Should BNSF bring back the Warbonnet and the Santa Fe name???

[Anonymous]

Speaking as an English Modeller of American Railroads (regretably still in planning) I think it would add great interest if all the names and logos of the railroads now confined to history were to be acknowledged by the successor railroad companies be it only by the name and the  decal on the side of a locomotive     As a stop-gap to getting the railroad corporations to honour and remember their own heritage why not lobby the Federal Government to have the Federally funded Amtrak have some of it's passenger trains painted in the same colours of the 'Fallen Flags' over whose lines it now runs   I know I digress but in my opinion one of the saddest loss to 'colourful' railroading was the prohibition of the Billboard Boxcar   My thought is that the ban could be un-constitutional as it prohibits free speech, even if it is only saying 'Buy Acme Soap', and free speech is guarenteed by one of the amendments to your constitution   Now that really would brighten up watching a freight train thundering by 

  If you want to keep the Railroads   Ship it by Rail 

[Prairietype]

Speaking as an English Modeller of American Railroads (regretably still in planning) I think it would add great interest if all the names and logos of the railroads now confined to history were to be acknowledged by the successor railroad companies be it only by the name and the  decal on the side of a locomotive     As a stop-gap to getting the railroad corporations to honour and remember their own heritage why not lobby the Federal Government to have the Federally funded Amtrak have some of it's passenger trains painted in the same colours of the 'Fallen Flags' over whose lines it now runs   I know I digress but in my opinion one of the saddest loss to 'colourful' railroading was the prohibition of the Billboard Boxcar   My thought is that the ban could be un-constitutional as it prohibits free speech, even if it is only saying 'Buy Acme Soap', and free speech is guarenteed by one of the amendments to your constitution   Now that really would brighten up watching a freight train thundering by 

  If you want to keep the Railroads   Ship it by Rail 

Who or what prohibited the Billboard Boxcar? Hey, if a truck can drive around city streets with a changing panel, why can't a railroad do the same? Business, is business, is business.  "Grafitti artists" and I use that term disparagingly shouldn't have the sole and exclusive franchise for the boxcar canvass. 

[Murphy Siding]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

[Mookie]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

  All Right!

[SFbrkmn]

Here is my 2 cents, for whatever its worth. I will try to be fair on both sides.  I am an employee of the company, a lifelong ATSF fan who never had much interest or a liking of the BN. I had an uncle who worked for BN and hated them. Yrs ago I was a shipper on ATSF and thought, for the most part, they were a fair transportation company to do business with. However, when BN bought out the Santa Fe in 1995, that was the end of both railroads as we knew it and the creation of a new one--like it or not. The new owners of the rr could have simply dropped the SF name all together &  operate the merged system as BN but they didn't. As much as we all liked the Warbonnet, it  that belonged to ATSF. It was in the ATSF era and proudly was a display of that great rr when it was an active carrier. No, the Warbonnet was a symbol of ATSF, not BNSF. It was a great part of rr history for so many yrs and thankfully was brought back for the final few yrs before the merger but it needs to put to rest but not forgotten by any means. BNSF needs to develop its own heritage & public culture. Will it be able to hold a candle to the old SF? probably not but atleast give it a chance.

[Murphy Siding]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

  All Right!

It's the icons, I tell ya.  There are none with rolling eyes, or tounge-in-cheek.

Edited to note, that I can't tell if your "All Right!" means or ?

[oltmannd]

Here is my 2 cents, for whatever its worth. I will try to be fair on both sides.  I am an employee of the company, a lifelong ATSF fan who never had much interest or a liking of the BN. I had an uncle who worked for BN and hated them. Yrs ago I was a shipper on ATSF and thought, for the most part, they were a fair transportation company to do business with. However, when BN bought out the Santa Fe in 1995, that was the end of both railroads as we knew it and the creation of a new one--like it or not. The new owners of the rr could have simply dropped the SF name all together &  operate the merged system as BN but they didn't. As much as we all liked the Warbonnet, it  that belonged to ATSF. It was in the ATSF era and proudly was a display of that great rr when it was an active carrier. No, the Warbonnet was a symbol of ATSF, not BNSF. It was a great part of rr history for so many yrs and thankfully was brought back for the final few yrs before the merger but it needs to put to rest but not forgotten by any means. BNSF needs to develop its own heritage & public culture. Will it be able to hold a candle to the old SF? probably not but atleast give it a chance.

That's exactly what I read in "Leaders Count".  Krebs and Rose knew (and know) that the only way they were going to get the BN and ATSF guys to row the boat in the same direction was to get them to leave their past corp culture behind. 

As an ex-Con at NS, I can certainly understand and empathize.

[paulcap]

 HELLO,BNSF SHOULD STAY WITH THE PRESENT PAINT SCHEME, BUT THEY MIGHT BRING OUT SOME UNITS IN A HERITAGE TYPE SCHEME LIKE THE UP HAS.

