I was thinking, would’nt it be nice is The BNSF did a Heritage series like Union Pacific? Ya know, Paint some of those Gevo’s in The Santa Fe’s Blue Bonnet and Warbonnet schemes. Burlington Norther Green and Black paint scheme as well as the Great Northern Scheme? I think it would be pretty darn cool to see some of those new locos in old paint schemes? Anybody else Think the same would be nice? Just a thought…
No!
If they butcher the GN scheme…[X-)]
Who wants to see a blue bonnet GEVO?
Plus there are many SF’s running around.
If they reshopped some units and overhauled them THEN repainted them, it would look great. I mean, some fresh painted GN SD9’s?[bow]
The Burlington Northern scheme is still around and not all versions are equal.
The Heritage Schemes would only be paint schemes applied before 1970.
Complete restoration of the oldest Santa Fe Road Switchers would be a higher priority.
Andrew
There’s a thing called “Corporate Culture”. And it’s really important. To a certain extent, it defines how employees at all levels think about where they work and what they do.
Union Pacific has a tremendous anchor in the past. They were the railroad that united the United States. So they cherish their history and preserve it with #884, #3985, etc. That doesn’t mean they don’t look to the furture and aren’t a modern corporation.
BNSF doesn’t have that. They’ve got some fantastic history, and they do honor that history. But the BNSF history isn’t as rich as the UP history. The NP, GN and ATSF were tremendous accomplishments, but they weren’t the first, like the UP was. So the BNSF doesn’t pay as much attentiion to the past as the UP does. But they do honor it, as they should.
I think they both do it about right, although I’d love to see a 2-10-4 pound over the Transcon one more time.
[:)]
I really like the ATSF “warbonnet” paint scheme. I would be happy if BNSF would simply repaint the once-beautiful warbonnets that I see. They are absolutely filthy, and they are beginning to show up with orange panels here and there. In fact, many of their older locomotives are still in other historical colors and need repainting.
If it’s a matter of money, I’d be willing to kick in a few dollars. How much does a clean and repaint cost? And would other railfans be willing to pay for one?
[:)] [:)]
An SD70MAC in Sky Blue… hhmmm…
or even Q silver (well, grey with silver side panels) with red stripes on the nose…hhmmm…
BN green and black just looks tough on anything, specially anything BIG.
If you need a Q heritage fix, you could always take a run down to the Bloomer Line in Gibson City, IL. Some beautiful Chinese Red there!
Hey guys,
A new paint job costs about $30,000 per unit. I don’t mean to upset you guys (someone mentioned "if they bucther the GN scheme…), but the Heritage I, II were based on the GN scheme. Thats why it’s called the ‘heritage’ scheme. Heritage III is just a new version of II and doesn’t seem to be routed in history.
By the way, do ya’ll like the new logo? I’m torn. Yes, it is finally an all together corporate logo. (I’m a graphic designer, done a few logos myself) But is it a railroad logo. I think I can accept it as a ‘modern logo’, but it doesn’t fit in with what everyone else has. The only other ‘cutting edge’ logos in the history of trains I can think of is CN and it’s subs, ie GT and W. Don’t get me wrong the others weren’t bad, they were ‘of the times’. The BNSF is the only class 1 with a new logo I know of.
[:)]
OK. I’ll contribute $100.00 to repaint a working warbonnet as a warbonnet.
Anyone else?
[:)]
[:)]
Ok. I’ll contribute $100 also.
But how about this for an idea. Someone from a shortline should see if they could lease a Santa Fe bluebonnet and while its on their property, secretly repaint it so it looks pretty.
[tup]
[:)]
Well, I thought about getting a group of railfans together to offer to do the work, but I’m pretty certain the unions wouldn’t go for that, even if BNSF were willing. And, I wouldn’t propose something that cheats a worker out of getting work that should be his/hers.
I don’t know whether BNSF would lease a locomotive. I think they need all they have, and then some. Sounds like a huge undertaking, getting the right paint, etc., and disposing of the dirty solvents and water from cleaning.
[:)] [:)]
On one of my many trips from Texas to Utah, we went through Vaugh NM. One of the trains we saw was definately a heritage BNSF. 4 engines – a Warbonnet, a Bluebonnet, a GN, and the first BNSF paint scheme. Unfortunately my pictures did not turn out well - but the memories did.
dd
I do!
I’d actually rather see an SD70ACe or SD70M-2 in Bluebonnet or even Yellowbonnet
Please don’t take this wrong or get upset but…are you a Union Pacific employee or are you just a UP fan? You must be, cause UP is far from what you said. They don’t care about all the railroads they killed nor all the history they destroyed. They painted those locomotives in tribute to the CNW, SP, WP, etc. for one thing and one thing only and that was for money. They had to paint equipment and use those railroads to keep the rights of them to get the money from models with that name. So far as long as i worked around UP and the days i tried getting on with them they sure are a bunch of jerks that act like kids and they don’t care about anything but themselves. I will say keeping the steam engines going was one bright idea they had out of a bunch of stupid ones. Have you read where they want their trains to pass from mexico in the USA and not have them checked untill 1500 miles or
Not to instigate another Pro-UP/Anti-UP thread that will surely evolve into another virtual donnybrook, but I don’t necessarily think everything you’ve written here is true. Doesn’t the UP have a museum dedicated to their history, and the history of their predecessor roads in Council Bluffs? It’s hard to imagine a railroad that runs a museum is interested in destroying history.
Didn’t they drop all the licensing fees? Maybe I’m seeing this wrong, but I really do think that the intent was the preservation and presentation of a bit of their history.
Just for curiosity, when did the CNW ever have a chance to buy the UP out?
Especially since sometime around 1985 the CNW was in danger of being taken over by the Blackstone Investment Group. The hostile takeover was somehow narrowly averted.
WHAT’S THE DEAL, HERE! A BNSF HERITAGE DISCUSSION…
…WITHOUT THE MENTION OF THE
FRISCO RR ?
Lets throw around some red and white paint, or some yellow and black, lets name some locos-
ManO’War! Citation! etc…
I guess I’m done venting, but you get my drift! [swg]
Yeah. Those Warbonnets look great!!!
I remember this.
Japonica Partners (through Blackstone) raised enough cash for a CNW buyout at $25, then $30, then $35, and finally capping at $38/share, more than the company was theoretically “worth.” (They even had “sweet” girls calling every shareholder soliciting the votes. - When I told one girl that I was sticking with CNW, she acted very “hurt” and implored me to change my mind – Even though I had ONE share.) Meanwhile, UP decided to tour the IAIS for an alternate route to Chicago. After touring the IAIS, UP decided to offer CNW a flat $50 per share of outstanding CNW stock, abruptly and permanantly ending the attempt at a hostile take-over.
Lots of good articles on the subject.
No. I’m not a UP employee or a particular UP fan. I think, except for thier heritage efforts, they’re kinda screwed UP.
I’ll make two points.
What I said is that the Union Pacific does a good and decent job with their rich history. That’s nice to see. They’ve been an important part of te United States. They realize that and they honor that. That’s important. And as an American and a railfan I appreciate that.
Secondly, I don’t think a Mexican railroad worker will necessarily inspect a train in an inferior manner compared to a US railroad worker. (A lot of US railroad workers have historically been born "somewhere else&