Bumble-Bee (livery)

DFT 7295 in Dunedin while wearing the Tranz Rail winged logo.

Bumble-Bee was an informal term, promoted by the editors of NZ Railfan magazine, describing a New Zealand railway locomotive livery (resulting from the combination of black and yellow in the colour scheme) found in common usage amongst the railfan community.

The livery, first introduced in May 2001 to promote level crossing safety to replace the Cato Blue livery and was initially trialed on Tranz Rail locomotive DC 4323, and over time was applied to numerous other locomotive classes up until 5 May 2004, when Toll Rail took over the rail system, and introduced the Corn-Cob livery.[1]

DFT 7145 in Napier while wearing the "TR" slopping blocks.

The first four locomotives that were painted in the livery, including DC 4323 and DFT 7160, received the livery with the Tranz Rail "winged" logo.[2] DC4185, DX5166 and EF30071 never received branding when they were repainted in the livery.[3] DC4185 did not receive branding either when it was repainted, but the sloping block letters were later applied to the loco.[4]

As of July 2020, only one DC, one DSC and three EFs still operate in this livery.

  1. ^ "New Zealand Railfan". Vol. 7, no. 3. Triple M Publications. June 2001. ISSN 1173-2229.
  2. ^ "New Zealand Railfan". Vol. 8, no. 2. Triple M Publications. March 2002. ISSN 1173-2229.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Railfan". Vol. 7, no. 4. Triple M Publications. September 2001. ISSN 1173-2229.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Railfan March 2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).