[al-in-chgo]

Speaking as an English Modeller of American Railroads (regretably still in planning) I think it would add great interest if all the names and logos of the railroads now confined to history were to be acknowledged by the successor railroad companies be it only by the name and the  decal on the side of a locomotive     As a stop-gap to getting the railroad corporations to honour and remember their own heritage why not lobby the Federal Government to have the Federally funded Amtrak have some of it's passenger trains painted in the same colours of the 'Fallen Flags' over whose lines it now runs   I know I digress but in my opinion one of the saddest loss to 'colourful' railroading was the prohibition of the Billboard Boxcar   My thought is that the ban could be un-constitutional as it prohibits free speech, even if it is only saying 'Buy Acme Soap', and free speech is guarenteed by one of the amendments to your constitution   Now that really would brighten up watching a freight train thundering by 

  If you want to keep the Railroads   Ship it by Rail 

Who or what prohibited the Billboard Boxcar? Hey, if a truck can drive around city streets with a changing panel, why can't a railroad do the same? Business, is business, is business.  "Grafitti artists" and I use that term disparagingly shouldn't have the sole and exclusive franchise for the boxcar canvass. 

It does seem strange, in this day and age where everything from a messenger bike to a VW to rapid transit rolling-stock can be "wrapped" in mylar advertising, that the big RR's haven't thought to do the same  --  on their own behalf or that of other firms, as advertising.  - al

 

[KCSfan]

Wishing for a return to the name, Santa Fe, and the Warbonnet paint is like wishing they will put steam locomotives back on the head end of their trains. IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN! Just like cabooses and iced reefers, these are history now and they only exist in our memories, in photos and on model railroads. Change is inevitable and whether any of us agree or not it's called progress. Quit whining about such trivia and just be thankful that the trains are still running and the railroads are over the malaise they suffered in the 1960's to 80's.

Mark

[Bergie]

Is this the illustrious Warbonnet that so many have fond memories of?...

BNSF (ex-Santa Fe) C40-8W no. 846 in Galesburg, IL December 9, 2006.  © Erik Bergstrom

One reader's opinion: BN's Executive cream & green scheme is holding up a LOT better.

Bergie

[Mookie]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

  All Right!

It's the icons, I tell ya.  There are none with rolling eyes, or tounge-in-cheek.

Edited to note, that I can't tell if your "All Right!" means or ?

basic black with different colors of pin striping.  Very classy.  End of ugh orange. 

[zardoz]

Is this the illustrious Warbonnet that so many have fond memories of?...

BNSF (ex-Santa Fe) C40-8W no. 846 in Galesburg, IL December 9, 2006.  © Erik Bergstrom

One reader's opinion: BN's Executive cream & green scheme is holding up a LOT better.

Bergie

Aye, she's a beauty, alright!

[SchemerBob]

This brings me to a point about the BNSF orange fading. While there are some engines that have faded to almost yellow, they seem to be few and far between. I don't know whether the "faded" orange is really faded at all - when compared to the bright, new units, it does look faded, but most of the time it doesn't look like it's fading into a completely different color, just a ligher shade of orange. Many of the remaining warbonnets still look good, but some, like #846 posted above, have faded almost to pink. To me, this isn't a very good image for any railroad, and this unit is due for a repaint. I'm afraid no matter how you try, there's no way you can protect the warbonnet paint on all of the engines. They'll all be repainted one of these days. But, seeing there are still many warbonnets that do look great, this will still be a long ways down the road.

[Murphy Siding]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

  All Right!

It's the icons, I tell ya.  There are none with rolling eyes, or tounge-in-cheek.

Edited to note, that I can't tell if your "All Right!" means or ?

basic black with different colors of pin striping.  Very classy.  End of ugh orange. 

  Next thing you know, you'll want a horse on it too!

[Mookie]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

  All Right!

It's the icons, I tell ya.  There are none with rolling eyes, or tounge-in-cheek.

Edited to note, that I can't tell if your "All Right!" means or ?

basic black with different colors of pin striping.  Very classy.  End of ugh orange. 

  Next thing you know, you'll want a horse on it too!

  Back to "All Right!"

[eolafan]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

  All Right!

An old saying (can't remember who to attribute it to) goes something like..."YOU CAN'T PLEASE ALL THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME".

[Murphy Siding]

     I suppose, there will come a day, when railfans lament the good old days, when BNSF had those spiffy orange units with swooshes.  They'll also complain about the current day units, all painted soot black, with the road name *MEGA-Rail*, spray painted on the side.

  All Right!

It's the icons, I tell ya.  There are none with rolling eyes, or tounge-in-cheek.

Edited to note, that I can't tell if your "All Right!" means or ?

basic black with different colors of pin striping.  Very classy.  End of ugh orange. 

  Next thing you know, you'll want a horse on it too!

  Back to "All Right!"

And me back to