What's wrong with dirty locomotives?

[nanaimo73]

I was looking at the "BNSF 7712 in H2 PAINT!!!" thread and I was thinking what a stunning photograph it was. Then I was thinking nobody is going to take photos of this locomotive when that pretty paint scheme gets dirty. I would like to see photographs of the Oakways once and a while, but they never seem to be in magazines. I don't know if the magazines are rejecting them or if people are not sending those photos in or are people not taking their pictures because they are dirty.I think they look fine with some dirt, it just means they have been working. BN Cascade and CP Rail SD40-2s look great when they are dirty. Amtrak (and ATSF Super Fleet) do not look good when they are dirty.I think I'm going to call those "white collar" paint schemes.BNSF is also a "white collar" to me. CN,CP,CSX,NS,MRL and BN(Cascade) are all "blue collar". That leaves UP. Until now it has been both. But now with the large Stars and Stripes on the side they can only be "White collar". Are those flags a mistake?They look wonderful now, but in a couple of years those flags are going to be dirty and marked up. Perhaps they will just put new flags on them every few years.

[emmar]

I enjoy pictures of both dirty and clean locomotives. Althought I do agree that Amtrak's paint scheme looks bad when it is dirty. As for the UP we will just have to wait and see how well the flag paint scheme ages.

[miniwyo]

I have never seen an SP unit clean so I don't think it makes any difference, as for UP i think the dirt gives it a totally different look but i like both clean or dirty.

[Anonymous]

There have been some really filthy engines rolling North lately. Gives me the impression the railroad will replace it with shiny new engines when the dirty one breaks down from lack of care.

There is a saying, dont drive a dirty truck, it is disreputable and attracts unwanted attention.

[Modelcar]

...I'd offer that dirty locomotives are like anything else....Dirty anything is a spokesman for whoever owns it...and projects an image of "this is how we do things"....And the public can take from that that is the way they do business....without much care....!

[Gluefinger]

UP's "molting" engines don't look much better, even when they're clean.

http://cnw4404.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=122494

[fuzzybroken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Gluefinger

UP's "molting" engines don't look much better, even when they're clean.

http://cnw4404.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=122494

Yeah, I agree with Chris on that one. Some of those UP engines look absolutely horrible! And they don't look good when they're dirty either, IMHO. Carryover from the SP???

-Mark
www.fuzzyworld3.com
www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

...I'd offer that dirty locomotives are like anything else....Dirty anything is a spokesman for whoever owns it...and prejects an image of "this is how we do things"....And the public can take from that that is the way they do business....without much care....!

Ya! You can sure say that again.
BNSFrailfan.

[DPD1]

To me, the condition of a company's equipment and property, says a lot about that company. If you walked into a garage to get your car fixed, how would you feel about a place that's clean, and how would you feel about a place that's a mess? If the place is a mess, it's probably not a big leap to think that they aren't going to care much about your car either. To me, same principle applies to railroading. If they don't care enough to take care of their own stuff, how well are they going to take care of mine? But I guess when you're the only show in town, you don't have to worry about what people think. It's not like they have a choice in a lot of cases.

Dave
-DPD Productions - Featuring the NEW TrainTenna LP Directional RR Radio Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

[Randy Stahl]

Consider that the wrong kind of "dirt" is a federal defect. For example, A draw bar that is encrusted with crap can and will hide a crack or defect. A wheel that has a buildup of grease can hide overheated (blue) wheels , as well as thermal cracks and other serious defects. Oil or grease on the walkways is a slipping hazard. A builup of grime on the handrails can hide the contrasting color, again, a FRA defect. Oil on the fuel tank will condemn a locomotive as well as oil in the air compressor room and the main generator.
Randy

[rvos1979]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

Consider that the wrong kind of "dirt" is a federal defect. For example, A draw bar that is encrusted with crap can and will hide a crack or defect. A wheel that has a buildup of grease can hide overheated (blue) wheels , as well as thermal cracks and other serious defects. Oil or grease on the walkways is a slipping hazard. A builup of grime on the handrails can hide the contrasting color, again, a FRA defect. Oil on the fuel tank will condemn a locomotive as well as oil in the air compressor room and the main generator.
Randy

Not to mention that oil that comes out the stacks and lands on your personal car is a pain to get off (time to hand wa***he car!!).

Sometimes I think the FRA could have condemned half the engines I ran while I worked for the WSOR. I wrote up quite a few for oil on walkways.

Randy

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by miniwyo

I have never seen an SP unit clean so I don't think it makes any difference, as for UP i think the dirt gives it a totally different look but i like both clean or dirty.

