Project 483 is asking for public donations to repaint 483006 into Network Southeast livery.

In 1989, Network Southeast branded its service on the Isle of Wight ‘Island Line‘, and introduced Class 483 former London Underground trains into service. To mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of this next year, the London Transport Traction Group (LTTG) Project 483 will be repainting unit 006 into its 1989 livery.

The two-car Electric Multiple Units were converted from ex-London Underground 1938 Tube stock between 1989 and 1991, and replaced the ageing ‘Standard’ Tube stock which had been running on the Isle of Wight since 1967.

LTTG owns two of the fleet of six Class 483 trains – 006 and 008 – and is particularly proud of 483006, which it considers the ‘Jewel in the Crown’.

The unit was built for London Transport in 1940, and entered Island Line service in 1990 after being refurbished at Eastleigh Works. 006 ran for over thirty years on the Island, and was the last of the class to run in passenger service, on Sunday 3 January 2021. The Island Line replaced them with other former London Underground trains.

LTTG originally aimed to put its two Class 483s on the Epping Ongar Railway, but due to capacity issues there, keeps them at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway in South Wales, along with 483008.

Project 483 is LTTG’s effort to tell the story of Class 483. All the units have been preserved since their withdrawal from service, with most in their Island Line Red livery, or in an interpretation of London Transport red.

When it took them on in 1989, Network Southeast painted its ‘new’ trains in its striking red, white and blue livery, which was known to enthusiasts as ‘toothpaste’ livery.

LTTG takes the view that with the 35th anniversary of the Class 483s approaching, and the fortieth anniversary of Network Southeast not long afterwards, this is a good time to return 006 to the eye-catching toothpaste livery which accompanied the start of Island Line.

LTTG describes the 1938 Tube stock as “an icon of the 1930s design legacy inherited by the London Underground”, and points out that for more than three decades, the trains “represented all that it was to travel by train on the Isle of Wight” for commuters, holidays and family trips, to locations on the island including Sandown and Shanklin, and to the Steam Railway at the new Smallbrook Junction station.

During that time, the only substantial disruption to the service was caused by flooding. At one point, the Island Line Class 483s were the most punctual and reliable service on any railway in the UK, despite being more than fifty years old.

Project 483’s plan to repaint 006 is ambitious, and it hopes that the work will make 006 “stand out from the crowd” and draw attention to part of the unit’s story.

LTTG is inviting donations to this appeal, and asking people to consider joining its ’38 Club’. More details can be found here.