IC E-units no More

[CliqueofOne]

'H.H. may find himself being sent home on a rail'


That would be the answer to not only my prayers but to the other employees of the CNR as well. Being tarred and feathered would be too good for him. Signal Mechanic. Signal Department. Canadian National Railways. [:D]

[jeaton]

Gee, I wonder how that switch in corporate image sets with many of the folks in Quebec.
Get too much French out of "CN" and H.H. may find himself being sent home on a rail (or two, if he is lucky). LOL

Jay

[Grinandbearit]

Hey guys! The only reason H.H. had these units repainted was to get rid of the Canadian National ( Canadien National in French) name on the sides. Remember that the railroad is to be refered to as CN in all respects including all rolling stock. The black, green and gold business cars have also been repainted in the orange (red) black and white. Now that is ugly!!!!

[wabash1]

Well maybe not the topic but the engines... saw the ic100 heading north may 26th it was running but in tow with 6 or so cars a very beat up cn engine ( similar to a mp15) and 2 big wide body in the lead. it looked like it was in great shape.

[bnsfkline]

guess this topic is dead

[jeaton]

This is generation gap stuff, but as far as I am concerned IC 100 to 104 are pretenders. 100 and 101 came from the BN and the other three came from NREX, probably originally sold to other lines. And the paint scheme?

Actually most of the IC E units are gone. See http://www.icrr.net/ic_diesel.htm
According to that list one B unit was on the Alaska Railroad in 2003 and a couple of E8A's were said to be in Minerva, Ohio, with NRT (New Jersey Transit?) marks. I don't know if that list is necessarily up to date.

The icgphotos.com site referenced above has some good photos of units with the original paint scheme and Green Diamond logos. That was the scheme when used when the IC's streamlined fleet was built post WWII. The split rail logo was introduced in 1967, which was about the same time that IC Industries was formed and signaled many changes in the management style of the railroad. The logos and and their dates of use can be found at http://www.icrrhistorical.org The split was eliminated with the IC-GM&O merger, as part of at least a modest effort to avoid "takeover" mentality. I believe the "Death Star" logo came about when the IC was spun off from Industries.

For many, the E-series locomotives represent a high point in rail passenger service, and it is nice to have a few survive. From a historical viepoint, I guess I find modern paint schemes a little bothersome. Something like having a fully restored Ford Model T decked out in red paint.


Jay

[Kozzie]

Thanks mojo628, much quicker! Not so many pages to click through...

Cheers

Dave

[Anonymous]

Dave,

This site actually has quite a bit of info on IC/ICG and plenty of photos too.

http://www.icgphotos.com/

M.J.

[Kozzie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH

David;

Back in my youth (before I discovered rugby), I used to ride the South Shore Line home from high school and would see Illinois Central trains pass while I was waiting for my train. The split rail logo and orange and white colors came out at that time and I thought that the split rail was quite imaginative and that the new colors were an improvement over solid black with some white trim.

Paul

I agree Paul [;)] - black is probably practical for not looking too dirty, but large areas of black without much of a contrast is pretty depressing [xx(]. The orange and white sounds better. I wonder if there would be pictures in the Railpictures website...I'll have a peek. heh heh [:)][:)]

Dave

[bnsfkline]

I think CN should have a paint scheme similar to the IC....and Say "Canadian National Gulf"

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

David;

Back in my youth (before I discovered rugby), I used to ride the South Shore Line home from high school and would see Illinois Central trains pass while I was waiting for my train. The split rail logo and orange and white colors came out at that time and I thought that the split rail was quite imaginative and that the new colors were an improvement over solid black with some white trim.

Paul

[BentnoseWillie]

QUOTE: So what's the point of doing up these units in CN colours? Excursions?

Nope. Executive trips and possibly shippers' specials.

CN has been singularly uninterested in excursions over their railroad for some time.

[fuzzybroken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dblstack

Or better yet, they could have left 2 perfectly good railroads alone ( IC & WC ).

That's why they bought 'em -- they were two perfectly good railroads.

What I really miss is the Chicago Central ... Red GPs, the green diamond logo... [:p]

-Mark
Milwaukee, WI
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken

[Kozzie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH

To Peter and David;
There was a different Illinois Central logo prior to the split rail. This was the original green diamond. The words ILLINOIS CENTRAL were black on a white band with green triangles above and below the band, forming a green diamond. Variations on this logo were used by Chicago Central & Pacific (the IC Iowa lines) and Paducah & Louisville.

The colors on the E-units were brown over orange with a yellow separation stripe. Central of Georgia had two E8A's (811 & 812) painted in these colors for the "City of Miami" pool.

