Worst paint schemes

[TH&B]

You wanna see UGLY paint schemes? Try some of the fancy European trains, Enland alone is realy bad. I saw an engine over there "on the Continent" that was painted like abstract art, if I worked there I would file a safety complaint and say the paint job camoflages the engine and you can't see what is front or back, a safety hazard. The worst of all is shrink wrapped colour schemes, they are worse then even graffity tagging.
I like Penn Central, Norfolk Southern, Illinois Central (all have a large white logo on the nose) and old steamers that were mostly black. But most class one colour schemes are/were decent.

[Anonymous]

hi

[Trainnut484]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken


(4) Trainnut & eloa...there were still a couple of the SDP40Fm's in the mothball fleets at Barstow, Lincoln and Topeka that probably will only come out as trailing power on road freights. (They are SD-40's underneath and they actually run, as opposed to those sorry, clapped-out cascade green junkers frequently found DIC.... BN could certainly throw money around, but never understood how to maintain anything..remember how Oakway got started?and later the gray/white/red GE's?)

Yes I've seen a few running around here in KC, but the sightings are getting fewer and more farther in between.

Take care[:)]

Russell

[Anonymous]

AltonFan - here, here! I plum forgot about just how bad "THE ROCK" scheme looked... as I sigh and look at my old Bachman "THE ROCK" geep, from way back when, lol!

[mudchicken]

(1) Another publication put NS & PC's black paint jobs down by calling them "13-D" (as in dull,drab, dreary, dark......) It seems to fit...
(2) Milwaukee Road's bandits...what about early ConRail's "smurfs"?
(3) Captain Clack, I respectfully disagree. (In those days, that paint was radical compared to their dark green & yellow predecessor paint jobs)
(4) Trainnut & eloa...there were still a couple of the SDP40Fm's in the mothball fleets at Barstow, Lincoln and Topeka that probably will only come out as trailing power on road freights. (They are SD-40's underneath and they actually run, as opposed to those sorry, clapped-out cascade green junkers frequently found DIC.... BN could certainly throw money around, but never understood how to maintain anything..remember how Oakway got started?and later the gray/white/red GE's?)

[brilondon]

I can't stand the original amtrak scheme. The NS and its predecessor NW are the most boring, but ugly has to go to the Milwaukee Roads' Bandits.[8D]

[AltonFan]

Of all the paint schemes I can think of, the worst was the Rock Island's "THE ROCK" scheme. They should have stuck with a red/maroon scheme. And that gigantic "R" only became a giant paint blob when all the equipment was dispersed after the line went under.

The Chicago and North Western began using a very bright/flourescent yellow in the early 1980s. The color didn't weather well, and began to look chalky after a time. They should have stuck with their original yellow.

I did like the original RTA colors, and don't mind Metra's current blue and orange.

[Anonymous]

OK, I wanna get someone's opinion on this -

I think it's time we stop kidding ourselves. The McGinnis New Haven scheme was UGLY, UGLY, =UGLY=. It wasn't progressive, or bold, as some have said, just plain UGLY. Anyone agree?

[David3]

I just saw the new NS paint scheme today, and I don't think it looks too bad. [^]

[David3]

I may have seen it on one of my many webcams that I watch, but maybe the train's going by so fast I can't tell the difference between the two paint schemes, thanks. David

[JoeKoh]

the ns paint scheme has the horses head inside the lines thenNS.
stay safe
joe

[David3]

I don't like the "dark future" CSX paint scheme. You know I haven't seen the new NS paint scheme. What does it look like?

[Anonymous]

I liked the CSX "stealth" paint unlike many of you but their new "dark future" scheme looks quite ugly. Futhermore NS's newest version of the whiteface scheme was a big mistake!

[David3]

When it first came out, I didn't like the new BNSF paint scheme.... you know the cigar label one, but now I love it, I don't know what made me start liking it.[?]

[rich747us]

Hmmmm, worst paint scheme eh? I personally would give that honor to none other than the Penn Central of the 21st century, commonly known as NORFOLK SOUTHERN! (lol)

[Anonymous]

I saw one, in a Nevada Newspaper it was a GP painted in an ugly lime green and bright yellow. Possably the ugliest paint scheme on any diesel.

