ecmlthrash15
Member
For me it’s the warships, horrible things. I’ve never been keen on the westerns or the class 20 ‘choppers.’
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
most unattractive looking BR diesels
- Thread starter ecmlthrash15
- Start date
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
22/29s. They looked glum...
31s also have a face only a mother could love!
31s also have a face only a mother could love!
eastwestdivide
Established Member
One thing is the livery can affect the way it's perceived. Compare a green lined 31 with blue one, or a two-tone green 47 with a blue one for example
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
Definitely the Westerns. Anyone who says otherwise is objectively wrong.
gg1
Established Member
The Fell Diesel, the Fiat Multipla of locos.
eastwestdivide
Established Member
Even in two-tone green? The blue definitely accentuates the slabby lump of the bodyside profile!
sprinterguy
Established Member
Fully agreed on all counts, there - I'd also put forward the Metrovick Co-Bos for similar reasons.
Blimey, yes, there was a loco that certainly wasn't designed with aesthetic appeal in mind!
Sun Chariot
Established Member
You beat me to it.
On par with the current class 70.
The Bulleid/Raworth class 70 were no looker but not as ugly as the GE product.
10800 / class 15 / class 16 looked functional - but in no way attractive.
Class 06 looked top heavy and awkward. The similar class 01 were proportionally more acceptable.
And I'll never fall for a class 28.
At least Porterbrook Leasing never got to deface a Whizzo in purple 'n' white
Last edited:
ecmlthrash15
Member
maybe it was my era, but i love the BR blue and yellow. i don’t like the green livery.
A key constraint in the design of the Modernisation Plan pilot scheme Type 2s and Type 4s was the requirement for gangway doors. For those that made it past the pilot scheme stage there was then the need to fit headcode panels into an existing design.
eastwestdivide
Established Member
Interesting. I grew up in the blue era, and never saw the green era, but I don’t think it sat well on many designs that had previously had more stripey green liveries that broke up the sides and reduced the boxy appearance of a lot of diesels.
Sun Chariot
Established Member
I think the two-tone sherwood / BR loco green scheme really suited the 25s and 47s. I think that scheme would've suited the "Hymeks" and 73s, too.
I thought it looked awkward on the 29s, though.
I wonder how D0260 "Lion" would carry monastral blue, akin to a 47.
StephenHunter
Established Member
The 20s with their original marker lights look rather Lovecraftian.
Strathclyder
Established Member
Even for the usual production suspects in this regard, for me this really depends on the livery (Green, Blue, Black etc) for me, and also whether it has a small yellow warning panel or a full yellow end. Purely in terms of aesthetics, the 21s/22s/29s & 28s all suited the former (in green; the two-tone variant some of the 29s carried I thought was quite nice, contrary to @Sun Chariot's take on that front lol) while the latter merely accentuated their awkward looks (particularly D5701 in Blue with full yellows). Conversely, I prefer 37s, Peaks, Deltics & Westerns in Blue out of the initial two uniform diesel liveries. Hey, personal taste is personal taste lol
On that note, I feel the 47 was designed to be as clean and aesthetically inoffensive as possible (or at least compared to what had gone before!), hence why I think it suits - or at least doesn't look utterly horrendous in - most of the liveries it has carried over it's 60+ years, from Two-Tone Green through Blue, Railfreight, NSE, ScotRail, InterCity, Virgin, EWS & DRS to ROG (ScotRail & InterCity Swallow are my two personal picks for 47 liveries if I really had to choose). The fact that Brush became part of Hawker Siddeley and therefore gained access to construction methods used in the aerospace industry is more than likely the reason for this (along with the nose-end gangway requirement being permanently kicked into the long grass as noted by @Magdalia below).
But I digress. As much as I love the oddball prototype diesels and would otherwise defend/rationalize their faults, my overall choice for this question would be 10100 aka the Fell. Aesthetically, it looks like the unholy end result of LMS 10000 (cab windows; fitting as both were built at Derby), a 37 (the body profile), two 08s (the driving wheels/coupling rods) and two box-fans (the noses) being flung together in a backwoods shed. I find the story of it's creation (to say nothing of that of it's namesake), the concept endlessly fascinating and pictures of it worth their weight in gold, but aesthetically it's at the complete opposite end of the scale to say, Kestrel.
