ONE of the UK’s most well-known heritage railways is to introduce a splash of colour to its locomotives and coaches, by repainting them in a new corporate livery.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the foundation of its original preservation society by launching an ambitious new repainting scheme.

Details of the new livery are being kept under wraps, but the railway will be taking inspiration from the heather moorland its railway lines pass through and painting its locomotives a new bell heather colour.

The coaches are going to be repainted Brunswick green and cream - in keeping with a colour scheme used in the early days of the railway - and an oval-shaped logo added to each carriage.

General manager Chris Price said: “I was down at the engine sheds last summer and it was all black. Every engine we had was black, and I just thought ‘this is so boring.' The passengers coming here want a good day out. They want something bright and cheerful. We were looking back at old photographs and I said ‘can we bring this livery back?’”

Eddie Knorn, head of traction and rolling stock said: “It’s certainly going to be a bit different, and some of the purists will maybe not like it, but I think it’s great.

“It shows we’re proud of being an independent railway and we are keeping steam traction relevant in the 21st century instead of always harking back to some imaginary golden age.”

NYMR is one of the most historic lines in the North of England, taking visitors on picturesque journeys along an 18-mile railway line aboard steam and heritage diesel trains, passing through wooded valleys, moorland villages and seaside locations.