Paul

Thanks Paul [;)][:)] - I appreciate these details which give a picture of the history behind the name.
Do you think the lower case "i" similar to a rail profile in the circle is a good logo? I reckon it's quite clever. I like things that have more than just the obvious meaning - one sees the "i," then one realizes it could also be a cross section of rail. Quite nifty! [:)]

Dave

[dabhid07]

I just glanced out my window about five minutes ago and saw 102 and 103 going by. I had never expected to see E-units in CN's paint scheme, so I didn't know what to think. Alas, my camera was downstairs..

So what's the point of doing up these units in CN colours? Excursions?

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

To Peter and David;
There was a different Illinois Central logo prior to the split rail. This was the original green diamond. The words ILLINOIS CENTRAL were black on a white band with green triangles above and below the band, forming a green diamond. Variations on this logo were used by Chicago Central & Pacific (the IC Iowa lines) and Paducah & Louisville.

The colors on the E-units were brown over orange with a yellow separation stripe. Central of Georgia had two E8A's (811 & 812) painted in these colors for the "City of Miami" pool.

Paul

[AntonioFP45]

I'm just happy that these E-Units are not headed for the cutting torches!

Guys, I love this country very much and its railiroad history, but I can't for the life of me see what is so hideous about the CN paint scheme. These E-Units still look very sleek and sharp. Seems like it's more of a dislike of CN "taking over" the IC rather than the paint scheme itself. That's quite understandable, but we should be clear about this too.

I hope that the two Pennsy E-Units that went to Juanita stay together and are not altered.

[bnsfkline]

wow, I hit a sensitive spot! Those IC E-units were wonderful, I saw them here in St. Louis and fell in love with them, well, not literally.

[Puckdropper]

The CN repaint does look nice, as did the original. Those schemes fit the covered wagon style nicely...

[M636C]

The logo started off as two half rail sections together (with a vertical gap)representing "IC" with the dot offset to the left to be over the "I". With the GM&O merger, it became the present rail section with a central dot. The circle came with the reversion to the "Illinois Central" name, and is sometimes called the "Death Star" after the incomplete spacecraft in "Star Wars".

In the final passenger livery the pattern was the same as that on IC 100, but the lower colour was orange.

Peter

[Kozzie]

[:)][;)] Thanks mojo628 That last photo of IC100 is quite reasonable. Does give me an idea of what it looked like. Very sharp, sort of corparoate look.... reminds of New York Central livery..what do you think?

Hey Peter! Your description is great - especially when you mentioned V/Line. Without weathering, the HO models of the V/Line coaches really looked too bright....

I think the IC logo looks excellent with the combining of the lower case letter I with the profile of a rail in the cricle of horizontal bands of white !

That railpictures website is very helpful.

Thanks again...[;)][:)]

Dave

[M636C]

Dave,

The last of the photos in the link in bnsfkline's original post (not there now!) showed the final IC passenger colours, orange and grey. Their freight units were originally black, then orange and white and later (as Illinois Central Gulf, having merged with Gulf Mobile &Ohio) light grey with orange cabs. The last scheme was very similar to the original V/Line colours (but was there first!).

Peter

[Anonymous]

Illinois Central. Yes it was taken by CN.

A few IC photos.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=63112
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=60984
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=59248

A so-so shot oc IC 100
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=36437

M.J.

[Kozzie]

Here's what will probably be seen as a no-brainer Q, but can the crew tell me what railroad IC stands for? Was it swallowed up by CN?
I'm always intrigued by the various colour schemes...what colours were IC?

Thanks

Dave

[Grinandbearit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Grinandbearit

It appears that CN E9A 102 and 103 have been repainted in current CN colours and hopefully 100 and 101 are still in green black and gold from the 1950s. Sorry about the loss of the IC colour scheme but remember that these units were ex BN and CN never actually had E units on their roster.

Oops! I got the numbers mixed up. CN has repainted the 1950s black,greenand gold to current colours. Unless somebody knows differently 100 and 101 should still be in IC colours. Sad to see a little bit of history disappear.

[UPTRAIN]

They could have left evey road that they have merged with since 1999 ALONE to begine with...all 5 of em (I think).

[Anonymous]

Painting these units in CN's freight diesel paint scheme is so pathetically ugly.

They could have done right by the units with the old CN passenger scheme ...
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=57165

Or better yet, they could have left 2 perfectly good railroads alone ( IC & WC ).

[UPTRAIN]

There are pics of the 4610 on www.railpictures.net

[Grinandbearit]

It appears that CN E9A 102 and 103 have been repainted in current CN colours and hopefully 100 and 101 are still in green black and gold from the 1950s. Sorry about the loss of the IC colour scheme but remember that these units were ex BN and CN never actually had E units on their roster.