R707 is passed by R711 and K153 at the 2014 Steamrail Victoria open day. Both built in the early 50's, R707 is a coal burner in the traditional red and black livery (albeit with blue number plates), while R711 has a more complicated history: In the 90's it was restored and heavily modified by the former West Coast Railway for weekend use on their revenue passenger service from Melbourne to Warrnambool. Amongst the extensive modifications it was converted to oil firing, given a twin smoke stack, and fitted with a diesel control stand to allow MU operation with the WCR diesel fleet. Unfortunately this railfan dream was fairly sort lived, and by the early 2000's 711 was seeing very little use. In 2004 WCR folded, and 711 passed into the hands of Steamrail Victoria, who as part of a lengthy overhaul removed some of the WCR era features (such as the smoke stack) and painted the loco in Victorian Railways blue and gold. No R class was ever painted in this scheme in service, but while I'm not normally a fan of non-heritage liveries, I think this looks great.
Not
just heritage schemes, not just commemorative schemes - this album is devoted to some of the world's most interesting paint schemes, past or present.
