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First coaches in Abellio / Greater Anglia Livery


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Today, 37405 returned two refurbished coaches to Norwich, these are the first to carry the Abellio / Greater Anglia livery (there are a few which carry the Greater Anglia livery).

 

37405 on 5Z37, 12:14, Wolverton Works - Norwich Crown Point - 12148 and 12035

Tivetshall

09 January 2014

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The light had almost gone so these were the best I could get.

post-6662-0-03588500-1389300434_thumb.jpg

 

post-6662-0-16867000-1389300623_thumb.jpg

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RFM 10229 is already in GA livery... Not sure if it carries the same grey band at the bottom though! 

 

 

Today, 37405 returned two refurbished coaches to Norwich, these are the first to carry the Abellio / Greater Anglia livery (there are a few which carry the Greater Anglia livery).

 

 

Cough.

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It is a very plain Eurolivery, this one.  I remember the first 156 ex-works (without the grey band) and thinking we're almost back to leasing company white.

 

For the uninitiated or infrequent traveller they've given the meaningless word 'abellio' equal size billing with the run-together greateranglia.  

 

That's greateranglia, where the Marketing Department, presumably run by kdlang, will.i.am or some other style victim, has adjudged capital letters illegal.

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That's greateranglia, where the Marketing Department, presumably run by kdlang, will.i.am or some other style victim, has adjudged capital letters illegal.

 

I have to say, I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it, but since when has it been acceptable to drop the Capitals? Speaking as someone who spends ages sending a text (not a txt) with all Capitals where they should be and proper punctuation... Must be getting old...

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Chums at crosscountry are partly responsible for opening the floodgates.

 

Thank goodness for ScotRail, a device unchanged from Rail Blue days, and now enshrined by that country's parliament!

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Many years ago, when I was free and single, I used internet dating sites as one of many tools to find the right woman for me.

 

One very interesting woman wrote to me and I replied, very tactfully (for me!) that she wouldn't be suitable for me as she hadn't capitalised any of the sentences in her message.

 

Her reply was that I was a snob and I heard no more from her. Actually, in retrospect, I was rather glad about that. Old standards do matter, and one day the views of us oldies will be heard. Youngsters beware!

 

Phil

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I think it's probably tied in with the internet age Pete. Having the logo/company name read the same as your url.

 

C6T.

 

That would make sense I guess. However, I've just typed www.GreaterAnglia.co.uk into Firefox (no spaces, obviously) and it is recognized and translated to greateranglia before the page loads... I'll have to ask my teenage son what the problem with Capitals is... he must know as he never uses them! And being a teenager, he knows everything... :mosking:

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I quite like this new variant of the GA livery with the grey solebar, it looks a lot less stark than the previous plain white. Like on the class 90 it looks smart, some say bland but I think the stripes relieve it and give the white base a bit more interest.

As for the branding, at least the two words are different colours to differentiate between them, much easier to read than in a monotone line like a URL.

Playing devils advocate here a little, but in terms of the use of capitals (and please don't take the capitals as me shouting! ;-) ) is greater anglia any worse than DIRECT RAIL SERVICES?

Yes block caps has been used for longer, but in terms of text presentation is it any stranger?

 

jo

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Playing devils advocate here a little, but in terms of the use of capitals (and please don't take the capitals as me shouting! ;-) ) is greater anglia any worse than DIRECT RAIL SERVICES?

Yes block caps has been used for longer, but in terms of text presentation is it any stranger?

 

jo

 

It's not in itself any worse, necessarily, but there's an established history of upper case being used for signage.  Road signs are a case in point, and town/ village boundaries, like this:

 

The_Shitterton_Sign.jpg

 

 

In branding and marketing it's also an established device: MARKS & SPENCER, BRITISH ROAD SERVICES, BRITISH RAILWAYS.

 

The 100% lower case equivalent is a relatively recent marketing (dare I say) fashion.  The problem I have with its use in transport applications like Greater Anglia is that as a brand it's neither powerful nor strong, and not well known beyond regular users.  Therefore, for an unknown low profile brand, legibility and ease of comprehension are crucial.  

 

I'm afraid there's something of style over substance about this particular one.  It's not even as if it's woven into a catchy logo, it's just a grey word.

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Today, 37405 returned two refurbished coaches to Norwich, these are the first to carry the Abellio / Greater Anglia livery (there are a few which carry the Greater Anglia livery).

