On the Model Railroader forum, there was a thread pertining to paint schemes people do not like. BNSF was mentioned.
I suggested that BNSF should go back to the warbonnet for its locomotives. I further suggested it use the "Santa Fe" name for the company. Reason is that "Santa Fe" the name and the warbonnet are recognized around the world.
How many people in the J. Q. Public world have even heard of BNSF Railway? The full name is too long and nobody can recall the initials.
The swoosh BNSF logo did not get any praise in the MR forum.
I would like to know the opinions in the Trains forum.
Thanks.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
I don't care for the warbonet paint unless it is on a E or an F unit...the current colors look nice although I'd bring back the Santa Fe name. A name with vowels that can be pronounced is always nicer.
Tom
COAST LINE FOREVER
It is better to dwell in the corner of a roof than to share a house with a contentious woman! (Solomon)
A contentious woman is like a constant dripping! (Solomon)
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
Nah...
They are not santa fe.. they are BNSF. And those orange GEvos shure do look sexy...
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
When you say "the full name is too long", are you referring to Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway? The railroad dropped this "long" full name. The railroad is now simply BNSF Railway. The parent/holding company is Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation.
Remember that Santa Fe was not the official railroad name either. The full name was Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. What a mouthful. What to get more complicated? Well in 1968 the railroad spun off a holding/parent company called Santa Fe Industries. And then after the failed Southern Pacific merger attempt in the mid 80's this parent company was renamed Santa Fe Pacific Corporation. When it comes to name stability, Union Pacific sure does it right. The most complicated you can get with their corporate name is Union Pacific Corporation.
Don't get me wrong, I'd sure love to see the Warbonnet and old name brought back. But as much as we would all like this, BNSF colors and lettering are here to stay.
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
I think so!
Yes, yes, and yes! (Oh wait, there's only 2 questions!)
Yes, I was aware they shortened the name to initials. I doubt it has much public recognition. I would bet more people are familiar with "Sante Fe Railway".
I would agree that Union Pacific has a better name from the standpoint of public recognition.
I also think the old slogan "Santa Fe all the Way" should still be appropriate. Can you think of a slogan for BNSF?
A rose is a rose, is a rose...etc. So, the current name, and the swoosh, do not bother me. I liked the warbonnets, the bluebonnets, and even the Grinsteins, as well as the big sky blue that GN once tried out.
What I'm glad of is that the current color employed is NOT cascade green, Chinese Red, or (god forbid) armor yellow.
My bet is that we won't see anymore warbonnets because there are enough former BN people still in the ranks who would feel that the gesture was some indication that SF is the superior entity in the partnership
To answer the "why?" of an earlier post....
Companies spend lots of money advertising to gain recognition. There already exists plenty of "free advertising" with the Santa Fe Warbonnet.
I see enough Warbonnets around here,that it never occurred to me that the scheme was "gone"....
I really can't say what I would like to see... the current colors are not so bad, but if I had my choice I would pick the warbonnets.....
I wouldn't bring back the Santa Fe name.
1. Costs too much money for a name change to one of the US's largest railroads2. They really aren't the Santa Fe. They acquired all of the BN trackage too.3. I didn't like the warbonnet scheme on the old GE's. Why put it on a GEVO?
The SF fans aren't going to take too kindly to #3, but the Warbonnet scheme was good for F7's, and that was it.
Phil
CSSHEGEWISCH wrote:Why?? BNSF does not run its railroad for our entertainment.
You just can't beat "Santa Fe all the Way". The best are the old TV commercials were Chico would say this.
Thanks for posting your opinions. Sorry if I did not explain my opinion very well. I did not mean to say BNSF is in business for our entertainment.
My .... I think the public easily recognizes "Union Pacific" . The BNSF does not have such public recognition. From a marketing standpoint, the business should have a better name that everybody recognizes. Now it's "Union Pacififc and "The Other Guys" operating railroads in the western two thirds of the USA.
The best answer in my humble opinion is "Santa Fe".
What about CSX? I bet more people know what BNSF means than CSX. In fact, I don't think CSX's full meaning was ever spelled out on any of their locomotives or anything. Only us railfans probably would know it meant Chessie, Seaboard and the multiplication symbol.
I think more people know what BNSF means than you think, so I think BNSF should stay the way it is. I like the warbonnet, but I don't think there's any use in bringing back a paint scheme of a former railroad and making it standard. There's no way the BNSF could "be" the Santa Fe again, because they aren't. I am glad though that there's as many warbonnet locomotives surviving that there are.
Remember, though, didn't BNSF paint some of its earliest new SD75I/M's and Dash 9's with the warbonnet paint scheme? Apparently they decided that it wouldn't work. I think that probably a big part of it was the BN. Heritage I was based on the Burlington Northern predicessors, and the Heritage II was based on the Santa Fe scheme. Now that it's been more than a decade since BNSF was formed, they now have an image all to their own...enter "Heritage III" and the swoosh.
