Ex-UP Locomotives in Flags and Flares.

[RailEagle]

A few month ago I was in Southern Wyoming around Rawlings and at the end of what I believe was a mixed manifest I saw two UP units in flags n flares but with Union Pacific and their numbers and rporting marks blacked out. They were two far away to get a good photo but I for certain could see the black tape and the paint scheme. I would appreciate any ideas on what they could be. 

[NorthWest]

UP has sold a bunch of their GE C40-8s and C40-8Ws back to GE, and they've slowly been heading east. That might've been what you saw.

[SD70Dude]

Maybe they'll end up on CN, just like all the others.  And the ex-CSX units CN is now leasing from GE.

[YoHo1975]

I know what Flags refers to, but what do you mean by flares? I would have thought that referred to the Tier 1 SD70Ms, but I don't believe they've sold any of those. I don't really think of the GEs as having "flares."

[RailEagle]

The paint scheme.

[YoHo1975]

What's the flare? The wings on the nose logo? The lighting stripe? Sorry, maybe this is a common fan term I'm just not familiar with.

[pcpower]

Wiki article: " Beginning in early 2002, a number of units were repainted with a large, billowing American flag with the corporate motto "Building America" on the side, where the 'UNION PACIFIC' lettering is normally positioned. This paint scheme is known as "Building America," "Wings," or "Flags and Flares."

[YoHo1975]

And that section of the Wiki article has a note at the top saying:

"This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (July 2014)"

And that specific claim isn't sourced at all.

If you google search Union Pacific Flags and Flares, you get 1: That wiki link, 2: This thread: 3: a link to Pentrex: Flags, flares and Wings. which is a video specifically about the SD70M-T1 with the flared radiators. I'm not saying it isn't a thing people say, but I've never heard it referred that way until this thread.