Railfreight was a sector of British Rail responsible for all freight operations on the British network. The division was created in 1982 when BR sought to assign particular stock and management to the evolving requirements of freight traffic. It existed as a single unit until 1987 when BR freight operations were further divided according to type of material carried, and the Trainload Freight subsectors and Railfreight Distribution were introduced. Activities which were not assigned to one of the new Trainload Freight or Railfreight Distribution subsectors were then continued under the Railfreight General banner.
The Railfreight sector was immediately identifiable through the introduction of a new 'Railfreight Grey' livery, originally created for the new Class 58 locomotives which began to appear in 1982,[1] and then soon applied to most of the locomotives and rolling stock assigned to the division. This new colour scheme was very distinctive on the British network as it represented the first clear break from the universal application of variations of Rail Blue for 15 years. The new livery was further distinguished, in locomotive classes such as the Class 58, Class 20 and Class 26 where the bodywork was mounted on a solebar, by painting the solebar red to give a distinctive red stripe running the length of the lower bodyside, a livery known as 'Railfreight Red Stripe'. Other classes of locomotives with an integrated monocoque construction and so no solebar, such as the Class 37, Class 47 and Class 56, merely had red buffer beams.
Some of the monocoque locomotives briefly acquired a red stripe in 1987; however following the creation of Trainload Freight and Railfreight Distribution in 1987, they were soon repainted in the new subsector two-tone grey livery with appropriate decals. Four remaining Railfreight locomotives and rolling stock, not assigned to subsectors, were painted in two-tone grey livery with dedicated Railfreight General decals. Railfreight General was dissolved in 1989, its limited responsibilities taken over by Railfreight Distribution.
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