Bumble-Bee (livery)


Bumble-Bee was an informal term, promoted by the editors of NZ Railfan Magazine, for the Tranz Rail "winged' logo. The logo was then replaced with "TR" sloping block letters, which most of the rest of the locdescribing a New Zealand railway locomotive livery 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.
The first four locomotives that were painted in the livery received locomotives that were painted in the livery received, including DC 4323 and DFT 7160 which had received the livery with the Tranz Rail logo. DC 4185, DX 5166 and EF 30071 never received branding when they were repainted in the livery. DC 4185 initially didn't receive branding either when it was repainted, but the sloping block letters were later applied to the loco.
As of July 2020, only one DC, one DSC and three EFs still operate in this livery.

Variations

A few locomotives had been repainted in variations of this livery:
DF class:
DH class:
DSC class:
DSG class:
DSJ class:
DX class:
EF class:
TR class: