Liveries

In the 35 years that Class 104 Railcars were in service on Britain's main line railways, they carried several main liveries (paint scemes), most of these also having slight variations. All are listed below in chronological order.

All 302 Class 104 vehicles were delivered in a light shade of green later known as "Multiple Unit Green". This was applied with two cream lines running the length of the vehicles, one just below the guttering, the other below the windows. Vehicle roofs were grey and the underframes black, with components such as radiators picked out in silver.

There were variations in the lining on the cab fronts. Early vehicles simply had cream lines running across (as illustrated), where as later vehilces also had two cream "speed whiskers" on the lower half, the two meeting in the centre below the route indicator box. Those without speed whiskers had them added at a later date. The colour of the cab roof domes could also vary, some having white domes in an attempt to keep the temperature down (as illustrated), others having domes simply the same grey as the rest of the roof.

When the vehicles were brought into works a few years after introduction, they emerged in a slightly darker shade of green, or BR "Loco Green". This was to last much longer than the earlier Multiple Unit green and it saw its heyday throughout the 1960's, the last vehicles lingering into the 1970's before BR Blue was applied. This livery is the most popular for Diesel Multiple Units in general, with many railways having at least one set in these colours. Six of the thirteen preserved Class 104s (two of which are operational) currently carry BR Loco Green.

Cab roof domes could be either white (as in the image on the right) or the same colour as the rest of the roof (lower left). The cab fronts also had three variations: The earliest

was the speed whiskers that were carried previously, M50517 (see upper right image) being restored in this livery. The second was the application of a yellow warning panel underneath the windows, M50528 on the Llangollen Railway carried this from 1994-2009 and is illustrated on the right. A few vehicles also gained a full yellow end towards the end of their period in green, M50454 (Llangollen Railway) briefly carried this scheme in preservation in 2008/9 and is illustrated on the far right.

When BR Blue was first introduced in the late 1960's, it was applied as an airless spray with produced an egg-shell type finish. There was no lining, the only things breaking up the blue being the white numbers on the sides and a half yellow warning panel on the front. Underframes, having previously been black, were painted brown. For Class 104s, this was a rare livery, most vehicles by-passing it going straight from BR Green to Standard BR Blue.

As with BR Green, cab roof domes could be either white (as in the image on the right) or the same colour as the rest of the roof.

Through the 1970's & 1980's all Class 104s carried Standard BR Blue. In it's simplest form (illustrated on the right) that was a coat of blue with double arrow under the first passenger window and black underframes.

As with BR Green, cab roof domes could be either white (see lower right) or the same colour as the rest of the roof (see right). Vehicles fitted with modified suspention for use on the Blackpool line during the 1970's gained a white stripe down the bodyside (see lower left image). Also during this decade, most lost their route indicator boxes (the white stripe vehicle still has it, while the vehicle in the lower right image has had it removed). Vehicles allocated to Buxton during the 1980's could also receive a black

window surround (see lower right). Most had full yellow ends, but a few vehicles during the earlier years had half yellow panels such as those on the Early Blue vehicles or a full yellow end with the yellow extending around the corners, also covering the drivers doors (not illustrated). Both of these variations were shortlived. Bufferbeams could also be red during the 1970's, rather than the standard black.

In general, Blue & Grey livery was used on Railcars which had either passed through the refurbishment programme or which were used on longer distance Intercity or Cross Country routes. The Class 104s don't fit into either category. It is therefore surprising that several vehicles were out shopped in this stylish livery during the 1980's, breaking up the rather worn plain blue that they were in previously. Most of the vehicles treated were allocated to the Scottish Region, but a few were to be seen on the Midland and around London, although they were in the minority. None of the Blue & Grey vehicles were preserved, but hopefully one will be recreated at some point in the future, as they do look particularly good!

Although by no means a major livery, it was an interesting addition to a fleet that seen nothing but Blue for many years. A single set M53424/M53434, based at Eastfield depot, was decorated in a Crimson & White sceme in 1986 with various tourist markings on the bodysides. The set also had Scotrail branding, black window surrounds and white whiskers on the half yellow front. Numbered 104325, the set ran services to Oban before being stored and sunsequently scrapped.

The final, and most colourful livery to be carried by Class 104s was Network SouthEast. This aimed to break away from the old tatty BR image developed during the 1980's and clean up services around London. Ten vehicles were painted in the "Toothpaste" livery as it was nicknamed, due to the bands of grey, red, white and blue that ran down the sides, sweeping up at the cab ends. With black window surrounds & domes, when clean, these vehicles looked quite smart. Two centre trailers were painted (but later scrapped) along with eight Driving Motor Brake vehicles, three of which were preserved. 53437 has become the last vehicle to carry this livery, and it was also the first to carry it at Doncaster in 1988. Many will remember this livery as the vehicles around London which carried it lasted longest, the last example being withdrawn early in 1993.