I don't recall the SP engines I saw as particularly dirty, but that was in the early '70's...

[TheS.P.caboose]

I've seen SP units both clean and dirty. The clean units where pretty new at the time. Either way, I've enjoyed the SP power in pictures.

[chad thomas]

At least on the SP the dirt blended in quite a bit. I miss those dirty SP units.

[DPD1]

My favorite dirty SP units, were the ones that ran as helpers on Tehachapi for a number of years. Actually, those things were beyond dirty... They didn't really have a finish at all. :-) They reminded me of the evil truck that chased Dennis Weaver in that old movie.

Dave
-DPD Productions - Featuring the NEW TrainTenna LP Directional RR Radio Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

[Anonymous]

There was a Westbound Hopper that come through town with a very nice and very clean UP SD70ACe with a very durty BNSF C44-9W going west to Fremont today this morning.
BNSFrailfan.

[Modelcar]

DPD1....Now that was scary.

[dldance]

I don't have a preferance for clean or dirty - but clean locomotives (and other equipment) photograph so much better than dirty ones. The dirt absorbs light - dimming the photograph. The dirt also obscures details - sometimes the very details that make the subject unique. On the other hand, hightlights from clean shiny surfaces can also obscure details, but I find it easier to tone down the highlights than pull details out of the mud.

dd

[bobwilcox]

I think this is one of those rail fan disconects. Railfans care about paint schemes and clean locomotives but customers do not care. In negotiating deals with many rail shippers between 1996 and 2003 clean locomtives never came up! It did not even come up in passing when I was negotiating with a railfan.

The world of railroading as seen by a customer and a railfan is vastly different. Nothing wrong with that it is just the way it is.

[Bullitt406]

A clean Rio Grande GP40-2 or SD40T-2 was a site to see, why? They were always dirty! Especially those that transversed the Moffat Route with all those tunnels.

I miss the Rio Grande, only 15 locos left.

Josh

[jchnhtfd]

I have never had a particular problem with a dirty looking engine -- that is to say, paint faded, soot from the engines on things, etc. However, look again at Randy's post and then look -- really look -- at the engines going by. Where it matters for safety, most times you'll find that the equipment is clean. If it isn't, then you really are looking at a railroad with coporate problems (or, just possibly, employee morale problems).

[chad thomas]

QUOTE: Originally posted by DPD1

My favorite dirty SP units, were the ones that ran as helpers on Tehachapi for a number of years. Actually, those things were beyond dirty... They didn't really have a finish at all. :-) They reminded me of the evil truck that chased Dennis Weaver in that old movie.

Dave
-DPD Productions - Featuring the NEW TrainTenna LP Directional RR Radio Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

That movie (Duel) had several scenes with classic SP trains in the Soledad Canyon/Acton area.[;)]

[nanaimo73]

I think that was the first movie Spielberg directed.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by nanaimo73

I think that was the first movie Spielberg directed.

Yes, it was.

[CSXrules4eva]

Hay wats wrong with a little dirt hear and there??/ Nothing. At least that's what I think. Locomotives that are dirty have been around the block a couple of times. That's a real locomotive. Me personally, I love to see dirty locomotives on coal drags. So far I'm going to have to say the best paint scheme to see dirty is NS's horse head scheme. My favorit locomotive to see dirty would be the SD70M.
Don't get me wrong I love seeing fresh paint, or washed locomotives too. While I'm talking about shiney locomotives, I would like to see chromed exhaust stacks on some fo the GEs and EMDs out there. That's not going to happen though. That would look real good with the shiny paint. They might as well put a neon light under the trucks too, that matches a specific paint secheme.

[Randy Stahl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CSXrules4eva

Hay wats wrong with a little dirt hear and there??/ Nothing. At least that's what I think. Locomotives that are dirty have been around the block a couple of times. That's a real locomotive. Me personally, I love to see dirty locomotives on coal drags. So far I'm going to have to say the best paint scheme to see dirty is NS's horse head scheme. My favorit locomotive to see dirty would be the SD70M.
Don't get me wrong I love seeing fresh paint, or washed locomotives too. While I'm talking about shiney locomotives, I would like to see chromed exhaust stacks on some fo the GEs and EMDs out there. That's not going to happen though. That would look real good with the shiny paint. They might as well put a neon light under the trucks too, that matches a specific paint secheme.

I agree... How bout a C30-7 ralley sport

[espeefoamer]

How about a set of air shocks,so the engineer can make the nose of a tunnel motor (appropriatly dirty) bounce up and down[8D]!