I've seen pics of it on Facebook, very impressive. Honoring all the service branches, and a great tribute.
Wish it would come to Southern California, especially to Fullerton, or other Orange County station. But it probably won't, since these tracks are all BNSF.
The accountants may not see it, but the goodwill and positive PR special locomotives like that engender is priceless.
Nothing like a company that shows pride in it's country, the country's armed forces, and especially the veterans in the company's employ. People like and respect that.
Beautiful locomotive. Again, another example of an expense that really does not add to the bottom line as far as the accountants see it, but actually does.
Well done UP. Tip of the hat.
CSSHEGEWISCH Dad was one of those B-17 crewmen successfully protected by the P-51.
Dad was one of those B-17 crewmen successfully protected by the P-51.
And thank God, North American Aviation, and Rolls-Royce (for the Merlin engine) for that!
Hermann Goering was quoted after the war as saying he knew the war was lost when the first P-51's showed up over Berlin.
If I remember correctly that cammo scheme 3593 was painted in used actual military-grade camoflage paint, which looked great and authentic, but having a dead-flat finish it was a bear to keep clean! Flat finish paint is a great dirt absorber.
That "Spirit of Union Pacific" locomotive scheme looks great, I like it!
What a shame the original "Spirit of UP" was shot down on it's fifth mission. Thank God the P-51 Mustangs showed up when they did, who knows how many bomber crews were saved by that great airplane?
I think the paint scheme looks awesome!, and represents all military branches and thats all that matters.
Ed
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/634918/
RAY HEROLDU.P. has once again added another great looking locomotive to their Heritage series. It's a busy, yet beautiful rendition of a Veterans unit. Love the trend of many railroads lately of doing these heritage/commemorative type units. It definitely makes train watching a lot more fun, and shows great imagination and spirit on the part of the railroads that do it.
Congrats, again, to UPRR for adding this Unit honoring the American Service Orgs ! with a tribute scheme on one of their engines
Union Pacific has a long history of creating 'Tribute Paint Schemes' into their locomotive fleet. One of the first ones was the SD40-2 # 3593 that was done in honor of the UPRR Employess who participated in Operation 'Desert Storm'. it carried signs on its sides honoring the employees who sereved as both Reservists, and Regular Service Members. It was done in a 'Camo' scheme, which, I think, lasted til sometime in the 2003(?). Was apparently repainted in Armour Yellow and Grey, and disposed of (?) [note: Not My Photo]
Photos linked @ http://shastaroute.railfan.net/Photos/UP_3593/06226.jpg
As a 20+ year SAC vet, I love the SAC stripe. I think the scheme beautifully honors all the branches of the service in stages, with nice transitions. I will visit 1943 in Omaha on November 10.
I'm not complaining. Anything that's based on a B-17 is automatically going to look good. If it was a B-24, that might be different.
that's very nice and glad to see it, always like to see the troops being honored. Thank you, UP
As it turns out, the paint scheme commemmorates far more than just the USAF and the Spirit of the Union Pacific B-17. It includes the 'sash' of the SAC, a stripe for the Coast Guard, Navy gray, Army camo, and the emblem of the POW/MIA group. (Click on the image to enlarge it for viewing.)
Here is UP's official page on the unit and the plans for it.
I don’t recall reading anything about this here.
From trainorders via LocoNotes: UP will be unveiling a unit commemorating the 70th anniversary of the USAF in San Antonio on Thursday, at the intermodal terminal there. Locomotive 9026 (SD70ACe) has been renumbered 1943 and given special paint derived in part from ‘nose art’ for B17 “Spirit of the Union Pacific”, which was funded in 1943 by contributions from 65,000 UP employees (Don Strack’s UtahRails site has a page on it).
To facilitate the renumbering, GP60 1943 (which was and perhaps still is in Cotton Belt paint!) is now patched to 1158.
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