One of my Son's,who is a Assistant Terminal Manager,for the Union Pacific,Intermodal Yard in Joliet,told me,Sat. that His Hot Shot stack train,out of Seattle,Wa.came in the yard,with four UP,engines and two,BCOL's. painted a green,yellow and silver.. He looked at the owner info on the engines and it read,, British Columbian Overland..What I did not know was,he said UP emgines,also go into CA.. If I remember,correctly ,He said they were,C40-8's,I could be wrong,but I know,they were C40 somethings..Does anyone have any more info on this road name????
Cheers,
Frank
Frank, BCOL was the reporting marks of the British Columbia Railway, formerly the PGE (Pacific Great Eastern). This line is now controlled by Canadian National, and a quick google search showed nothing for British Columbia(n) Overland.
As for U.P. locomotives in Canada, there's been a long-standing relationship between U.P. and CPRail on power run-throughs and power sharing, and there may be a similar arrangement with CN.
Wayne
The British Columbia Railway was bought by CN, although only a few locomotives have actually been repainted. But both the name and colors that your son reported make no sense. The BCOL paint scheme has three broad horizontal bands, of red, white and blue, with silver below the frame.
One possibility is that these have been repainted for some Hollywood movie project. But, if so, it has been kept remarkably secret from the railfan grapevine.
John
Thanks,Wayne and John,
When I talk to him tonight,I'll ask more about it. But I do know,he did say,that the owner info on the engines,stated that they were owned by British Columbia OverLand railway, and the colors he said,I never heard of,,the engines were not new,but very well maintained...I trust what he had to say,,not only is he my son,,,but he's been doing it for 15yrs....I'll try to see if he can get a pic. for me,seeing as how it's not UP,,I know the UP,FROWNS very heavily about any pictures that they don't approve of,,especially wrecks..
Thanks so far,my curious nature,is running on this one..
The original PGE diesels were painted in a two-tone green scheme, with some yellow on the steps, pilots and handrails.There's a photo HERE
Wayne,
Thanks for the pic,,,,, I called him on the phone,,he's a little busy,but,he did say,they have a lot of the,red,white and blue, ones come in his yard,but these struck him as being way different..They were all green with black stripes and BCOL,lettering in yellow..They are gone now,,but if they come in again,he will,take pic's..And they were,C40-8's..
This is quite the mystery wrapped in an enigma. I can't find any info regarding BCOL lettered locomotives in the 'retro-colors'. Lots of current pictures of the present day red/white/blue and a handful of overall blue with white lettering, but not a lick regarding the green/black/yellow/silver BCRail colors. One would think that if a 'Heritage' type unit had been painted up that it would have received some degree of fanfare and would not have gone unnoticed by rail fans from the West Coast to Illinois and wherever in between. Interesting mystery. If anyone finds anything out please keep us informed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided to take the train and not fly."
To All who responded to this thread,,,A new thread was started by Christian H, about BC Rail SD40-2's,,He received a reply from,NorthWest,with links to three photo's,,,The green color paint scheme,is what my son saw, in the UP,Intermodal yard in Joliet,IL..on C40-8's,,,,,,,,Funny how things pop up..