I always liked how you could still make out the gold stripe on old ex-SOU engines.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
If the frame isn't damaged the unit will likely get rebuilt, unless they decide to use it as a parts source instead.
NS actually did two units in the Southern black/white/gold freight colours, the Savannah & Atlanta SD70ACe and this high short hood SD40, which was later donated to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
https://www.tvrail.com/equipment/southern-railway-3170/
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
I have frankly wondered about using passenger colors on freight engines in the first place... not that I don't enjoy them there, and I look forward to seeing the Belle scheme adopted on some of the CPKC Ltd. locomotives assigned 'south of the border'...
It would be easy to adopt the best Southern freight paint scheme (which is black and white except for an easy gold stripe) -- if we had no trouble getting 4935 repainted, why would the Heritage unit be any more difficult to find volunteers for, or print paint masks or wrap panels to do the painting...
Just sayin...
Leo_AmesBut given that it's the Southern heritage locomotive, I think there's reason to be optimistic that she'll retain these colors.
I hope you're right, but honestly I wouldn't be surprised if and when the Heritage units go in for major overhauling they come out in basic NS black.
Simply put, the people running NS now aren't railfans and could care less about entertaining railfans, or anyone else for that matter.
"Heritage? What's that? And how does it increase the profit margin?"
Hey, railroading's a business. I understand that.
Unit isn't fatally damaged. It was relatively minor, but it's going to be some time before she comes back out.
Altoona's severely slimmed down workforce is stretched pretty thin just keeping locomotives running, doing 25 DC-to-AC rebuilds a year, and the SD40-3 program.
Fixing what's damaged on this locomotive that derailed and ended on its side will I bet take a year or more in-between their routine work. As for what it will be painted as when she's returned to service, time will tell. Nobody knows.
But given that it's the Southern heritage locomotive, I think there's reason to be optimistic that she'll retain these colors.
The top about says it all.
Tim
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