RAIL BLUE

'Rail Blue' was one of British Rail's corporate colours. It was a dark, greyish blue tone which hid the effects of dirt well. Blue was introduced in various experimental forms ("Chromatic Blue" and "Electric Blue") and with various stripes before settling down to a standard colour scheme known as "rail blue" in 1966. The colour often appears inaccurately in photographs; generally it shows up brighter and bluer than the real colour. Formally, Rail Blue is defined by British Standards BR28/6001 and BR28/5321. United Kingdom paint code "RAL 5020" (sometimes known under the shade name "Ocean Blue") is also a good match to Rail Blue.
During the Rail Blue period, locomotives were painted in a solid Rail Blue with warning yellow ends. Carriages were painted in Rail Blue with a pale grey area at window level, separated by a white band. Multiple units were originally painted like locomotives, but later like carriages — although not all areas made the transition.
The Vale of Rheidol railway remained steam operated past the general end of steam traction in 1968, and accordingly the 3 remaining Vale of Rheidol Railway locomotives received the new colours. (These were Class 98 under the TOPS system; numbers 98007-98009.)
Up until 1977 the livery and standard were tightly enforced. In 1977 two locomotives were painted with silver roofs and other decorations including a Union Flag for the Queen's silver jubilee celebrations. Such was the popularity of these variants that the British Railways Board began to relax the strictness of the livery.
In 1978 the board began planning a new livery for the future. In August 1978 the first locomotive appeared in a modified livery with the entire cab in bright yellow to improve visibility and the locomotive numbers painted far larger on the sides. This livery was known as 'Large Logo' by enthusiasts.
A grey livery was introduced for freight locomotives soon afterwards and rail blue began to give way to InterCity, Network SouthEast and other British Rail brand names liveries in the early 1980s.

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★ Rail Blue images by Graham Turner