These are not diesels, but as Italian Railways decided to rebuild the 125mph class 444 (blue on the left side), they got out with a uglier (no more sexy curves), but far more gaudier livery of the 444Rebuilt at right. At the extreme left the opposite of gaudy in Italy, an older class 636 electric in two tones of brown....; we had more than a thousand of brown ones.... ouch.
Agree, definitely shows total lack of artistic imagination, especially for a culture with such a magnificent history of artistic beauty.
How in the World could someone think this paint scheme is Gaudy. I think the G&W orange and black is MILWAUKEE ROAD Wanna be Rail Line!
My nickname for the stillborn SPSF scheme was "Tycos", after some of the Gawdawful paint jobs that company gave some of their diesels.
This reminds me of the CNJ's short-lived post war tangerine and blue. (Photo credit to Phillipsburg Railroad Historians) Being an anthracite roads fan, I like it. I once tried to paint my N Scale Kato F-3's in this scheme and failed miserably.