Do you despise UP?

[Anonymous]

In my experience, it seems to me that a lot of railfans tend to have a lot of animosity toward the colors of Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist. Why is that? Why are these feelings not directed at other class 1s? Am I missing something? [?]

[espeefoamer]

Whenever UP merges with another railroad, the other road always dissapears into Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray.They completely devoured many railroads including my favorite, Southern Pacific[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]!!!

[dehusman]

Of course every railroad that buys another railroad paints over the old railroad. How many Southern engines are there? How many B&O engines?

One thing you can give UP credit for is that it has kept the same paint scheme essentially unchanged for over 50 years. There isn't another class one railroad whose current paint scheme would be same one that booted steam.

Even the SP changed paint schemes.

Dave H.

[jabrown1971]

I don't despise them, I just plain don't like them. For me it has less to do with the painting everything and everything to do with attitude. About 13 years ago in trains there was an article about when the UP came to the Feather River Route-to paraphrase from memory: the UP decended on the WP with a giant paint brush in one hand and a rule book in the other. If it didn't move it was painted and any mention of WP was forbidden. If they want it they take it, that sucks, it's like a kid who is spoiled rotten. Their recent decision to suddenly enforce their trademarks with the vengance they have has not been publicaly received. Growing up in St Louis they were the late comer and stole thunderchickens first, then Northwestern yellow. It is more in the corporate attitude, than anything.

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

Whenever UP merges with another railroad, the other road always dissapears into Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray.They completely devoured many railroads including my favorite, Southern Pacific[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]!!!

That's why they're called the "Borg"...

"YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

[Anonymous]

supra880, espeefoamer, dehusman, jabrown1971 & CBQ_Guy-- Let me take your comments one at a time. supra880-- Are you missing something? Yeah, probably. Ol' Uncle Pete hasn't exactly made a lot of friends out there, and Lord knows they've made their share of mistakes. In fact, most of the employees that came from other railroads aren't happy there. I guess I'm the oddball, because I've grown to like the U.P. Oh, I didn't like it at all at first ( I came from the Southern Pacific ) But over the course of time I've gotten used to their ways. Again, they've made their share of mistakes, mostly due to the fact that upper management seemed to think that they were the big dog on the block, and that their s--t didn't stink. Their high-minded B.S. came back to bite them in the butt, though, and to their credit, they've learned. It's true that they haven't lost all of their wrong-headed attitudes yet, but they're getting better all the time. ( Yes, guys, I know it's a very slow process that's not obvious from the outside, but trust me, it's ongoing.) espeefoamer-- I have to admit that I feel very much as you do. I grew up watching S.P. steam and originally hired out on the S.P. more years ago than I'm willing to admit. No matter what happens, the Southern Pacific will ALWAYS be my home road
and the railroad that I think of as mine. Having said that, though, I also have to remind you that the only certain thing is change. Let's be glad that there are still a lot of S.P. locomotives out there still in their original colors, as well as many still wearing their S.P. road numbers. It's getting to be a rare thing, but I still occasionally draw a point unit that's all S.P., and in a very real sense it's like going home. I'll be sad when that stops happening. dehusman-- Excellent point. Even the S.P. changed paint schemes, but it was still the Southern Pacific. You are absolutely right , however, that the Union Pacific has kept the same livery for over 50 years. How many others are still there under the same name and the same colors? To be sure, there are a few, but fewer every year. jabrown1971 and CBQ_Guy-- I love it: YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. Yeah, it does seem that way, doesn't it. The truth is, though, the only railroad they really did that to was the Western Pacific. Every other line that they've absorbed is still represented by locomotives in their original livery. They're disappearing, true, but as of today they're still out there. The poor old W.P. wasn't so lucky. It literally disappeared over night. I remember my surprise the day U.P. took over the Western Pacific. At the time, I was working for the S.P. in the San Francisco Bay area. We used to have parallel lines down the east side of the bay, and it was very common for us to pass each other on the south end of the bay when working locals. ( Those lines all belong to U.P. today.) The crews generally knew each other, at least to wave at. If I remember it right, it happened in the middle of the week, but I won't swear to that. One day, there was nothing to be seen but old W.P. locomotives on their side. Nothing there in Armour Yellow at all. The very next day you couldn't find a Western Pacific locomotive to save your life. Talk about a disappearing act! A day or two later I did see one lone W.P. unit sitting on a yard track in Oakland, but outside of museums that's the last one I ever saw. Your quote that "The U.P. decended on the W.P. with a giant paint brush in one hand and a rule book in the other" is, in that instance, absolutely accurate. The other side of the coin, though, is this: The Western Pacific was a dying railroad. In truth, the U.P. was their saviour. Ask anyone that was a stockholder in the W.P. at the time of the takeover and they'll tell you the same. So now here we are. Do I despise the U.P.? No. Do I recognize that they've had several cases of seriously bad corporate attitude? Absolutely. As I said before, they still have a ways to go in that regard. For myself, I have gotten used to their ways. It sure ain't the good old Southern Pacific, but it's not as bad as many would have you believe. Besides, guys, they let me run trains, and that's all I really ever wanted to do anyway! --JD Nomad

