations....not a rivet counter by any means, but it would still bug me 😁 so close enough without any customisation needed.

I have essential tremor, so this would be out of the question anyway.

[Flying Pig]

The recent Bachmann model shows what a 37 would typically look like in the later 1970s.  The 'domino' headcode places it from 1976 onwards when headcode indicators went out of use.

 

https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/82781/35-303-Bachmann-Class-37-0-Centre-Headcode-37305-BR-Blue

 

And here is the brdatabase entry for it, which shows it may have based at Landore:

 

https://www.brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=locodata&type=D&id=6605&loco=6605

 

[CKPR]

 

9 hours ago, fezza said:

A few might still be green with yellow ends, but these would be very rare by the mid 70s (mainly a few 25s, 40s and 47s).

And very very dirty by the early-mid 1970s.

[jjb1970]

On the models, the latest Bachmann Class 47 and 37, and Accurascale 37 are superb and if you want something special they're the ones to look for, however the last generation Bachmann 47 and 37 are still very good and probably more than good enough for most. The new Heljan 47 is a decent model but personally I prefer both the new and older Bachmann. A leftfield choice may be ViTrains, old now but if you see a nice one for sale the 47 especially was very nicely done. For the 08, both Bachmann and Hornby are excellent.

[The Johnster]

Pengam Bridge?  My usual spotting haunt a decade earlier!

 

For the mid 70s almost entirely plain blue with full yellow ends, with some retaining their pre-TOPS numbers.  Dmus in blue/grey with fye, possibly some plain blue remaining.  A good variety of classes; 08, occasional 20, 25, 31, Hymek until 1975, 37, occasional 42 & 43 from Bristol direction, 45, 46, 47, 52. Dmus; 101, occasional 117 from Bristol, 119, 120.  Apart from the last two all are readily available as RTR models.  
 

Sorry to hear about your tremor, mate.  I live in Roath and would be happy to undertake any renumbering work for you, just PM me.  

[Jeremy Cumberland]

5 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Dmus in blue/grey with fye, possibly some plain blue remaining

Apart from Inter-Citys, Cross Countrys and TransPennines, and a few oddities elsewhere (101s in Cornwall?), I didn't think blue and grey appeared on DMUs till 1978/9, after the white and blue refurbished livery was found not to wear so well. I think blue and grey was then applied to non-refurbished units as well.

 

White and blue refurbished livery started appearing on some classes of DMU from about 1975  (the prototype was done in 1974, as I recall).

[tractionman]

On 27/04/2024 at 22:59, negativepitch said:

 

I live in South Wales, Cardiff.

 

Does anyone know what mid 70s class 37, 47 and also a class 08 model/livery I should be looking for in 00? if there are any?

 

Rather than saying this and that, as I wouldn't have a clue, would it be possible to have a picture of each, and who makes it?

 

 

 

I suggest picking up some nice colour albums for the 70s, it'll rekindle the memories and give you a better idea of the scene from our youths--books like this,

 

https://www.amberley-books.com/railways-of-the-western-region-in-the-1970s-and-1980s.html

 

and then for the models do some searches say with TMC or Rails web-sites and select 'Era 7' for post-TOPs (ie after 1974):

 

https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/oo-gauge-locomotives?tags_era_i1i6e2sfwgzcgjevph7b8n9q=Era-7

 

cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

[negativepitch]

22 minutes ago, tractionman said:

 

I suggest picking up some nice colour albums for the 70s, it'll rekindle the memories and give you a better idea of the scene from our youths--books like this,

 

https://www.amberley-books.com/railways-of-the-western-region-in-the-1970s-and-1980s.html

 

and then for the models do some searches say with TMC or Rails web-sites and select 'Era 7' for post-TOPs (ie after 1974):

 

https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/oo-gauge-locomotives?tags_era_i1i6e2sfwgzcgjevph7b8n9q=Era-7

 

cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

Cheers for that Keith.

[Halvarras]

On 28/04/2024 at 00:53, fezza said:

Almost all would be plain blue with yellow ends.

 

A few might still be green with yellow ends, but these would be very rare by the mid 70s (mainly a few 25s, 40s and 47s).

 

Cardiff Canton had virtually all of the Class 37s which lasted long enough to gain TOPS numbers on green livery in spring 1974 - IIRC last man standing was 37244 in October 1976 and 37289 was another late survivor. However no '37' models in this condition have been released. 

 

However Canton also had the very last two-tone green Class 47 on its books - 47256, and a weathered model of this one has been released by Bachmann (ref. 31-656) in 1976/7 condition........

.......if you wanted one representative green model in your display case, this is probably the No 1 candidate! (In case it's helpful, Bachmann still have the bodyshell available as a spare for £57.)

[The Johnster]

Banger blue and fye overwhelmingly predominant in the mid-70s, with a few green survivors, also with fye, as described above, 40106, and a few 08s.  Non-gangwayed multiple unit stock was mostly plain blue/fye, with gangwayed units mostly blue/grey.  From 1975, some dmu stock appeared in 'refurbished' livery, light grey with a rail blue stripe.  Pullman and the prototype HST ran in a reversed blue/grey livery.  Towards the end of the decade, blue/grey was becoming more or less universal on multiple unit stock.

 

From 1977, Jubilee year, Stratford shed started painting some of it's 47s in adapted liveries, with large union flags on the sides and silver roofs.  This began a trend for depot livery schemes, and led to the later 'large logo' and black windscreen surround liveries of the 80s and 90s before 'Sectorisation' was introduced, further muddying the livery pool.  But, for modelling purposes, stick to plain unadorned blue for locos, blue/gray for coaches, plain blue for non-gangwayed stock and dmus, and you won't go far wrong.  It was the closest BR ever got to imposing a standard livery across the network, and it didn't last long; people don't like imposed standard liveries and want to create their own mark on the trains.