Liveries
All 200 ‘40s’ were originally finished in BR green, with white cant rail stripes, grey roof, and red bufferbeams. However, ‘15 reportedly received yellow warning panels from new. The implementation of warning panels was designed to make locomotives more visible and, from 1962, the entire fleet received them. (D)362/65/70 retained their warning panels until 1971/72. D205/8-10/2/4/5/ 7/8/20-6/8/30-2/4-6/9/41/3/4/7/9/52-8/ 60/3-9/72-4/7-9/82-99 and D301/2/4-6/ 8-11/3-20/5/6/ 8/30/2-55/7-9/61/9/71/ 3/4/6-85/7-99 received full yellow ends from 1966 onwards. Blue repaints began in 1967 but a selection of ‘40s’ received their TOPS numbers while still in BR green livery. The locomotives in question were: 40010/7/8/22/31/5/9/52/87/8/96 and 40101/4/6/15/33/5-9/45/53/69/71/6/80-4/ 7/99, with 40039/052/187 featuring bodyside numbers – the rest featured cabside numbers. The new corporate blue livery would eventually feature on 197 of the 200 Class 40s, and with it, all of them would sport full yellow ends. Of the three locomotives that didn’t receive blue, D322 was withdrawn in September 1967 following a crash in 1966, and 40039 was withdrawn in January 1976. The final example, 40106, emerged from Crewe in 1978 and was once again painted in BR green, albeit with full yellow ends. Unsurprisingly, this garnered much interest and, following its withdrawal in April 1983, it was preserved. BR took to altering a large portion of the BR blue ‘40s’ in the early 1980s. Certain locomotives, such as 40003/024/060/128/158/160, had PRE-TOPS numbers added to their bodysides. Changes to 40155 were as follows: red bufferbeams with white handrails, air horn grilles, and headcode box surrounds. For some months during the mid-1980s, display locomotive 40013 sported white cant rails and window frames.