[jabrown1971]

QUOTE: Originally posted by theNomad

supra880, espeefoamer, dehusman, jabrown1971 & CBQ_Guy-- Let me take your comments one at a time. supra880-- Are you missing something? Yeah, probably. Ol' Uncle Pete hasn't exactly made a lot of friends out there, and Lord knows they've made their share of mistakes. In fact, most of the employees that came from other railroads aren't happy there. I guess I'm the oddball, because I've grown to like the U.P. Oh, I didn't like it at all at first ( I came from the Southern Pacific ) But over the course of time I've gotten used to their ways. Again, they've made their share of mistakes, mostly due to the fact that upper management seemed to think that they were the big dog on the block, and that their s--t didn't stink. Their high-minded B.S. came back to bite them in the butt, though, and to their credit, they've learned. It's true that they haven't lost all of their wrong-headed attitudes yet, but they're getting better all the time. ( Yes, guys, I know it's a very slow process that's not obvious from the outside, but trust me, it's ongoing.) espeefoamer-- I have to admit that I feel very much as you do. I grew up watching S.P. steam and originally hired out on the S.P. more years ago than I'm willing to admit. No matter what happens, the Southern Pacific will ALWAYS be my home road
and the railroad that I think of as mine. Having said that, though, I also have to remind you that the only certain thing is change. Let's be glad that there are still a lot of S.P. locomotives out there still in their original colors, as well as many still wearing their S.P. road numbers. It's getting to be a rare thing, but I still occasionally draw a point unit that's all S.P., and in a very real sense it's like going home. I'll be sad when that stops happening. dehusman-- Excellent point. Even the S.P. changed paint schemes, but it was still the Southern Pacific. You are absolutely right , however, that the Union Pacific has kept the same livery for over 50 years. How many others are still there under the same name and the same colors? To be sure, there are a few, but fewer every year. jabrown1971 and CBQ_Guy-- I love it: YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. Yeah, it does seem that way, doesn't it. The truth is, though, the only railroad they really did that to was the Western Pacific. Every other line that they've absorbed is still represented by locomotives in their original livery. They're disappearing, true, but as of today they're still out there. The poor old W.P. wasn't so lucky. It literally disappeared over night. I remember my surprise the day U.P. took over the Western Pacific. At the time, I was working for the S.P. in the San Francisco Bay area. We used to have parallel lines down the east side of the bay, and it was very common for us to pass each other on the south end of the bay when working locals. ( Those lines all belong to U.P. today.) The crews generally knew each other, at least to wave at. If I remember it right, it happened in the middle of the week, but I won't swear to that. One day, there was nothing to be seen but old W.P. locomotives on their side. Nothing there in Armour Yellow at all. The very next day you couldn't find a Western Pacific locomotive to save your life. Talk about a disappearing act! A day or two later I did see one lone W.P. unit sitting on a yard track in Oakland, but outside of museums that's the last one I ever saw. Your quote that "The U.P. decended on the W.P. with a giant paint brush in one hand and a rule book in the other" is, in that instance, absolutely accurate. The other side of the coin, though, is this: The Western Pacific was a dying railroad. In truth, the U.P. was their saviour. Ask anyone that was a stockholder in the W.P. at the time of the takeover and they'll tell you the same. So now here we are. Do I despise the U.P.? No. Do I recognize that they've had several cases of seriously bad corporate attitude? Absolutely. As I said before, they still have a ways to go in that regard. For myself, I have gotten used to their ways. It sure ain't the good old Southern Pacific, but it's not as bad as many would have you believe. Besides, guys, they let me run trains, and that's all I really ever wanted to do anyway! --JD Nomad

