British Passenger Stock Liveries

Passenger Stock Liveries

NB The sketches used for illustration are NOT scale drawings - Illustrations, where provided, are sketches not scale drawings and were intended to show the various livery changes, so matters below the solebar tend to get rather impressionistic.

Liveries for BR era EMUs

The pre nationalisation EMU stock often retained its Big Four livery until withdrawal (LMS Maroon, SR green and the crimson and cream used on the LNER Tyneside units). I believe some early BR period EMUs were painted in the Carmine and Cream (blood and custard) passenger stock livery, with the introduction of maroon for coaching stock in the later 1950s most EMUs switched to green, similar to the standard DMU livery. I understand the original DMU green was slightly lighter than the BR standard Brunswick green but by the later 1950s the color matched that on the locomotives. Two exceptions that I know of were the Class 303 EMUs supplied to the Glasgow area in Caledonian blue and the London based Class 309 EMUs which were delivered in maroon with a twin yellow waistband (the only EMUs to carry maroon livery). When the corporate livery was introduced in the later 1960s local services were all over blue, longer haul services were blue with a grey band along the window line. Yellow warning panels on the lower front appeared from about 1962, during the later green livery era, by the mid 1970s this was a full yellow end on most stock, but I do seem to recall units with no yellow on them at all as late as about 1970.

In 1962 the 'small' yellow warning panel was adopted, applied to EMUs the lower front was painted with a rectangular yellow panel, extending up to just below the windows and almost to the sides in most cases.

In 1967 BR adopted its Corporate Blue livery and double arrow logo, most passenger and all parcels units were painted all over blue with yellow warning panels. Long haul or inter-city EMUs had the yellow warning panels, and blue sides with a grey band along the window line. By the early 1970s the full yellow end had arrived and by the later 1970s the yellow was wrapped around the sides, sometimes as far back as the cab doors.

In 1989 BR abandoned the regional allocations of resources and divided passenger services into three 'sectors', London and South East (later Network South East), Intercity and Provincial (Regional Railways after 1991), each with their own distinctive livery.

Liveries for London suburban EMUs
The livery on the SR EMUs is not something I know much about, these notes are based on material found on the internet and may contain errors. There are I understand two basic periods of SR livery, defined by the CME, first was R. E. L. Maunsel (CME of the S.E.C.R. from 1913) who ran things from 1923 to 1937. He was followed by O. V. Bulleid (who had been the assistant to the LNER's Gresley) who was the SR CME from 1937 to 1947.
I believe the basic body colour was originally Maunsel green, fully lined and with a large (about a foot high) number 3 or 1 on the doors to indicate third and first class. The class numbers were in (I believe) white with a red drop shadow. The four digit unit number was in white on the upper front, repeated in white shaded red on the upper sides near the ends. There is a motor driving trailer in the NRM bearing this livery. The word SOUTHERN appeared about half way along the body side in white
Under Bullied the colour darkened and lining appears to have been discontinued. I am not sure about the class numbers on the doors during this era, the only photo I have found was of a 'heritage' unit repainted by BR which did not have these numbers in place. The word SOUTHERN was now in yellow and shaded (this was called 'sunshine' lettering, I think the shading was red, it may have been black).
Under BR the body colour changed to Brunswick green (although some units were painted in maroon I believe), first class was indicated by a yellow stripe at the cantrail and from the photographs I have so far found no lining was applied. The BR coach roundel was applied to the sides. From 1962 small yellow panels appeared on the front of units, becoming a full yellow front by the 1970s.
After 1967 the logo changed to the BR double arrow and the body colour changed to BR blue with non-suburban units having a grey band at window level. Curiously the grey band was carried right to the end, not stopping at the drivers door as on DMUs, this may have been because these units so often operated in multiple.
In the 1980s units transferred to other areas received the local 'Passenger Transport Executive' livery and of course since the late 1990s the privatisation liveries have appeared.

Some units in the early BR era had an orange V painted on the cab front at the end where the luggage compartment was located, there to assist staff handling the luggage I believe. This marking was I understand standard on the DEMU stock running to the coast but I am not sure if it was applied to EMUs. During the BR small yellow panel era the orange V was replaced by a black triangle and this was applied to at least some of the 2-BIL stock.

