I've posted elsewhere that the new(ish) 3x3 windows are well-suited to railway carriages, but unfortunately they are currently only available in tan, dark brown, and dark purple. The Gate Stock Tube trains I posted earlier do look stylish and authentic in dark red and tan but I wanted to try and make good use of all three window colours with train liveries that might have appeared 100 years ago. So, out came the colour swatches to see what might go together, and I spent a month on Bricklink trying to get my head around colour-part availability (headlights, clips, windows, ugh, nothing makes sense).

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Swatch_Gallery/wide.jpg

 

PURPLE WINDOWS

Lets get the big mistake out of the way first. I was trying to see what might go with dark brown, a really nice stylish colour. Red worked well on the swatches, so I gave it a try. I find Lego standard red unsettling. It looks very plasticky (yes, if I don't like plasticky I am in the wrong hobby, but bear with me) and also a little bit fluorescent. It killed the dark brown, I didn't even bother photographing it.

Purple is a really troublesome colour in general, and there is something particularly lurid about Lego dark purple. With those unwanted red parts from the failed dark brown experiment, I decided to give it a try. 

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_purple-red_side.jpg

 

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_purple-red_back.jpg

Noooooooooooo! This was horrible, the two difficult colours together gave the combination from Hell, almost literally. I couldn't bear to commute on a train in these colours, it would be like riding inside body parts.

 

So, I needed an interesting colour (not tan or grey) that would complement and tame the purple, and be available in the necessary parts. The only contender I could find was bright light blue, which actually works reasonably well and is surprisingly available. I don't think you would have seen a livery like this 100 years ago, but does anyone have any other suggestions?

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_purple-lblue_side.jpg

 

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_purple-lblue_back.jpg

 

To be continued ...

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 20213 yr by Tube Map Central

3 hours ago, Tube Map Central said:

I spent a month on Bricklink trying to get my head around colour-part availability (headlights, clips, windows, ugh, nothing makes sense).

Ha ha ha, the trick is when you stumble on to a combination of parts and colors that are actually available that's a sign you need to build it (grin)

 

3 hours ago, Tube Map Central said:

The only contender I could find was bright light blue, which actually works reasonably well and is surprisingly available

I could see regular blue working with dark purple. While it is lighter purple in the Northern Rail scheme, it does kind of work,

 

Of course, regular blue slipped under the radar, perhaps because of lack of window availability. 2x2 windows are rare, but obtainable ...

DARK BROWN WINDOWS

And on to dark Brown. This really needs a dark colour for the bottom panels because reversed rail liveries (dark windows, light panels) were almost unheard of 100 years ago. I love building in dark green, it us such a rich colour. Lack of clip availability forced many decisions, but orange is a popular lining colour on railways, I'm pleased with this aesthetically.

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_dbrown-dgreen_side.jpg

 

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_dbrown-dgreen_back.jpg
 

I also wanted to try something that gave the impression of wood, and medium nougat had just the right part availability to be viable, again a lining colour being necessary due to clip availability. I was feeling pleased with myself with the appearance until I realised that all I had done was recreate Jaffa Cake livery, which appeared in London and the southeast in the 1980s. Oh well, back to the drawing board ...

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_dbrown-mnougat_side.jpg

 

I like the dark green and dark brown with orange highlights. The purple and bright light blue actually doesn't look bad either. Maybe do a Friends related consist with it.

Dark purple with yellow?  Have you tried dark purple with medium azure or dark azure?

rotary snow plow by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

Thanks for all suggestions, azures and yellows would go well, and all are made harder by lack of key parts, i.e. headlight bricks, vertical grip clips and 2x2 windows. But nothing is insurmountable, these are all less-rare colours.

And finally ...

BACK TO TAN WINDOWS

Keeping the dark green theme, and what a great railway colour it is. Worth tracking down those rare parts. The dark tan roof works well too. Apologies to UK MOCers if you can't find 3x2 roof slopes in Black/grey/dark tan any more, I think I've bought most of them! All I need now is an Underground station ...

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_tan-dgreen_side.jpg

 

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_tan-dgreen_above.jpg

 

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_tan-dgreen_back.jpg

Edited May 4, 20213 yr by Tube Map Central

On 5/1/2021 at 1:12 PM, Tube Map Central said:

Purple is a really troublesome colour in general, and there is something particularly lurid about Lego dark purple.

During the 1920ies, the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft (DRG) set up the Rheingold Express in violett/beige. Dark-purple and tan are imho very well fitting colors for this train. During the 1930ies, the DRG also introduced other spectacular trains in this "luxury" color scheme, the Henschel Wegmann Zug and the Fliegender Hamburger.

Don't rule out dark-purple/tan -- it is one of the most iconic color schemes for trains!

It's a lovely combination in the photographs, not sure I could reverse it and use purple windows and tan lower panels though, that would look very modern. It's a shame that pearl good plates for the lining are practically non-existent, that would make it a must-use livery.

Here it is ...

An analysis of every possible front colour given the availability of key parts: 2x2 and 2x3 windows, headlights, h-clips and corner posts (1x3 or 1x5). I have tried to have a logical set of steps depending on part unavailability. Obviously there are other options but I have tried to go for what I consider to be the tidiest one in each case. Everything has been done for a reason, feel free to ask. This is a CMYK file.

http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/train_fronts.jpg

The availability of V-Clips for the sides might result in some deletions or modifications. I would love to build all of these as three-car units but this would require time, money, and space, and all of these are in finite supply.