The Blue Diesel Era

The BR blue era is always a popular subject for both modellers and enthusiasts, and this book provides the perfect reference material. Highly regarded author David Cable provides detailed, informative captions to illuminate the photographic content.

The blue era can be said to have commenced with the unveiling in 1964 of the experimental ‘XP64’ train. The colour of the livery was slightly lighter than the shade eventually chosen for the full corporate image, introduced in 1965, when the system was re-branded as British Rail.

There were, of course, many variations, particularly on locomotives. Some had large logos with small numbers or vice versa, Stratford depot pioneered silver roofs with the basic scheme on some Class 31s and 47s, plus the odd DMU cab, and there were specific variations such as the union jack flags applied to two Class 47s for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Almost every class on the system carried the corporate colours, although some had only one or two representatives.

At the outset of the blue era the number of classes that could be seen was extensive, even ignoring instances where types were reclassified because of re-engineering or re-gearing. There was a dramatic loss of locomotive classes between 1966 and 2013. We now have much less variety but much more colour.