On that note, I feel the 47 was designed to be as clean and aesthetically inoffensive as possible (or at least compared to what had gone before!), hence why I think it suits - or at least doesn't look utterly horrendous in - most of the liveries it has carried over it's 60+ years, from Two-Tone Green through Blue, Railfreight, NSE, ScotRail, InterCity, Virgin, EWS & DRS to ROG (ScotRail & InterCity Swallow are my two personal picks for 47 liveries if I really had to choose). The fact that Brush became part of Hawker Siddeley and therefore gained access to construction methods used in the aerospace industry is more than likely the reason for this (along with the nose-end gangway requirement being permanently kicked into the long grass as noted by @Magdalia below).
But I digress. As much as I love the oddball prototype diesels and would otherwise defend/rationalize their faults, my overall choice for this question would be 10100 aka the Fell. Aesthetically, it looks like the unholy end result of LMS 10000 (cab windows; fitting as both were built at Derby), a 37 (the body profile), two 08s (the driving wheels/coupling rods) and two box-fans (the noses) being flung together in a backwoods shed. I find the story of it's creation (to say nothing of that of it's namesake), the concept endlessly fascinating and pictures of it worth their weight in gold, but aesthetically it's at the complete opposite end of the scale to say, Kestrel.
Last edited:
Got to be the Class 31. Aesthetic design by Baldrick based on one of those dogs that looks as if its favourite pastime is charging head-on into walls, built by Fred Flintstone out of bits of manky old sheds nailed together. You expect it to rattle and shed parts and exude darkly oleaginous residues from its bodywork and generally perform like something that's falling apart.
As regards paint schemes, insensitive application of yellow ends ruined a lot of otherwise good or at least unobjectionable appearances. The Warships looked bloody awful in blue with full yellow ends, it didn't do the Westerns any favours either, and the 80s fashion for painting the entire sides of the cab yellow as well as the front, with giant numerals and logo, gave a kind of Fisher-Price look to everything they applied it to.
As regards paint schemes, insensitive application of yellow ends ruined a lot of otherwise good or at least unobjectionable appearances. The Warships looked bloody awful in blue with full yellow ends, it didn't do the Westerns any favours either, and the 80s fashion for painting the entire sides of the cab yellow as well as the front, with giant numerals and logo, gave a kind of Fisher-Price look to everything they applied it to.
The front end of pilot scheme designs was constrained by the need for gangway doors, train describer discs and lamp brackets, then the later addition of headcode panels. This made it inevitable that, apart from locomotives with nose ends, their front end appearance was going to have a squashed look. The much cleaner front end designs that came along later were not an option for the designers of the pilot scheme locomotives.
One of the features of the pilot scheme specification was detachable bodysides, so that major components could be removed sideways. The Brush Type 2 bodysides look the way they do because they actually met this part of the specification. In retrospect they needn't have bothered.
In contrast the Brush Type 4 body design and appearance gained from Brush becoming part of Hawker Siddeley and access to techniques developed for airframe construction.
StephenHunter
Established Member
The 31s look better in green with the small warning panels.
D6130
Established Member
As you might expect, I thought that the NBL class 29 rebuilds looked rather good in two tone green separated by a thin white line, with added four character headcode panels surrounded by a large-ish yellow warning panel....as per my avatar.
Imho, the class 26 and 27 locos looked best in their original green with white stripe and window frames livery, but with added small yellow warning panels.....as did the 31s, but with two white stripes and no white window surrounds.
To be honest, rail blue with full yellow ends did nothing for the looks of those four classes....as it did for most other types. However, the ugliest locos by a country mile must be the class 73'electro-diesels....in any livery.
Imho, the class 26 and 27 locos looked best in their original green with white stripe and window frames livery, but with added small yellow warning panels.....as did the 31s, but with two white stripes and no white window surrounds.
To be honest, rail blue with full yellow ends did nothing for the looks of those four classes....as it did for most other types. However, the ugliest locos by a country mile must be the class 73'electro-diesels....in any livery.
Sun Chariot
Established Member
The white stripes helped disguise the slab sides of many diesels, the D55xx included.
Personally, the livery I thought best suited the 31 was the RTC livery applied to 97204 / 31970. Really stylish.
davyp
Member
Beauty (or the lack of...) is in the eye of the beholder. As above, the colour of the paintwork is key. In 1960, when I was quite young, we holidayed on the Norfolk Broads. Saw a number of the early Class 30s - subsequently class 31 - in the green with the white/cream body stripes and they looked really good. My least favourite was the Co-Bo, seen on test on the Midland Main Line in South Manchester circa 1959/60: no paint job could redeem them!
Strathclyder
Established Member
Yep, it was largely a result of the manufacturers responding to all those requirements in various ways. Small wonder most ended up looking squashed and/or unfortunate.
