Merger Paint Schemes

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Greetings,

When railroads merge now adays do they only repaint a certain percentage of equipment for cost purposes?

I live near the ole FW&D in Texas and all I see is BN Cascade green and Sante Fe colors with a low percent of the new BNSF Paint scheme.

The merger happened about 7 years ago?

Mark in Texas

2

I agree. BNSF has some paint jobs on their hands. I’ve still seen Chessie locomotives around (CSX happened when??).

3

Put it this way, if you decided to change your paint scheme, would you repaint every car in your fleet? Think about how many cars are out there. Paint is a preservative, it keeps the steel from rusting, its not a decoration. From a cost perspective, it would be a very wasteful policy to repaint after every merger. Beside, imagine how dull it would be if every car looked the same except for its number.

4

Big_Boy hit it on the head. This is a money issue. I believe that locomotives are usually first to get some paint… usually a simple renumbering patch to fit the new RRs number scheme. As those locomotives go in for major overhauls, that is typically an opportunity to assimulate it. As for the fleet… I would agree as a protective coating that doesn’t get covered until it is absolutely necessary.

5

Thanks Shawn. Most of the cars that have new paint are new equiptment, and most new equiptment is replacement for retired or wrecked. Railroads buy cars by the hundreds, and locomotives by the tens. Locomotives come painted from the manufacturer, and I’m guessing that cars do too. You wouldn’t buy an undecorated automobile, would you?

You should see the ex Milwaukee and ex Soo locos that CP still uses. Some of it is so old it will be retired before its repainted. Its much more important that equiptment is in good working order, than if it looks nice. Railroading ain’t no beauty contest, its hard dirty work!

6

yep. UP still has about 75 locos painted for C&NW from a merger 9 years old, and I still see Rolling Stock painted for Southern (20+ year old merger)

7

I almost mentioned that Northwestern stuff too. We still have a lot of it up here. Must be wierd seeing it in California!

8

What is the standard BNSF paint scheme?

I don’t think they really have one.

9

A couple of thoughts.

  1. Some railroads do buy engines with primer only and paint them in their own shops. I suspect it has something to do with workloads and unions but that is speculation. UP has done it frequently. IT has also been done when the builder was facing a strike.
  2. There are very few “mergers” today. Most are buyouts and the effort is to get the parent railroad logo out there in front of the public as quckly as possible.
  3. paints today are the best available in history. They last a lot longer than ever before even though all paint is subject to UV deterioration and yellowing. Most railroads use Dupont Imron As I recall which is a two part epoxy and is extremely hard and durable so engines don’t get reapinted very often.
10

On Non-Wide Cab locos like the SD40-2, the scheme is Heritage I
On Wide Cab locos like the Dash 9-44CW, the scheme is Heritage II

Heritage I is basicly the old GN “Empire” Schme Switching Executive Green for the Pullman. (Executive Green is the same green used on the BN Exec F-Units and SD70MACs)

Heritage II is a revamping of the old CB&Q Chinese Red schme just substuting the Santa Fe Nose Shiled and swaping Orange and Green for Red adn Gray.

James.

11

When I read that line I had a mental flash of gray, covered hoppers!

12

Thankyou, I’ll pay more attention to the BNSF locos that go through my hometown every day.