If a man showed up to shingle my house, and he looked like he just slept one off under a bridge, I think I’d probably look for a different roofer. Granted,he might be a darn fine roofer, but that’s not the image he’s showing the public. Maybe he couldn’t care less about what he looks like on the outside.
I really cant agree with you about the public Ed. Most people dont even take one glance at a train unless they are trying to beat it across the crossing. Zugmann is right, who really cares what the public thinks, most of them dont know the front of a train from the back so the paint wont make ANY difference in sales or PR. If they run a good railroad (for the customers, not for Bill and Jill across the tracks) than they will be successful. I have nothing against your statement about taking pride, but the KCS already does that with their current roster of grey locomotives.
Alec
Have you ever seen a customer refuse to let a railraod take its cars because they had a rustbucket engine??? I don’t think so, Tim.
Sure, turn away the guy because he has dirt under his nails and sweat stains on his shirt. Those are surely not the sign of a good worker. /sarcasm.
With your “standards”, the entire interior of your house is now probably ruined while you continue to look for a “clean” roofer.
[(-D] Apparantly, you didn’t get the analogy. Did I also mention that I’m over 12 years old?[:P]
I’m still looking for a customer that refuses service due to dirty and ugly engines…
Maybe it happens in Foamtopia?
I saw some Foamtopians along the ROW once…it was scary.
Good job, Ed Blysard! It’s nice to see that someone in this world still has a little sense.
Oh, by the way, I like the new KCS paint scheme. Hopefully I’ll be able to see it in person at some point or another.
Since we all know paint is what makes a railroad… [banghead]
The part that makes me laugh is how everyone will be falling over themselves for photos of this engine, and in a few years, they’ll be falling over themselves for photos of the last remaining KCS grey engines.
Is image worth nothing to a RR? Obviously not. Why else would RRs even bother having one? Why else would even stogy-old NS put out a calendar that is 100% pictures of trains? (all taken by employees, too!) Why have even a logo on the corporate web page, much less pictures of your locomotives?
Don’t kid yourself. A nice looking paint job and some good housekeeping are good for business and company morale. If they weren’t - no capitalist would bother with either.
FWIW, I like the new KCS scheme.
Also, FWIW, I used to work for CR, but I never thought the paint scheme was all that hot. IMHO, the blue color was nice, but it screamed “cheap” to me. (It WAS cheap, too. Paint the trucks black. Sand, prime, wash and shoot everything else blue. Roller black on the walkways. Lettering and logo were all peel and stick Scotchcal)
It lacked a good nose logo and needed something to break up all that blue. Perhaps a black roof with some white striping would have helped. It improved with the application of the white sill stripe, but then went downhill with the “Quality” paint job.
The customer doesn’t care! They just want their freight on time! Half the time there are engines from leasing firms or other railroads. I have yet to see a customer who cares…
Morale? How about treating the employees as the professionals they are? That would improve morale more than some stupid red and yellow engine. It shows that some foamer manager cares more about how an engine looks than their employees. All that masking adds to the cost of the paint job, which is less money for other improvements. But hey, at least they used Mexicans… that will REALLY improve morale!
IT IS JUST PAINT, people.
Dont take it personally Murphy. There seems to be a perponderance of people who apparently work hard at missing other people’s points. Also, if they dont agree with you, you are automatically a “foamer”, btw. I have yet to see somebody actually define what “foaming” entails. Oh well.
You make a good point though. Until information on reputation and performance can be gathered, appearance is just about all you can go on for picking an employee (or vendor). Obviously, appearances can be decieving, but thats part of business. You pay your money and take your chances.
You’re a foamer if you think that paint will make a railroad better at serving its customers.
I don’t even know why I bother. Yes, I do… it is fun. You buffies get so worked up over something as silly as paint, and miss the big picture. It is amusing.
So, I’m a foamer if I like the paint scheme? Even though I stay a respectful distance from the trains, don’t trespass, and try my very hardest not to give the railroad employees any problem, I’m still a foamer? Even though I don’t stand around acting like an insane person when a special paint scheme or train comes by, I’m still a foamer?
I think there are worse people than me out there.
Not if you keep everything in perspective.
Some people are trying to tell us that a new paint scheme will encourage more customers. Please.
Is I mentioned…people intentionally missing the point… [soapbox] Take the hearing protection off and listen for a few mins. Appearance can be used as an indicator of some particular trait. I dont answer the door if I see young males in black pants, white shirts and black ties with bicycles parked nearby since I dont want to join the Mormon church. If I hire a carpenter, I will expect to see weatherbeaten features and calloused hands. Time permitting, I will do more research than this topical inspection, but until then, this is all I have to go on.
So,
The KCS hired Mexican mormons to paint their engines?
I read this on another forum, but I think it applies here. Our hobby is the only one I’m aware of in which we have disdain for each other for having the same hobby we share.
Good point Erie. It sounds like politics. Those who fancy themselves as old bulls look down upon the uninitiated masses. The zealous look down on those infidels of us who dont eat sleep and breath the hobby. The rest of us get irritated at the individuals who take themselves way too seriously.
Because you’re an overbearing jerk who is so insecure he can’t stand it when someone disagrees with him? YOU MADE YOUR POINT - SO SHUT UP AND QUIT TRYING TO DROWN OUT THOSE WHO DISAGREE!!!
I understand perfectly well that a shiny paint job makes no difference to whether or not the freight gets delivered on time or whether the employees are comfortable while working. Still, I like the new paint scheme because it reminds me of an earlier time and it shows me that KCS wants to stand out. Best of all, it replaces that blah gray dip job that makes it look like KCS is ashamed to be a railroad.
If you don’t like the new paint, fine, it’s a free country. It’s KCS’s money, they can spend it however they want, and apparently they think it’s worthwhile to spend a few bucks on paint. Deal with it.