 

37405 on 5Z37, 12:14, Wolverton Works - Norwich Crown Point - 12148 and 12035

Tivetshall

09 January 2014

attachicon.gifDAS568791.jpg

 

 

The light had almost gone so these were the best I could get.

attachicon.gifDAS568797.jpg

 

attachicon.gifDAS568799.jpg

Hi Dave

 

Last week I saw a Class 90 pass through Chelmsford with the same dark grey band around the grilles as these coaches have around the windows and what looked like the same branding. It was also a lot cleaner than anything else seen last week. Please don't ask what its number was cos I ain't got a clue, it just looked clean :sungum:

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It's not in itself any worse, necessarily, but there's an established history of upper case being used for signage. (EDIT-image snipped for quote)

 

In branding and marketing it's also an established device: MARKS & SPENCER, BRITISH ROAD SERVICES, BRITISH RAILWAYS.

 

The 100% lower case equivalent is a relatively recent marketing (dare I say) fashion.  The problem I have with its use in transport applications like Greater Anglia is that as a brand it's neither powerful nor strong, and not well known beyond regular users.  Therefore, for an unknown low profile brand, legibility and ease of comprehension are crucial.  

 

I'm afraid there's something of style over substance about this particular one.  It's not even as if it's woven into a catchy logo, it's just a grey word.

Indeed it's something to do with tradition. I find myself rather fascinated by typefaces, corporate images etc, and definitely the use of block upper case suggests something being established and recognised, even with a brand new company.

Personally, I quite like the red-grey contrast of the GA text, though agree as a low profile brand it could be much clearer, even a capital at the start of each word would help the matter. Once a brand is know, I guess typeface becomes somewhat secondary because people don't read the text. How many people noticed the change from PEPSI to pepsi? Presumably the text is in the style of the current Dutch railways corporate image? As for style over substance or a fresh, modern logo that like, for example art deco or old English script creates and image of a certain age in the past, well that's a case of personal opinion I guess. 50 years down the line could this be a typical '2000s' typeset? As a good example of blending a logo with a franchise name in my opinion is the way First do it, e.g First (f) Great Western, using a clear plain text, the company logo and, erm, good use of capitals!

Anyway, enough wibbling about corporate branding, as I said before, I rather like the simple but effective (almost 80s?) livery style and can't wait to see some more Mk3s and a DVT done to make a full matching set!

 

jo

Edited by ewsjo
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Hi Dave

 

Last week I saw a Class 90 pass through Chelmsford with the same dark grey band around the grilles as these coaches have around the windows and what looked like the same branding. It was also a lot cleaner than anything else seen last week. Please don't ask what its number was cos I ain't got a clue, it just looked clean :sungum:

It's most likley 90005, Try this thread -

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/80378-the-new-greater-anglia-cl90-90005-is-released/

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Don't get me wrong on this and the 90 thread. I, like Jo, appreciate confident image design. The choice of text colour and font is very "now" and to me quite stylish, all l/c lettering a matter of taste perhaps, but my bug is the lack of flair of a white/grey/black colour scheme, mostly stripes and angular (greaterangular.arf).

Nothing new, lacking dynamism, unsuitable in the main for day-to-day railway application.

Their website btw strikes me as much the same.

 

London Midland is currently my preferred corporate image on today's railway, ticks all my boxes.

 

C6T.

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At the risk of a verbal flogging from those that follow the present-day liveries, there's nothing that can change my mind about rail blue. It even hid the dirt well. That just can't be said about anything pale. Automatic carriage washing plants just don't get into the nooks and crannies the way a (human) carriage cleaner can with a rag, a squirty bottle and something nice on the Sony Walkman to help pass the time at 3am.

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Hi Catkins

 

Thanks for that. Gave up noting numbers when TOPS was introduced, didn't know off teh top of my head if I had seen a loco or not.

 

The coaches in the new livery are already being used, saw them today as a train passed me.

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Personal audio systems probably very much a no-no I should think Pete in an electric depot setting, and for good reason!

 

C6T.

 

Not at Selhurst in 1984... Aside from woolly hats, Walkmans and more hair than a Shetland pony, a lot of carriage staff used to carry keys around on a chain long enough to snag on the 3rd rail protection boards! H&S did exist in the 80s, it just hadn't made a lasting impression on the public conscience back then...

Edited by Pete_S
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