The day started well enough, I’m driving along last weekend coming back from the OC and thought I’d take a little side trip down Orangethorpe Blvd in Fullerton where the road parallels the BNSF mainline for a few miles and see if I could catch a passing train or two, crossing the tracks, sure enough I see the signals are grenn for a coming train in the same direction i was driving so as I turn onto Orangethorpe I see headlights and I cruise down the road while the train catches up to me, sure enough by the time I raech the next light, the signal is down, i speed up a bit and I hear the rumble coming from behind, then the horns as it nears the crossing at the signal. As the signal lights all turn to green to allow traffic parallel to the track to continue,( its a great spot to chase trains ) I roll thru the signal and look over to see…NORFOLK SOUTHERN!!![:0][:0][:0]
What the hey is going on I thought! This is sunny Kalifoonia, not mossy Virginia, this is the land of surf boards and ski-racks, not rifle racks, I was shocked to see two NS Black Hearses leading the train thru my fair sunbelt, grumbling and grimmacing along like two angry Darth Vaders. The invaders pulled ahead as I had run out of road in Yorba Linda, they continued east , heading home after there visit to the far left coast. I had to let the prey go, but was left disturbed
by the sight of the two MIB (Motors In Black) that had obviously been left here in SoCal by mistievous aliens.
I drove home disturbed by what I had seen…What happened to the silver and black warbonnets?, what happened to the “its the great pumkin” orange BNSF beasts I expected to see?, will the next time I cruise down the Drag in Pomona looking for UPs will I instead see a CSX lash up? Too many questions, not enough answers…
first there are no ski-racks in VA just other things and rednecks and I thought the same thing when I saw a pic of a MRL was on a NS train in Sailsbury,NC also I often see an invasion of NS (but not on forign tracks) except a UP coal train with all NS hoppers
Actually, Dave and Matt were over at the house today for a power lunch and decided that it would be Burlington Norfolk Southern Fe so that the present stock of stencils could be used.
You must not spread this information around as the SEC might get upset-inside information and all that.
Here in Norfolk Southern backwoods, I see “foreign” power all the time. I’ve seen leased, ancient BN green and white, pumpkin BNSF, UP, and even TFM units (on a local switch job, no less.) All that tells me is that the power desk is using whatever is at hand…
Can’t blame NS for using black… Henry Ford said it best: “I don’t care what color car people want, so long as it’s black.” This thread is the first time I’ve heard the NS paint scheme called “Darth Vader”, tho.
Re: merger between Big New Santa Fe and New Southern: it would be a mess, I think. My impression of the two railroads is that BNSF specializes in long haul, high speed, unit traffic; what I’ve seen on NS has been more of a mixed bag supporting local industry. (This might be a function of where I live and not reality, though.)
A merger like that would give Triple Crown a few more service lanes, wouldn’t it? They’d have to triple track the transcon to get those slow moving stack trains out of the way of the road rockets.
I refer to NS black engines as “Black Hearse” paint scheme, 'cause thier long and black and remind me of hearses I see on the freeway. The Darth Vader comparison was a result of seeing one up close and the angular safety cab combined with the Henry Ford paint scheme they did indeed look menacingly like the lord of the dark side.[;)]
BTW it was NS 9671 and 9387, forgot I had written those down.[:D]
Heh, heh, heh . . . . Do not be concerned, just a small advance party. To steal a line from someone else on the board, “Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated”.