Yellow frame stripes on UP SD70ACes

[2059]

While looking through the pictures of UP SD70ACes on railpictures.net I came across a few of the locos with yellow stripes on the frames. It seems the yellow stripes are in the higher number series. Anybody know if the UP made a switch to yellow stripes on the frame? I have a link below which should show a picture of two UP SD70ACes bracketing an SD60M. The front loco has the yellow stripe and the third loco has the usual red stripe.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=103324

[pimpz26]

Yellow reflective tape?

[dehusman]

Yellow stripes are to comply with new Federal reulations. Eventually all locomotives (nationwide) will have some sort of reflective stripe.

Dave H.

[2059]

Yep they've got yellow reflective tape instead of the usual red stuff. Wasn't the red stripe reflective tape already? If they have to use the yellow stuff from now on it'll take some time to get used to it.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

FRA regulations require that the reflective striping be yellow or white, probably because they reflect light better than other colors.

[edblysard]

Keep your eyes peeled, you will see the yellow or white stripes on freight cars showing up all over the place.
As was pointed out, the FRA now requires all locomotives to have reflective markings on the sills, steps and handrails, and all freight cars must have some form of reflective markings by 2008, (not positive on the date).

You can already see it showing up on new and repainted UTLX tankcars and covered hoppers...either a solid line on the sills, or a series of broken lines or dashes.

Its to make the cars and locomotives more visable at night, under automobile headlights, to help prevent people from driving into the side of a train at a dark, unsignaled crossing.

The reason red reflective tape was left out(according to the FRA guy down here) is due to the fact that people are used to seeing red reflections at night, and might confuse the red dashes as automobile tail lights....which they tend to ignore.

Ed

[CShaveRR]

Yes, the first SD70ACEs were delivered with red stripes on the "frame", but now they've changed to yellow. The railroad regards this as a "major change" to their paint scheme; my own opinion is that it really takes something away, regulations notwithstanding.

So far, I don't think the change has come to the new ES44ACs being delivered.

Ed, Union Tank got the jump on nearly everyone else, and was applying those strips well in advance of their becoming the law. Most of theirs look pretty good, on new or freshly-repainted equipment. Other companies have begun to apply them to cars that haven't been repainted (maybe washed off in the places where the stripes go).

Which makes one wonder how effective this is going to be in our real-fife, dirty world. That's one of the things that did in the ACI labels on the freight cars--grime produced bad readings, or no readings.

[tree68]

I've been seeing CSX coal hoppers with the reflective tape applied in vertical strips between the ribbing. The strips vary in length according to where on the body they are.

While the reflective material will take a beating, it'll remain to be seen how much it affects the effectiveness. ACI had a lot of detail in a fairly small area. If the reader couldn't get it all, it would be a bad read. With the strips, even some reflectivity is better than none. At some point you'll probably start seeing where a section of the tape has been replaced...

[chad thomas]

Why can't they use both yellow AND red ?

Oh, yea, this is the UP. $$$$$$$

[dehusman]

They have to use yellow because the Federal law requires it. It doesn't provide for yellow and red, just yellow or white. Your tax dollars at work.

Dave H.

[stmtrolleyguy]

Now what will these new (at least for a lot of cars and rolling stock) stripes do to out night photography with flash?

Ugh.

[2059]

Do you think the UP will have to convert all their locos so they have the yellow tape? In my opinion they look a lot better with the red tape.

[espeefoamer]

[#ditto] [#ditto] [#ditto] [#ditto] [#ditto]
The yellow stripe leaves me [:(!].
My comments would be [censored].

[ericsp]

I would like to go back to freight car stripes for a minute. With many cars these days having graffiti covering the entire bottom portion (and it seems like the amount of graffiti on cars keeps increasing), I have my doubts as to the effectiveness of these stripes. Here is a question for the attorneys on the forum. If the railroads do not keep replacing the reflective tape when they become covered with graffiti, will this make it more likely someone who runs into the side of a train to win a lawsuit against the railroad?