Kestrel was Brush's ultimate expression in diesel loco aesthetics in my view, never mind the sheer amount of grunt she had.
Sun Chariot
Established Member
Silk purse from sow's ear?
To me, they looked less jarring wearing liveries which hid the slab sides and flat fronts; such as Intercity, NSE and, to some extent, Civil Engineer "Dutch".I have a soft spot for 73004: NSE all over blue + yellow under cab windows and yellow cab roofs. I saw it ex-works in 1987 and the colour scheme really "popped" in the sunshine.
I wonder what HS4000 would've looked like in monastral blue? I've not seen a digitised mock-up. I wonder whether Kestrel's lines would have looked as graceful.
Last edited:
Strathclyder
Established Member
Seems like I'm one of the few here that likes BR Blue at all lol
Very Electric Blue. I rather like it tbh.
EDIT: Is this what you were referring to with regards to 004 @Sun Chariot?
A man of impeccable taste.
Agreed. I'd personally throw in the 33s with the 26s/27s. I did like how Railfreight Grey with Coal sector markings sat on the few 26s that received it, though again that might be a minority opinion lol
I put the 73s in the same catagory as the 20s personally: function over form. For all their other problems, I think the type that best straddled that line were the Claytons (D8568 really does suit her Blue coat; may actually prefer it over Green on that class). Overall a very clean piece of industrial desgin imho.
InterCity, NSE and to a degree EWS I think suited them rather well for that reason.Silk purse from sow's ear?
Not what you had in mind, but 73005 recieved a similar livery (albeit lacking the yellow cab sides/roof), also in the late 80s (from Martin Loader's excellent site):
Very Electric Blue. I rather like it tbh.
EDIT: Is this what you were referring to with regards to 004 @Sun Chariot?
Indeed, as do I, sadly all we can do is wonder. I always find myself wondering what she (or a hypothetical production variant) would've looked like in Green, InterCity or Railfreight (she was trialed on long heavy coal trains quite extensively). Something for the photoshoppers amongst us to tackle perhaps?
Last edited:
Sun Chariot
Established Member
73004 looked more attractive than 73005 in my view. Here's "Bluebell Railway" at naming, at the heritage railway of the same name.
Strathclyder
Established Member
I rather like both tbh, though 004 really looks the business in that pic I have to say. As I said above, it's a very similar shade to their original Electric Blue. Not too shabby-lookin' for a shoebox I don't think!
Sun Chariot
Established Member
004 was painted in early NSE blue. I saw and photographed it at Clapham Jcn, with an inter regional freight, a week after its naming.I rather like both tbh, though 004 really looks the business in that pic I have to say. As I said above, it's a very similar shade to their original Electric Blue. Not too shabby-lookin' for a shoebox I don't think!
Certainly the Fell Locomotive takes the crown for Britain's ugliest diesel. The Bullied diesels were pretty ugly too with a flat front but no centre windows.
Of the hydraulic classes I'd say the Westerns and the Hymeks were the best-looking , both having nice clean lines. The D8XX warships were a different kettle of fish with their bulbous noses and drooping front windows.
If only they'd been built with Western-style bodies instead! The D6XX Warships were even uglier, their appearance being accentuated by their spoked wheels.
The other similar NBL classes (21/22/29) all look like they've been hit with the same ugly stick, whilst prototype 10800 and classes 15 and 16 looked like a row of lockers mounted on a bogie wagon underframe.
I've always regarded classes 24 and 25 as rather tatty looking machines with grilles all over the bodysides in the case of the former and early versions of the latter. The way they were constructed gave rise to ugly ripples on the sides of the bodyshells and the locos looked if they could fall apart at any moment.
Of the hydraulic classes I'd say the Westerns and the Hymeks were the best-looking , both having nice clean lines. The D8XX warships were a different kettle of fish with their bulbous noses and drooping front windows.
If only they'd been built with Western-style bodies instead! The D6XX Warships were even uglier, their appearance being accentuated by their spoked wheels.
The other similar NBL classes (21/22/29) all look like they've been hit with the same ugly stick, whilst prototype 10800 and classes 15 and 16 looked like a row of lockers mounted on a bogie wagon underframe.
I've always regarded classes 24 and 25 as rather tatty looking machines with grilles all over the bodysides in the case of the former and early versions of the latter. The way they were constructed gave rise to ugly ripples on the sides of the bodyshells and the locos looked if they could fall apart at any moment.
Should have gone to spec savers