Class 121 Pressed Steel Single / 2-car DMUs
Liveries
The vehicles appeared in lined green, and then progressed through rail blue, blue grey and even NSE. 55023 was given green again in 1994 to mark it being the last of the Class to receive a full works overhaul.
55020 achieved fame by being painted in chocolate and cream livery by OOC for the GWR 150 celebrations. About 1986 55033 was painted in MidLine colours (two-tone blue with a red band) and was seen mainly on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa route.
In the privatisation era two vehicles appeared in Silverlink colours, one in Chiltern railways livery and one in Arriva Trains Wales livery.
For details of other liveries carried in departmental use see the non-passenger use page.
Examples of Liveries — DMBS's:
Green with whiskers
The livery as delivered. 55027 is working the 3.36pm Didcot - Newbury when seen on the Newbury line at Didcot, September 22nd 1961. Michael Mensing.
Carried by all vehicles.
Green with yellow panel
55027 at Wargrave. Note the 'cut' buffers. Stuart Mackay Collection.
Carried by all vehicles.
At least one vehicle (55029) would have the set number applied on the cab front while still in this livery.
Blue with yellow panel
An unidentified member of the class is seen at Bridport carrying one of the early versions of the rail blue livery, with just a yellow panel, red buffer beam, the logos on the cab doors and smaller 3" numbers. John Vaughan / Steve Davies Collection.
Rail Blue
55034 is seen at Bridport on the 4th April 1975. It was common in the early blue era for the set number to be in 'Gill Sans' font. Neil Cannon.
Carried by all vehicles.
Refurbished
Just two vehicles appeared in the white / blue stripe livery applied to refurbished vehicles - 55034 and 56283. The former is seen at Iver on the 2nd January 1980. John Vaughan / Steve Davies Collection.
Standard Blue/Grey livery
55034 on 12 March 1983 at Oxford. Jeremy Chapter.
Blue/Grey with Avon Link branding
In 1981 55033 was note carrying 'Avon Link' stickers adjacent to the BR logos on both ends. John Grey Turner.
Blue/Grey with Valley Trains branding
Although no longer working in Wales in this 1987 image, 55032 still carries Valley Trains branding. The ex-C132 is seen at Stourbridge Town about to work the 13:55 to the Junction in 1987. Gazza Prescott.
Blue/Grey with Highland Rail branding
Here 55026 has a little extra in the form of a Highland Rail sticker, normally used on locos based at Inverness depot. 55026 is seen a long way from Inverness at Bristol TM on a working to Parkway 12/8/86. Hamish Stevenson.
Blue/Grey with NSE branding
55029 is seen at Didcot on the 27/11/87. Note window surrounds are black by this time. Hamish Stevenson.
Network South East
This is the original style which has the stripes raised at the ends. This is W55024 seen at Didcot on the 16:43 Oxford - Didcot, 30th August 1988. Hamish Stevenson.
Network South East (revised)
On this version the stripes stay horizontal. 55025 is at Paddington, 16/3/89. Hamish Stevenson.
Network South East with Thames branding
As above, but without the black cab window surrounds, and with Thames branding. 55031 at Paddington, 17/6/91. Mike Cooper.
GWR 150 Celebrations
55020 is seen at Reading on 30/4/87. Hamish Stevenson.
Midline
55033 was painted into a blue livery for the launch of the Midline network, unveiled during a press run on 29 October 1985. At first it had a deep red band with yellow edges separating the two tones of blue, within a couple of weeks this had been replaced by a third tone of blue. There were some other changes such as an orange band on the yellow between the bodyside blues and yellow replaced by blue and the size of vehicle numbers increased. A photo of the inital version can be found in Rail magazine issue 96 (4 May 1989) page 47.
The image shows the vehicle at Tyseley depot on 7 June 1987. Andy Cole.
Retro Green
55023 was painted back into green in early 1993 to commemorate it being the last of the Class to receive a full works overhaul (as things stood at the time). John Law.
A second vehicle appeared in the 2000s when 55034 returned to network use after a spell in preservation to work the Aylesbury - Princes Risborough peak time shuttle.
Silverlink
In 1999 55027 appeared in Silverlink livery, as did 55029 in April 2000. The pair are pictured at Millbrook on the 15th April 2000. Ian McDonald.
Chiltern Railways
55020 was painted into a Chiltern Railways livery in 2003. It is seen passing Aylesbury depot on the 1st September 2004. Stuart Mackay.
Arriva Trains Wales
55032 is seen at Cardiff in 2006. Tom Clift.
Some examples of liveries - DTS's:
Rail Blue
DTS L285 is seen at Windsor Central, 27/4/74. Hamish Stevenson.
Blue Grey
54287 is seen attached to a couple of DMBS's at Oxford, date unknown. It has a NSE flash on the front. Malcolm Clements.
Network South East
54287 is seen at Didcot working the 16:03 Didcot to Oxford. Note how the stripes only lift at one end. Hamish Stevenson.
By careful sanding of a vehicle, the history of it's liveries can be found. The following was found on 55028 in Nov. '01. The lining details could also be presumed to be relevant to Class 117 cars, although it is not unusual to find variations within a Class.
Green: the top lining was 1" wide, the bottom edge of this being 3/4" from the top edge of the windows. The waist line began 5" below the bottom edge of the windows, formed of 1/16" black, 1 3/4" cream, 1/16" black. This line was 1/4" below the cab windows, and there was a 1 1/4" gap between this and the yellow panel. The cream used was very yellowish.
Blue: there was plenty of evidence of rail blue on the cab, and
we found a yellow panel painted above the blue. This was backed up by Umber Brown on the solebars, indicating that this vehicle was once in the early blue livery. When Rail Grey was applied, the top of the white lining was 6 1/4" below the bottom edge of the window frames.
NSE: The livery the vehicle was in at the time of the survey. The blue bands started 9" below the windows and 3 1/2" above the windows, although an earlier application of this showed a slightly different position.
Railtrack: In December 2001 the vehicle was painted into the Railtrack Lime Green / Blue to match the earlier vehicle so treated, 977859.