Once the decision was made to introduce a BR crest, there followed a brief period when the use of British Railways lettering was discontinued, pending the delivery of transfers, leading to a number of locomotives emerging from overhaul without branding. One example was ‘D40’ No. 62277, which was still missing a BR emblem when photographed in mid‐1953.
T. OWEN/COLOUR RAIL
Followingnationalisation in January 1948, British Railways began creating a ‘standardised’ set of colour schemes for its fleet. Pending the design of a new logo, many locomotives undergoing repair or overhaul received BRITISH RAILWAYS lettering. Soon, though, the ‘Lion & Wheel’ emblem was introduced (often referred to as BR’s ‘early crest’) and this would be applied to most locomotives up until 1957.
Four distinct livery schemes were specified initially. Lined blue was to be applied to Class 8 motive power, known as ‘express passenger’ livery, while lined green was for Class 6P and 7P types. Lined black was employed for all other passenger and mixed traffic classes, with freight locomotives receiving unlined black. The size of the BR logo would be tailored to suit the proportions of each class and the initial plan was for the lion to face towards the front end of each locomotive.