THE first half of the 1980s had been characterised by a rapid expansion of depots sprucing up their locomotive fleets, be it by means of an emblem or, more obviously, paintwork adornments. While some of these were more successful and memorable than others, the often colourful additions were at odds with the new Railfreight brand where a single uniform image was to be projected.
As a compromise, the sub-sector livery introduced the cast depot plaque emblems with each depot being assigned its own symbol to apply to its home fleet. These eventually came to be quite widely used, even if some depots were more enthusiastic in their application than others, but initially a handful of facilities found it hard to resist persisting with the old ways.
Read more in the December 2017 issue of RE – on sale now
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