European Railroad Discussion > SNCB 150's -- blue never looked better...

...but of course that's just my opinion.  I have seen a fair number of blue electric locos over the years -- BR's Electric Blue, DB in Steel, Cobalt, and Ocean Blues, Conrail blue ( and the AAR G ), JNR "DC blue", and others -- but the best shade of blue, which Platform 5 [ Haydock, Garvin, Fox ] refer to "electric blue", was that first applied to the Belgian 150 class.  It not only made a visual impact, but a mental one as well, for the Belgian locomotive and coaching stock fleet at that time, with the exception of the Budd-licensed AM56 units, was the most drab shades of greens, mostly a dirty dark green;  the 150's were a complete change.

Photo 1):  The first time I saw a 150 was in Amsterdam, on July 20, 1964, seen here arriving with the TEE Ile de France.  This was quite a surprise for I was expecting either a French RGP or Swiss/Dutch dmu set;  in those pre-internet days I did not realize that the loco hauled formation replaced the dmu, usually French, on May 31, and the combination of the 150 and the brand new 'PBA' TEE vehicles was impressive.
     Note the formation is only three vehicles, an AD and two coaches*, as PBA stock was still being delivered;  all of the A5s 'cuisine' [ at-seat dining, a'la Pullmans ] would not be in service until three days later.

Photo 2):  The service the next day at Brussels Nord;  the additional vehicles that ran Paris-Brusssels and vv were detached at Brussels South.

Photo 3):  The TEE Brabant arriving at Brussels South from Paris;  unlike the above and the North Star, this train, a later addition to the TEE fleet, terminated there.

To be continued.....

*Edit:  Added to clarify:  The two coaches are an A8t [ = central corridor = 'coach' ] and an A5s 'cuisine';  an A8t was usually paired with an A5s in case the "reservations with meal" exceeded the capacity of the A5s.  A second A8t would be added beginning August 2.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/20 14:06 by Steinzeit2.

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In addition to the 150's, at least two other classes also received this shade of blue:

Photo 4:  After the tri-voltage [ 1500 and 3000 vdc + 25 kV ac ] 150 class came the quad voltage 160's in 1966, for services into Germany, especially TEE's to Cologne;  seen here in Brussels that year.

Photo 5:  At least one of the eight bi-voltage 25.5 conversions, rebuilt in 1973-74 primarily for the Brussels-Amsterdam push-pull service, received the "TEE blue" and appropriately is seen here departing Amsterdam with a TEE.

Photo 6:  For reference, here's the usual 25.5 scheme in the livery that matches their push-pull formation.

The 150's became Class 15, and the 160's 16, in the 1971 renumbering, and the shade of blue later used in the blue/yellow scheme just doesn't seem to have the lustre that their original paint did; it always seems flatter somehow -- of course that could just be that some things always seemed to have more sparkle back then.....

Hope you enjoyed this look back before travel on the Paris - Brussels axis became the domain of streetcars on steroids....

Best regards, SZ

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I viewed these when originally posted but didn't comment to thank you at the time. All first-rate images, as your work always has been. And I agree on the blue: just the shade to get your attention, yet also subtly subdued to be a bit understated and classy. I had not previously seen these Belgian engines in color in that blue, and I immediately liked it and your images. I especially appreciated the images with the TEE consists, an era which I missed, ever to my regret.

However belatedly, thanks much for some fine images and a nice write-up as well.

MC
Muskegon, Michigan USA

Thank you for the compliments.  I really should post more, and I have been trying to, but I often get "sidetracked" for a number of reasons:
  -  Over the years a slide that's "needed" isn't filed where it should be....
  -  Since I believe that TO exists to provide information -- as opposed to just, say, a repository of train photography -- I like to provide informative captions.  This takes time, not necessarily in getting the information for the caption per se, but because of finding all the non-related magazine articles or book chapters that just "have" to be re-read after twenty or forty years in addition to getting the answers for questions that "should be asked"..... 
For example:
     I did not provide a date for photo 3 above, the Brabant arriving at Brussels.  I should have  -- it was also August 1964 -- but someone looking at it might conclude that it dated from the mid-seventies or later, since it appears at a quick glance the leading two vehicles with their taller windows are Mistral 69 stock.  But they're not, they are corridor coaches from the '64 PBA build;  for some reason the seven corridor A8's had 958 mm high windows, the same height as all the Mistral 69 windows, but on the corridor side only [  which incidentally precluded spelling out TEE on the letterboard on this side ].  Why was this ?  All of the other PBA windows were 830 mm high, including it appears both sides of the A2Dxj generator vans, which also had a corridor.
The more you know, the more you wish you knew......

With best regards,

SZ

I appreciate your emphasis on providing information, rather than just an image with little information to go with it, enjoyable though those might be. I do the same myself. My logic is that a post might be seen or read on some later date when it might provide useful information or correlation to fill in another question. Or, it can stand on its own when found in a search to open up a whole new line of inquiry, or to unexpectedly add information or context. The value of the post is not just that day. It endures and provides a useful source of information into the future.

That seems sometimes to be forgotten on websites, even here on TO. And that's unfortunate. I've lost count of the number of times that a detailed discussion on some issue or another has filled in useful information, sometimes very serendipitously, many months later.

I don't know about you, but I have taken some heat for detailed posts that I've made. Along the lines of "....more information than I need" (sometimes stated not so politely). So be it. The rail historical hobby has never been a Facebook game of earning "likes" for me. It's about learning and deepening my own knowledge, and also about sharing my knowledge and experience with others so that they can benefit from it. It's also about having an open mind about content. You tend to be more interested in equipment details than I am, but reading posts like yours broadens my knowledge and perspective. My own interests tend to center around operational and traffic patterns in the U.S. And you are right that a good post can also involve a lot of time and effort finding an image that you have been thinking of, and then researching background information, and writing it up in a comprehensive and readable fashion.

Thanks for your interest in providing fine images, and good detail and information to support them. We all are the better for it. I look forward to your posts in the future.

MC