Hi,
Boy, can I relate to these postings...........
I have been a Santa Fe and Illinois Central RR nut since the '50s.
I was saddened when the IC changed its name, logos, and signage to Illinois Central Gulf. So you can imagine how devastated I was when Canadian National - a foreign corporation -bought them out and killed the IC and/or ICG naming!!!
Still, I had my "Santa Fe", or so I thought. There were various rumors of merger but I never dreamed that they and the BN would get together. What a shock!!!!
But, to get to the point of the question, why couldn't they have kept the separate logos and paint schemes and signage on their equipment? That would have been cheaper by far, folks would still retain familiarity with their railroad, and "all would be right with the world".
Now for those of you that want an example of the above, let me cite my former employer, Mobil Oil Corporation. In 2000, Exxon "merged" (actually bought us out) with Mobil, creating Exxon Mobil Corporation. The buildings and refinery, etc. signage was changed accordingly, but the retail stations retained their origins (i.e. Exxon or Mobil), as did the products (i.e. Mobil 1, etc).
Of course the oil bizzness is not railroading, and of course the BNSF is surely not going to change anything for non revenue producing fans, so I conclude that we just have to be happy with what we got!!!
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I, (or should I say, my son) did an informal, non scientific survey of as many adults as he could talk to at his grade school (He's a very energetic first grader) and he asked them what "BNSF" stood for.... He says that all of the "big people" knew it meant "Burlington Northern and Santa Fe" Now, as far as how many he spoke with, he said he asked the lunch ladies, the custodian and the principal. I also cannot attest to the accuracy of his survey either.......
Union Pacific moreso today than ever before is an approptiate name since it is a union of so many other roads and certainly reaches the Pacific at many locations, likewise is Kansas City Southern since it runs from that city to so many southern points. Canadian Pacific is appropriately named but Canadian National is not, particularly since its acquisition of the ICG. Norfolk Southern is not at all descriptive of a road that encompasses so much of the former Conrail. As far as CSX is concerned I give up on that name as many others of you have.
With regards to BNSF Railway I can go along with the name but miss the old familiar Santa Fe. In reality the Santa Fe name was just a derivative of the road's full name, Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe which was never remotely appropriate for a railroad that reached from Chicago to California and the southwest. The city of Santa Fe was reached only by a minor branch line and neither Atchison or Topeka were points of major importance. The same could be said for the cities of Burlington and Quincy in the old CB&Q name. IMHO a really appropriate name for the BNSF would be The Great Western Railway since it primarly serves the mid, north and Pacific west (though admitedly not quite appropriate for the former Frisco line to Birmingham).
I've come to like the name, BNSF, and certainly don't expect to see it changed any time in the foreseeable future.
Mark
"Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, and Santa Fe..."
(Edit. Yes,yes, I know the slogan was for CHEVROLET, but you get my drift...bring it back.)
TimChgo9 wrote: I, (or should I say, my son) did an informal, non scientific survey of as many adults as he could talk to at his grade school (He's a very energetic first grader) and he asked them what "BNSF" stood for.... He says that all of the "big people" knew it meant "Burlington Northern and Santa Fe" Now, as far as how many he spoke with, he said he asked the lunch ladies, the custodian and the principal. I also cannot attest to the accuracy of his survey either.......
I wonder how many people in Philadelphia know what BNSF stands for? Of the general population I mean? - a. s.
If you want to bring back the Santa Fe Warbonnet, buy O Scale and G Scale Models.
That is why there are Scale Model Locomotives, to bring back what is gone.
BNSF is something different now. It is simply The Big Western Railway.
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
KCSfan wrote: IMHO a really appropriate name for the BNSF would be The Great Western Railway since it primarly serves the mid, north and Pacific west (though admitedly not quite appropriate for the former Frisco line to Birmingham).Mark
IMHO a really appropriate name for the BNSF would be The Great Western Railway since it primarly serves the mid, north and Pacific west (though admitedly not quite appropriate for the former Frisco line to Birmingham).
I wouldn't mind Chicago Great Western - it would pretty much describe the railroad - but unfortunately that name is owned by Union Pacific now.
It's a tough call, Santa Fe had a great history and the warbonnet was maybe the best diesel paint scheme ever (especially on E and F units as intended) but only served part of the current BNSF territory. The idea of having the "Santa Fe" hauling taconite pellets in Superior WI or running thru Glacier Park seems a little odd to me (although old ATSF engines do that now).
It does not really matter to me at all what the colors on the rolling stock are, as long as the railroad prospers, keeps running lots of trains I can view for a very long time.
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