Well sometimes we get to do what we want, in your case running trains. If I remember correctly wasn't the actual merger the WP and MP, then MP with UP, too many Pacifics runnin around. If that was the case maybe in the final years of the D & RGW, it should have been the DRG & P(acific).

[Anonymous]

WELL............ I don't exactly hate them.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I don't care for them, btu I don't mind them. I guess there like the Yyankees in my eye: they have too much money and can buy whatever(or whoever) they want! They just need to go away for a while!

[Anonymous]

Every chance I get to take a pic of a "Yuppie" unit, I be there!

Hell, There's a new UP unit as my wallpaper on this PC.

[SPENGINEER]

I REALLY DO DESPISE UP. I HAVE 47 YEARS SERVICE WITH SP/up AS A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER. AT THE TIME UP TOOK OVER SP I WAS A ROAD FOREMAN OF ENGS'S. I ATTENDED THEIR INDOCTRINATION CLASS AND COULD TELL RIGHT OFF THEY WERE AN ARROGANT BUNCH OF SOB'S. ACCORDING TO THEM SP PEOPLE COULD DO NOTHING RIGHT OR DID NOTHING RIGHT AND THEY WOULD SHOW US HOW TO RAILROAD. WELL THEY SURE DID THAT DIDN'T THEY. THEIR MANAGEMENT WAS AND STILL IS ARROGANT AND KNOW IT ALL DON'T TELL US HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS. ONLY THING GOOD IS THEIR STEAM PROGRAM AND E UNIT PROGRAM. I WILL RETIRE SHORTLY AND AM GLAD TO BE AWAY FROM THEM. I AM OR WAS 3RD GENERATION SP ENGR WITH A SON WORKING AS AN ENGINEER ALSO.

[Anonymous]

Union Pacifics are alright. The shape and idea of the UP is fine. However the yellow and grey just doesn't work. [xx(]

[Anonymous]

I grew up on a UP branchline and cannot figure why the color scheme would be singled out for hating. I know that most of it is just because it covered somebody elses favorite road, but at least you have the railroad still there. Ask someone along the Milwaukee Road Northwest extension about the green color of weeds taking over, growing where the tracks were. Of course their last passenger scheme was the same as UP. The paint scheme looked good on E and F units.

To the SP person(s), I liked the SP paint scheme, but the paint they used in the last years wasn't the best.

[Junctionfan]

As far as CN goes for that, CN is good (or cheap) and leaves the paint schemes alone.

I could in theory, see a CN train with an IC, WC, BC Rail, GT, DWP and GEC Alstom (leased) on one train. If I'm lucky, I might even see some BLE locomotives and I believe that they have some old CV locomotives hanging about somewhere in use.

[Anonymous]

As a railfan and Amtrak supporter, I do not despise the U.P. I do have more respect for BNSF however. Whereas the BNSF seems to be rather "Hospitable", when it comes to working with Amtrak, Union Pacific is totally opposite. If you were to ride the "Southwest Chief" from Chicago to L.A. and than ride the "Sunset Limited" from L.A. to Florida, you would see my point. Be sure and have your scanner with you too, that will also help to reinforce my point.