Rhapsody in Blue – Western Repaints

THANKS to the efforts of Adrian Curtis, the story of the ‘Western’ diesel-hydraulics is probably the most carefully and comprehensively recorded of any BR diesel class.

This latest volume expands that knowledge base further still, with a loco-by-loco record of the 56 ‘Wizzos’ repainted by Plymouth’s Laira depot between 1972 and 1976.

By this time, the class was on borrowed time, and from 1974 Laira’s enthusiastic painters set about adding a range of unofficial local embellishments during maintenance exams. Using photographs and information gathered from staff and other ‘Western’ experts, the author has compiled a definitive guide to the appearance of the repainted locomotives in their final years.

What might appear at first glance to be standard BR blue ‘Westerns’ were anything but, with a wide range of detail variations that allow individual machines to be identified at a glance.

Identifying features are backed up with authenticated dates for changes in appearance, making this an indispensable reference work for ‘Western’ fans and modellers alike.

Many of the entries show locos both before and after their repaints, with captions picking out identifying features and embellishments.

Very few BR classes benefit from this kind of highly detailed background information, so it’s all the more remarkable that new reference material continues to emerge for a class withdrawn more than 45 years ago! BJ Published by Track Record Press. £19.99; 160pp; hardback; colour/B&W; ISBN 978 1 83853 765 4.