[Trainnut484]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eolafan

Russel, there is an FP45 in silver and red warbonnet at the Illinois Railway Museum as well and she looks awesome, and I don't think any of the SDP40F reincarnations are still running, and none (to my knowledge) ever made it into any of the BNSF schemes, but I still say I would have liked to have seen that!

I'm glad at least a couple of FP45s were saved from the torch[^][^].

Take care[:)]

Russell

[eolafan]

Russel, there is an FP45 in silver and red warbonnet at the Illinois Railway Museum as well and she looks awesome, and I don't think any of the SDP40F reincarnations are still running, and none (to my knowledge) ever made it into any of the BNSF schemes, but I still say I would have liked to have seen that!

[Trainnut484]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eolafan

I certainly would like to have seen an F-45 or FP-45 painted in either the pumpkin or executive scheme (would have preferred pumpkin in this case). Too bad that will now never happen!

Thank goodness that didn't happen [^]. SF's F45s and FP45s were born in warbonnet, and were "buried" in warbonnet[^][^][^].

FP45 #93 is on display in Wichita, KS, and I think a few of the ex-Amtrak SDF40-2s are still running around in B/Y warbonnet.

Take care[:)]

Russell

[Anonymous]

Alaska Railroad had 3 or 4 paint schemes, 3 are now in use. Some people dislike the new SD70MAC scheme. (Check out some links in my profile to see what i'm talking about) But I hate the one where locos are painted completely black with gold letters "ALASKA RAILROAD" on sides. You can't get any more creative than that.
Oh, and i dislike numbers on the Union Pacific units. They look ugly. (in my opinion)

[CP5415]

Via's blue & yellow.

Gordon

[coalminer3]

CSX stealth - real fun when you confront something painted like that on a foggy or snowy day.

work safe

[Chazmort]

(1) PC black
(2) all the orange and brown candy bar schemes. Sorry, but IC's and GN's passenger trains looked awful.

Most disappointing scheme was the Vomit Bonnet or Warpumpkin.

[Saxman]

Although it probably isn't really a paint scheme, the Primer Gray that NS chooses to recieve their new locomotives in. It was explained to me that NS saves about $10,000/locomotive not have it painted by the factory including having to clean the locomotive up and labor when it does get painted at a NS shop. Bean counter at work: Let's see 100 locomotives ordred x $10,000/locomotive saved by not painting at factory = $1,000,000. Viola I saved 1/2 the cost of one locomotive.

Real live scheme: CSX Stealth Gray. A real statement from a railroad concerned about safety.

[Anonymous]

No doubt about it, the grimy, dirty, paint peeling Southern Pacific gray diesels were the worst. They were in a class all by themselves....

[Wdlgln005]

some quick repaint jobs just don't work

Let's start with those soo/milw black bandits. Or boxcars with big patches of paint where the old herald was. Look at all the railboz type boxcars with patch jobs. At least the GTW used red paint for their former UP units. I liked the New IC'c black painted units. They had an open house tour of the Markham shops. Seems they used a similar water based paint that we use on our models, plus a white stencil for the new herald. But on the handrails & other areas, the paint would wash or rub off & the white/orange paint underneath wotld reappear! Makes a prototype for almost anything on the model! Keep cool & safe this summer.

[Anonymous]

The Pacman of the CP Rail, and the dual flags too.

Sometimes the red on them would go pink.

[vsmith]

Ugliest:
Southern Pacific grey/red but you cant see it for all the grime covering everything.
Bring back the Daylight colors or at least the Black Widow scheme.

BNSF pumpkin stripes are pretty bad.

Conrail looks like it locos come from IKEA.

Thank God Union Pacific hasn't changed their colors.

[Anonymous]

Black is an FRA friendly color. You may not like it, but it keeps those oil leaks and dirt from turning into negative cash flow. It also covers nearly any color without a second coat. Beancounters dream. Sort of explains both use by PC and NS...

LC

[eolafan]

Folks, while I agree that some paint schemes are nicer to look at than others, I really think that as long as the paint is on a train and not a truck or an airplane, it can't be all that bad, now can it?