Victorian Railways - Visual Identification

Visual Identification

For most of the 20th century, the colours of royal blue and gold were the distinctive feature of the Victorian Railways. It was first introduced on the Spirit of Progress express train in 1937 along with the winged "VR" logo, and was refined to the final form with the arrival of the B class diesel electric locomotives in 1952. The revised logo was inspired by that of the Erie Railroad in the United States.

While the Spirit of Progress carriages wore the royal blue and gold striping, the remainder of the passenger fleet wore a more plain red livery. Additional carriages did not appear in the blue and gold until the 1954 Royal Tour by HM Queen Elizabeth II. Freight stock was painted in a slightly different red / brown with only identifying lettering painted in white on the side.

In 1961 with the coming of the standard gauge line into Victoria, the Victorian Railways held a competition to find a "symbol, sign or slogan" to be carried on new freight vehicles for the line. The winner was an 18 year old art student from Bentleigh, with the logo being a stylised VR with arrowheads either end. By the 1970s most bogie vehicles wore the logo, until May 1983 pending the launch of V/Line.

In 1974 the Victorian Railways was rebranded as VicRail, with a new logo unveiled on April 12, 1976, but the royal blue and gold image was retained until 1981, when the orange and silver "teacup" scheme was launched on locomotives, Comeng trains, and passenger carriages. This was the last livery, with V/Line launched in August 1983 with a "stylised capital lettered logo with the V and the L split by a deep slashing stroke".