Worst paint schemes

[coalminer3]

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

work safe

[CP5415]

Via's blue & yellow.

Gordon

[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)

[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

[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

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

[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.

[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)

[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.[?]

[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]

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?

[JoeKoh]

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

[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

[David3]

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

[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?

[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.

[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]

[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?)

[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!

[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]

hi

[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]

Growing up near the B&O I weathered the transgretion from the classic Blue/Gray/Black & Yellow scheme, to the plain Blue with various renditions of yellow trim without too much heartburn. But upon the creation of the Chessie System the bright Yellow carbody, Blue top, and Orange separting stripe was about the gaudiest and ugliest scheme I have seen. It looked 99% C&O, and the B&O monikers looked totally out of place. I will admit however, from a safety standpoint, they were easy to see.

[Anonymous]

Good schemes, bad schemes, it's really like art in that the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. In the days of yore, i.e. first generation diesels, the railroads for the most part were trying to impress the traveling public with flashy, attractive, and powerful looking paint schemes. They also had the benefit of the fruits of the industrial designers at GM, Alco, Baldwin, and others that provided shapely carbodies upon which attractive schemes flowed. Today's angular and/or squared off carbodies do not lend themselves to the sophistication of past schemes. The question I have is, why can't EMD and GE design their carbodies to replicate the E/F Series and Alco PA types of the past? The general shape of the engine has come full circle back to what it was in the 40's and 50's. Food for thought.

[Anonymous]

That dull SP red and gray (looked like grime itself) back in the 70's and 80's s**k*d, in my opinion.

Jay

[Anonymous]

Definitely the Penn Central jade green was the fugliest

[Anonymous]

I like Norfolk Southern's Black and White, and the horse is a good symbol of power... Probably the uglist paint I have ever seen is that nasty pumpkin scheme used by BNSF.

[Anonymous]

CP without the Multimark is boring...bring back the Pac-Man, or better yet, the Maroon livery with script lettering.

[Train Guy 3]

I saw this really ugly paint schem on some pictures of experimental meg-lev trains of the 80's.... the future scetches looked even worse.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to contradict my fellow forum-goers, but there were some bad paint schemes.
But where to start....Well, I like the good old Soutern Pacific, and they had the best paint scheme of all time: the Daylight (I'm going to get flack from someone for that)!!! Their Black Widow scheme was very nice as well, but the good old Espee had some doozies too. I certainly can't rave about the SP Lark scheme, and the Golden State Limited (the Chicago-Los Angeles streamliner which was a joint operation of SP and Rock Island) had a paint scheme that I definitely would not enter into a beauty contest (I am, of course, not refering to the Daylight diesels which could be found pulling it, but the red and white scheme).
Being an UP fan, I consider the UP's Armour Yellow scheme to be one of the best ever. However, the scheme that Uncle Pete applied to their bath tub-shroud streamlined mountains left much to be desired.
And then came Burlington Route. Don't get me wrong-the CB&Q did a lot of good things, like the fiirst dome car. But their paint scheme on their streamliners was a lot like my silverware: they're both solid stainless steel. The Q didn't put any paint onto their streamlined cars, like many other railroads who also left their streamliner cars unpainted. But the CB&Q hardly even painted their locomotives!

Oh well...I have just upset Burlington Route fans, SP fans, and my fellow UP fans in this posting.
-Daniel