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Did you think steam locomotives meant dull and drab black machines with black tenders, with plain, white lettering to boot?

Initially, maybe. Most steam engines were black. But later on, steam was actually quite colorful. Each region or railway zone had a unique livery applied to the tenders of its steam locomotives, with a cream or yellow band running all along on the sides of the running plate (walkways).

Apart from zonal liveries, which were standard all over that particular railway zone, often one could also spot odd liveries applied to individual locomtives, purely on the whims of the shed staff, the standard color code for that zone notwithstanding. It was therefore fascinating to see steam engines with two or even three tone tenders. Of course, these were the exceptions, rather than the rule.

Smokeboxes were another thing altogether.  Even engines bearing the standard region color code on the tender had different colors painted on the centre of the smokebox door: red, silver, blue, white, the most common being silver or red. Not to mention the star which almost all engines carried on the smokebox door.

Here is a rundown of standard region-wise color codes for steam locomotives used on the IR.

Note that it was rather difficult to match the exact shade that appeared on the locomotive tenders proper, but this is a rough indication.

NORTHERN RAILWAY: (N.R.)

The Northern Railway tenders were brick red in color, with cream lettering and a cream band. The lettering was sometimes in Hindi, which is not possible to duplicate here.

At times, the cream ribbon was dispensed with, and the tender was just plain brick red with cream lettering.

NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY: (N.E.)

The North Eastern once had the reputation of being the only railway with an almost 100% metre gauge trackage. NER engines were identical to the NR engines as far as tender liveries went, only, plain brick red tenders were more common than ones with the cream band.

Although full black tenders are normally associated with locomotives withdrawn from active service (see last item below), some NER engines used to sport full black tenders even in their prime. However, sky blue lettering was used instead of cream. Full black tenders were more common on the metre gauge steam locomotives.

NORTH EAST FRONTIER RAILWAY: (N.F.)

When one talks about the NF, one invariably thinks of the Darjeeling Himalayan line. A marginal amount of mg and bg trackage does exist on the NF, unfortunately, very little information on this is available at present.

Suffice to say however that the NF was almost identical to the NE as far as liveries went, so the steam locomotives on the NF too had either full brick tenders with cream marking, or full black with sky blue markings.

The present Darjeeling livery is sky blue with white lettering, as seen below. Other liveries occasionally applied to the Darleeling engines have been bottle green and a two tone red/cream, but these liveries have been generally short lived. Blue continues to this day (2000), so much so that even the new diesel engines put on line recently bear this livery.

EASTERN RAILWAY: (E.R.)

Eastern Railway engines bore black/green tenders, though the green tended to be a bit more dark than on the Central Railway. The livery was inverted (green above and black below) on the ER electric locomotives and was used for several decades before the standard maroon crept in.

Quite unlike the CR, which stuck steadfastly to cream or even almost white lettering and dividing line, the ER sometimes incorporated a red dividing line, while retaining the cream lettering.

Occasionally, ER steam engines used to skip the black upper band and have deep bottle green tenders. An occasional blue tender could also be spotted once in a while.

SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY: (S.E.)

Steam engines on the South Eastern usually carried  black/brick red tenders, quite similar to those on the Western Railway.

The predecesor to the SE was the Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR), which started the practice of painting larger than life numbers on the tenders of its locomotives. The SE carried on this tradition for a while, and it was quite common to see SE engines bearing the standard tenders with the engine number in large cream letters in place of the usual owning railway indication.

CENTRAL RAILWAY: (C.R.)

Central had the elegant black/green livery, which it displayed with pride on all its steam locomotives. Jhansi shed had an enviable reputation for the pristine condition of its locomotives, so a sparkling Jhansi WP in green/black livery was a terrific treat for weary eyes. The green was a tad lighter than on the ER, though in later years, this was not quite discernible.

Although the super Taj Express in navy/cream looked terrific enough with the green/black WP in the lead, some of the WPs were given a cream/blue livery to match with the rest of the train. Of course, the blue was at times considerably lighter than the navy of the cars, and it was not always possible to turn the same engine round for the return journey, given the cantankerous nature of the steamers coupled with the tough operating conditions that called for continuous high speed running with few stops. Thus the blue/cream engines were often seen hauling other trains, with green/black engines heading the Taj, but nonetheless, the livery is worth mentioning. 

The ng MLR tanks of the Matheran hill railway sported this livery as standard.

WESTERN RAILWAY: (W.R.)

The Western was always very meticulous in it tender livery, and all steam locomotives on the WR bore the standard black/brick red tenders.

SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY: (S.C.)

South Central steam locomotives were rather colorful with their two-tone brick red/green tenders. The contrast was quite striking, and the tank engines looked downright gay and cheerful.

At times, the brick red was dispensed with altogether, and the tenders appeard plain green. Plain green tenders could be spotted near Khandwa and Akola.

Green gave way to blue in certain regions of the SC, though blue was not as widespread as green. SC engines with full blue tenders could be spotted in Goa, at Purna and Miraj. I once spotted two trains leave Poona almost simultaneously: one towards Madras with the russet/green tender, and one towards Miraj with the blue tender.

Green and blue were exceptions rather than the rule however, and a vast majority of the SC engines bore the standard brick red/green livery.

SOUTHERN RAILWAY: (S.R.)

The earliest Southern Railway engines came in with black/scarlet tender livery as standard.

The black soon gave way to silver grey, and the scarlet to the usual brick red as on other regions, and the Southern standardized on the sliver grey/brick red tenders till the very end of steam.

Given the meticulous temparament of the Southerners, the silver grey/brick red tenders were steadfastly adhered to all over the region. The only exception was the Nilgiri Mountain Railway between Mettupalayam and Ootacamund. (Ooty: now Udagamandalam). The majestic X class tanks on the Nilgiri line bear a blue livery with yellow lettering. This livery has been carried forward to the diesel locomotives put on the line recently, except that two broad cream colored bands have been added on the diesels.

WITHDRAWN FROM ACTIVE SERVICE: (All Regions)

On all regions of the IR, a black tender with yellow lettering meant that the engine has been withdrawn from active service. This meant that the engine will no longer be used for main line workings. Rather, black tendered engines were used only for shunting or station pilot duties. This was standard on all regions of the IR.

At times, the yellow line was dispensed with completely, leaving a plain black tender with yellow lettering.

THE NON CONFORMISTS:

On occation, one could spot an odd man out: a steam locomotive that has been the subject to the fond attentions of her shed crew. The result sometimes was a very colorful, if  odd color scheme, with the tender going totally off tangent.  Occasionally, the change in the color of the tender would be to match with the livery of the train the locomotive hauled.

Although such oddities were few and far between, two I can recall are shown below. Both were on the South Eastern.