The Unknown Warrior to wear crimson uniform

New-build LMS ‘Patriot’ No. 5551 The Unknown Warrior will appear in LMS Crimson Lake when the locomotive is completed in 2018.


This is what the new ‘Patriot’ No. 5551 The Unknown Warrior will look like when it’s finished in two years’ time, albeit in ‘OO’ gauge. Depicted is No. 5511 Isle of Man. LEE MARSH MODELS


It was announced on November 12 at the LMS-Patriot Company’s 8th AGM that the livery chosen by members of the project was to be LMS Crimson Lake, the livery emerging as the clear winner with 378 votes, a winning margin of 248 votes over runner-up BR express passenger green which won 130 votes.

LMS lined black received 99 votes whilst BR lined black only garnered 67.

Heritage Painting, the company responsible for painting and finishing work on Flying Scotsman and cosmetically renovating ‘A4’ No. 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower for the ‘Great Gathering’ of 2013, has been awarded the contract for the final painting and finishing work on No. 5551.

Heritage Painting's first association with the LMS-Patriot Project dates back to 2013, when the company painted, lined out and hand painted LMS 5551 and BR 45551 numerals on the cab sides during a demonstration at the Warley National Model Railway exhibition at the NEC.

Andrew Laws Marketing and Publicity Director of the LMS-Patriot Project said: "Locomotive liveries are always a hugely debated and sometimes contentious topic of conversation amongst railway enthusiasts, so it is fantastic that our Members have decided the first livery of The Unknown Warrior.

“I am sure the finished locomotive will be admired by all and will be a fitting memorial to all the servicemen and women who fought and died in the Great War and all subsequent wars."

The announcement was made the day after Armistice Day; The Unknown Warrior has been endorsed by the Royal British Legion as the new National Memorial engine and is due to be completed in 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice which brought about the end of the First World War.

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