Liveries for BR era 'First Generation' DMUs and DPUs

The original livery for DMUs was all-over green with cream lining and plain green ends, some were supplied with a white roof over the drivers cab. V shaped speed whiskers soon appeared on the front (but not on the Gloucesters). The Blue Pullman was an exception, starting life in an all-blue livery, yellow ends and a grey band along the window line was adopted in the late 1960s.
In 1962 the 'small' yellow warning panel was adopted, applied to DMUs the lower front was painted with a rectangular yellow panel, extending up to just below the windows and almost to the sides in most cases. Gangwayed DPUs had the gangway cover painted yellow.
In 1967 BR adopted its Corporate Blue livery and double arrow logo, most passenger and all parcels units were painted all over blue with yellow warning panels. Long haul or inter-city DMUs (and a few EMUs) had the yellow warning panels, and blue sides with a grey band along the window line. By the early 1970s the full yellow end had arrived and by the later 1970s the yellow was wrapped around the sides, sometimes as far back as the cab doors. In the mid 1970s there was a major refurbishment programme and the livery for refurbished DMUs was all white sides with a blue stripe along them with full yellow ends wrapped round slightly at the sides. I am not sure how many units received this livery, certainly there was at least one Class 100, a three car Class 101 and a three car Class 118 (illustrated below), there may have been many more but this is an area of which I know little. I asked on the uk.rec.models.rail newsgroup where Martyn Roberts and Andrew Breen were able to advise . . .

White with a blue stripe was the standard livery for all refurbished DMUs around the turn of the 70s/80s starting in 1974. Certainly all the DMUs in the north-east which went through the refurbishment programme around that time initially came out in white w/blue stripe (up until then they'd been overall blue). However, the colour scheme didn't weather well and by the early 80s (certainly before 1982-3) they were being repainted in blue/grey.

The first generation DPUs were delivered in the standard BR lined green livery with Parcels Service in white toward the bottom of the side. When the yellow panels appeared in the early 1960s units with an end gangway had the gangway cover painted yellow, I believe the lower front remained green. In the late 1960s the livery changed to blue with the white double arrow logo under each cab door and Parcels Service in white toward the bottom of the side. In 1987 BR closed down its own door-to-door parcels service but these units continued in service for Royal Mail traffic. Some had a red stripe about ten inches deep with a white line above and below added along the sides between the doors in the later 1980s (I believe this started in 1986). In 1989 these vehicles became part of BR Parcels Sector and a red livery was adopted, in 1990 yellow lining was added to this livery (see DMU section Class 128). These first generation DPUs remained in service on Post Office traffic until 1990 (in 1995 Class 325 multi-voltage DPUs appeared but these were purpose built for the job).

Liveries for BR era 'Second Generation' DMUs

Most early second generation DMUs operated in plain blue livery when introduced but by the later 1980s things brightened up somewhat. In 1989 BR divided the passenger services into three 'sectors', Intercity, London & South East and Provincial, in Scotland a generic Scotrail identity was already established covering both goods and passenger services. By the early 1990s London & South East had become 'Network South East' and the Provincial sector had become 'Regional Railways' in 1991. LSE initially adopted the brown and orange 'Jaffa' cake livery, changing to the red blue and grey stripes of NSE. Intercity started out with the Executive livery, later changing to the Swallow livery (which did not feature the BR double arrow logo). Provincial services had three official liveries, few of which seem to have been applied to rolling stock but Regional Railways adopted a white with blue band livery that was widely seen (examples of this livery remained in use on older stock into about 2005). Examples of the various liveries used on these units are shown in the illustrations for the various classes in the DMU section.

To further complicate matters local government was given the task of coordinating public transport in the later 1980s and they formed Passenger Transport Executives or PTEs which often adopted their own local colour schemes. In the event units were often transferred to other areas without repainting, on my local line in Cheshire during the 1990s we saw units in Merseyside Metro livery, Strathclyde PTE livery and a few from Newcastle as well as units in Manchester PTE and Regional Railways liveries.

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