heritage units other than UP

[EJE818]

DRGW 5371 is already retired, it had some serious motor problems so it was retired. UP has said the next place 5371 will be is in a museum though. It was in Cheyenne where UP's historic stuff is stored, and is where SP 1518 was stored until it was donated to IRM. At least it won't be scrapped or patched. 5371 dodged the patch numerous times at Roper, as it was supposed to be patched several times. The same thing happened to CNW 8646 and 8701 which are also not to be repainted until a major failure, but they kept dodging the patch due thanks to Proviso. The same thing happened with CNW 8575, but when 8575 went out on a trip west and went away from the clutches of Proviso it got patched at Hinckle. The funny thing is when 5371 was sent to Salt Lake City for a patch, UP's president sent them a letter saying not to patch it. If the letter arrived any later 5371 probably would've been patched already.

[Cris_261]

R.I.P. D&RGW 5371. The last time I saw 5371 was a couple years ago at the south end of the North Salt Lake yard on the head end of a train waiting for a signal to head south.

On a different note, I wonder how a Amtrak Genesis loco would look with the red nose and "pointless arrow" logo.

[trainfan1221]

what with csx's new paint scheme,it wouldn't take to much to make a C&O or B&O heritage unit.

mike t.

It seems to be almost essentially what they are doing.  But I understand it isn't a nod to history on their part.   I do like the newer scheme better.

[Railroader_Sailor_SSN-760]

CSX paint jobs have always and will always be among the worst in the industry.

Chessie System, that was a railroad with a great paint job, and one of the most memorable mascots as well. 

I have always been partial to the Great Northern "Empire Builder" paint scheme, BNSF has done a fair job with it on their engines, but I would much rather see BNSF either go back to being the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, or to pick a name from one of it's fallen flags, than to be in the "Alphabet Soup League" with the antichrist of the railroad world, CSX. 

I remember seeing a photo of a Chessie caboose that CSX had painted for use in one of it's railyards a few years ago. Probally the best looking paint job on any car that CSX has put out in the last 20 years.  But, with the caboose being stuck to yard useage, and the interior sealed off, so the caboose is basically a transfer platform.

One of the things that irks me about modern railroading is how some roads will basically disavow their past. CSX is the biggest criminal in that, with BNSF trailing behind. (Again with the Alphabet Soup League.)

I once sent a letter to CSX asking if they were going to have a heritage program, and the response (phone call nontheless) I received was along the lines of the railroad being a business and not a museum.

That was a few years ago, and I am sure that the "I hate CSX club" still has more members than the CSX fan club.

I would definitely love to see more railroads do like UP and KCS and show the public the colors and flags of the past that have made them who they are today.

NS has never gotten much for good marks in my book regarding it's heritage due to the reasoning given for cancelling the Steam program that the Southern Railway had started. It is nice to see the NS Heritage GP59, but there has been nothing else so far, not even a N&W painted engine to complement the SR GP59.

I know railroading is a business to made a profit, but it definitely seems that with the notable exceptions of UP and KCS, the remainder of the Class 1s have little to no interest in history.

One final note on this, has any one else noticed that CSX seems to have more people that dislike it than any other railroad?

I have yet to find a website that corresponds to www.csx-sucks.com for the other Class 1s.

[steemtrayn]

Until recently, New Haven FL9s were running in Connecticut.

[SD60M]

Well here is a true heritage unit! BN SD40-2 #6908 is the last true BN SD40-2 on the roster and is pretty much hidden in BNSF's Tennessee Yards on the trimmer job at the north end of the yard. Hopefully they wont do anything to it.

[C&OFan1984]

I would like to see CSX do some heritage units like what UP has done in the past. Unlike UP, CSX won't do it because of the "paint budget" that each unit has. I would have loved to have seen CSX leave the SD70MACs that they received from Conrail in the Conrail paint. Also, it wouldn't have hurt CSX to keep a bunch of old C&O, B&O, & Western Maryland units in their 'as new' schemes. I mean, I would love to see an old WM SD40(rebuilt) in the old Circus scheme. Or an old C&O GP15 still in the CHessie paint.

I've done a few "throwbacks" and here they are.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/CandOforever14455/Chessie%20System/emdgp15tdbCS1509.jpg

This one is in the Western Maryland Circus scheme. However, it's an SDP35.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/CandOforever14455/Chessie%20System/sdp35WM7834.gif

NS' version of NW Tuscan Red scheme.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/CandOforever14455/Norfolk%20Southern/gees40dcNS7628.jpg

[fafnir242]

I love the Tuscan Red scheme.  That would look very smart indeed on an ES40DC.

[espeefoamer]

CSX was slow to paint units.For several ears you could still see units painted for Chessie System, Family Lines and a few for Seabord Coast Line.BNSF still has quite a few diesels painted in Santa Fe blue/yellow,and some in red/silver paint.There are also a large number of BN green units,and even some in Grinstein colors.

[pschuman21]

Yeah its really neat to see old heritage units still in action. Since I do model railroading and have older locos like BN-NP-ATSF. Like just the other day I saw a old (a bit beatup) SOO Line loco in a consist with 3 BNSF locos in Western, Washington, that was cool to see, I just wish I would have had my camera with me. 

[oltmannd]

Norfolk Southern painted this locomotive in conrail colors and is in the shared assets in New jersey.

Actually, NS didn't paint it.  Conrail Shared Asset painted it.  They may have been acting on the "asking forgiveness is better than permission" principle!

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Norfolk Southern painted this locomotive in conrail colors and is in the shared assets in New jersey.

Actually, NS didn't paint it.  Conrail Shared Asset painted it.  They may have been acting on the "asking forgiveness is better than permission" principle!

Maybe not.  Conrail still exists as a rather large terminal railroad to operate the Shared Assets.

[trainfan1221]

True but they don't have many of their own locos painted full Conrail colors.  Nice to see one newly painted as such.