HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cato Blue is an informal term describing a New Zealand railway
locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...
livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
(resulting from the combination of blue, grey and yellow in the colour scheme) found in common usage amongst the
railfan A railfan, train fan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff, anorak (British English), gunzel (Australian English), trainspotter (British English) or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally in ...
community. The livery was first worn on DFT 7160 as a variation of the New Zealand Rail blue livery. With the introduced of
Tranz Rail Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Limited (New Zealand Rail Limited until 1995), was the main Rail transport in New Zealand, rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003. History The New Zealand ...
on 18 October 1995, the livery was adopted to replace New Zealand Rails blue livery, which was introduced in 1991. The scheme was known as ''Cato Blue'' after its creator, Cato Partners. DFT 7199 was the first locomotive repainted in the livery after Tranz Rail took over the rail system. Additionally, all of the 44
Ganz-Mavag The Ganz Machinery Works Holding is a Hungarian holding company. Its products are related to rail transport, power generation, and water supply, among other industries. The original Ganz Works or Ganz ( or , ''Ganz companies'', formerly ''Ganz ...
built EM/ET
electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...
s, along with one of the
English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...
built DM/D EMU units were also repainted in the ''Cato Blue'' livery, with the
Tranz Metro Tranz Metro (formerly Cityrail and before that Cityline) was a Public transport in New Zealand, New Zealand public transport operator. Beginning as the New Zealand Railways Corporation's Cityline division as a result of restructuring in the 19 ...
logo on the side of each car. Tranz Scenics 56-foot, 60-foot and 64-foot carriages and AG vans were also repainted in the livery, with the Tranz Scenic logo on each of side of the carriages. Several 56-foot carriages, that were used on the
Wairarapa Connection The Wairarapa Line is a New Zealand interurban commuter rail service along the Wairarapa Line between Masterton, the largest town in the Wairarapa, and Wellington. It is operated by Wellington suburban operator Transdev Wellington, Transdev (w ...
until 2007, had the Tranz Metro logo on them. It was then replaced in May 2001 when Tranz Rail introduced the Bumble-Bee livery to promote
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...
safety. As of , one DCP, ten
DSCs The Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) is a United States Space Force satellite constellation that provides the United States with military communications to support globally distributed military users. Beginning in 2007, DSCS began ...
, one EF and two TRs still operate in this livery. AG 153 can be seen being used on the
Capital Connection The Capital Connection is a long-distance commuter train operated by KiwiRail between Palmerston North and the capital city of Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk. In 2018, the service faced funding issues, but the Government ensured th ...
when AG 130 is out of service. Although the two ADs, and five AGs are in storage in
Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...
and Waltham, they are still operational and can be seen being used on special occasions.


Variations

Since the introduction of the livery in October 1995, there have been a couple of variations on several locomotives: *Several locomotives that were repainted in the New Zealand Rail Cato Blue livery, had the Tranz Rail logo painted over the New Zealand Rail logo, along with a dark blue oblong patch. Some locomotives received the livery with blue cab stripes. *A small group of locomotives had truncated stripes long enough to cover over the non-reflective numbers *DFT 7145 had blue cab stripes, but without the numbers applied for a short period of time. *DX's 5431 and 5517 had been repainted into the livery, but yellow cabs instead of grey. Both locos were repainted in the original version before being repainted in this variation, and later they had black chutes fitted on the right side of the long-hood. *TR 943 was repainted in the livery with blue all over the sides of the long and short hoods and cab, grey on top of the hoods and cab, yellow head-stocks and the Tranz Rail logo painted on the cab. The locomotive was original repainted in this livery by Hillside Workshops with "Transtec Engineering Dunedin" painted on the sides of the long-hood, but this was later removed. *Although not an official variation, DCP 4755 received KiwiRail stickers on the front of the short-hood, and on the back of the long-hood. With the rights to ''Cato Blue'' sold to
Tranz Scenic Great Journeys New Zealand is the tourism division of KiwiRail that operate its three Scenic train services (TranzAlpine, Northern Explorer and Coastal Pacific). The new division was launched in May 2017 and replaced the former tourism brand ...
in 2001, DCP 4761 received a repaint in the livery, but with the Tranz Scenic logo in place of the Tranz Rail logo. DCP's 4559 and 4628 had the Tranz Scenic logo painted on over the Tranz Rail logo. DSC 2624 was repainted by Tranz Scenic with the cab being repainted yellow, instead of grey.


References

{{reflist Rail liveries of New Zealand