SR West Country locomotive, 34027 Taw Valley, is set to be repainted into another striking livery.
Following on from its 2022 guise as ‘The Purple Loco’, No. 70 ‘Elizabeth II’, the locomotive will be repainted into a matt black livery with sunshine yellow cab numbers and lettering.
34027 will also be renumbered to its original SR number, 21C127.
The repaint is scheduled to be completed in early 2023. The original repaint plan was changed from Autumn due to the railway needing to use the locomotive for its Christmas services.
The SVR’s head of steam engineering Duncan Ballard explained the thinking behind the move to paint the locomotive black: “We’ve chosen this livery not only because we know it’s going to spark plenty of interest amongst heritage enthusiasts and the public, but also because it offers us a very practical short-term solution. We need to replace 34027’s purple livery because that was purely for the Platinum Jubilee year. Applying matt black paint will be a hugely labour-saving job, just as it was when it was used during the war. We plan to carry out this out in January, so the loco is ready to enter service when we reopen in early March.
“34027 will be needed to haul public services through till autumn 2023, at which point we’ll withdraw it from traffic for an intermediate overhaul, which is likely to see the locomotive out of traffic for a year or so. Following this essential maintenance, we’ll repaint it back into full British Railways green with red and black lining. Putting it back into this livery is definitely something we want to take our time to complete to the highest of standards.”
“We know that a matt black ‘Taw Valley’ is going to cause a stir,” said Helen Smith, the SVR’s managing director. “But let’s face it, at the Severn Valley Railway we’re not afraid to do things a little differently! It’s certainly going to look amazing in austerity black, especially when we relaunch our Step Back to the 1940s events next summer.”
Speaking on behalf of Taw Valley Limited which owns the locomotive, Phil Swallow said: “Our loco wasn’t built until 1946, the year after the Second World War had ended. It was then rebuilt by British Railways in the 1950s into the form we see today. In reality it would never have carried a matt black livery in its rebuilt form. So, this will be an unusual example of a ‘what if’ livery.”
“As the owners of ‘Taw Valley’, and just like the SVR, we’re no strangers to pushing a few boundaries. We’re right behind the idea of an austerity locomotive and can’t wait to see it next year.”
Responses
I totally agree with David. Original livery please MrSwallow.
I am beginning to feel sorry for one of my favourite locos. It deserves to be treated better.
If the owners really want to paint her in matt black, why not go the whole hog and replace the boiler cladding with the austerity scheme proposed for the MNs during WW2? Similar to the Q1s, it would require a change of smoke box from tubular to something similar to the Q1 horseshoe shape. Oh well, if the SVR can create a fiction, so can I. Still, anything is better than purple.
It is a genuine livery carried by some locos, ok, not this one, but they are keeping a number it did previously carry.
Changing liveries to add interest is good, changing loco numbers is not. Hope to see it in action.
The more folk it annoys, the more I like it. Do it SVR!
Why stop there. Paint it grey and claim it’s WW1 war department.
It’s different, and I like it! Better than the same colour on every engine if you ask me.
More importantly than the colour scheme, I hope they fit non-slip tyres to the wheels of Taw Valley as part of the overhaul. It’s embarrassing for such a large loco to struggle so much on some of the minor inclines on the SVR.
Having being a close friend and business neighbour of the late Bert Hitchin and knowing Taw Valley since Bert purchased her for Liz in 1980, I have been promising myself a visit to SVR for sometime to be reunited. Circumstances over the last few years has put a stop to that. I am determined to visit next year before she is taken out of service for the overall. Roll on next Spring.
It seems a bit extreme to cancel a visit to the SVR because one of their numerous locos is painted in a non-authentic livery!
Well I suppose the people behind this non authentic livery and number for a rebuilt West Country just shows how people these re write history.
I will cancel my visit next year and wait until it returns in the correct livery.
Get a life Ian. Heritage railways are in for one VERY tough year and at least these people are facing this head on. Heritage lines are going to NEED gimmicks to attract CUSTOMERS. They need THOUSANDS of families to PAY thousands of pounds- not rivet counters like you.
Not my choice of colour but at least it’s better than Purple!!!!!
Eek!