No "Desert Storm II" Paint Schemes

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I don’t want or mean this to get too political, but its interesting the difference between how some of the RR’s came out to support the troops with special paint schemes during Desert Storm (i.e. UP 3593), but no such activity this time around. I guess they too don’t have the stomach for the swirl of controversy. If I recall, the 3593 had special boards mounted to the railings honoring UP employees serving in the conflict. Seems BNSF also had a special commemorative red, white and blue loco w/ an eagle logo on the side. Is that one still around? I think that the camoflaged UP loco got repainted for visibility sake.

Even Conrail did a Yellow Ribbon loco (see photo link at bottom.)

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=122356&nseq=1

Here’s a great “where are they now shot,” UP 3593 as an ICE locomotive

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=118137&nseq=2

Conrail 6707

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=91805&nseq=3

2

BN 1991 went on to become a model for te new BNSF sceme

3

Political or not it’s a neat tribute. If the Class 1’s would do something to honor the troops that would be cool, and (I’m sure) an appreciated gesture. It could even be that they would do a unit not to support a particular campaign but perhaps a branch of the service. USAF, USA, USMC, USN, USCG would be 5 neat units.

4

Yes it would be very nice to have all the RR’s paint a loco or two to honor the men and women that serve, espesaily the class 1’s because they probably have a lot of men and women in the reserves that get called up.

5

Although I am an Air Force vet (my wife is active duty AF), I think a unit painted up for the Marines would really stand out. Of course the new Air Force emblem (wings) would look really great on the nose of a wide cab.

That is a great idea to have units painted up to represent each branch of the military. Sounds like a great idea for the BNSF.

6

BN 1991 and BNSF 9297 are not the same locomotive.

The 1991 was repainted into standard H2 paint as the 9299 in May of 2000.

The 9297 was repainted from BN green and white into the experimental scheme(s) in May of 1996.

Two completely different units- two completely different schemes.

7

Between UP, BNSF, NS, CSX, and KCS or AMTRAK that would make a heck of a nice statement.

8

I do not know why we did not respond after 9/11 the way that we did in the early 1990’s. I think that 5 SD70ACe unit painted to honor our soldiers would be a great jester of support to our personell all around the world.

9

Something that would be easy to do would be to put American flags on the front/ sides of the cabs. The Tennesse Central Railway Museum bought a pair of BN E’s from the Metra commuter fleet. At the last open house, the flags were still there! Not sure how long the E’s may last. It appears age & rust may have at last caught up with the veterans.

10

Agreed! Something as simple as the flag or the words “In God We Trust” or something like that would be easier and pretty recognizable.

11

Fantastic idea.

12

And the best part is, they already have color schemes, etc…

13

Anything that supports the military is great however UP painting an engine in desert camoflage was one of the stupidest thing I can imagine. I can’t believe some legal beagle didn’t pay somebody to get clipped by it and then habe him claim in court, “I never saw it! What kind of idiot paints a 170 tom locomotive so you can’t see it and then tries to kill somebody with it?”. Can you say millions of dollars.

14

Well that would be illegal to begin with and no halfway smart lawyer would advise anyone to do that. I’d hope!

15

I’m sure if someone did that they would not give them any kind of money. It doesn’t matter if an engine is camoflaged, you should never play with trains, and that person would lose big time in court. UP still does have a patrotic engine, the 3300. Basically it is a big rolling flag with United Way markings on it. They could do one of two things to make a heritage engine, the first thing they can do is paint out the United Way markings on 3300 and put “Supporting Our Troops” on the banner. They could also paint any engine in a similar paint scheme to 3300 and put “Supporting Our Troops” on that.

16

Yep. Just like NASCAR did not too long ago. They had army car, marines car, navy car, air force car, and a Department of Defense car.

17

Owner:

BNSF Railway

Model:

SD60M

Built As:

BN 1991:2 (SD60M)

Serial Number:

897049-48

Order No:

897049

Frame Number:

897049-48

Built:

3/1991
Other locos with this serial: [BNSF 9297(SD60M)](http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/LocoPicture.aspx?id=14138) [BN 1991(SD60M)](http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/LocoPicture.aspx?id=25658)

Owner:

BNSF Railway

Model:

SD60M

Built As:

BN 9297 (SD60M)

Serial Number:

897049-50

Order No:

897049

Frame Number:

897049-50

Built:

3/1991

Other locos with

18

I thought that I’d heard that one of the reasons that UP re-painted this engine back to standard yellow/gray was a visibility problem with it.

I think it was a good idea, but probably should have been restricted to being a trailing unit. I know - that’s not easy to manage.

19

Another solution would be to put reflective striping on the engine separating the two colors or add more colors other then the camoflaged colors. I still think the best idea would be paint a engine in a paint scheme similar to 3300. It may be fading a little, but it is pretty hard to mistake 3300 for anything else. One time, we were on our way to Galesburg for Railroad Days, and I saw a eastbound UP train from quite a distance away. It had two standard UP SD40-2s, then 3300, which was the first thing that caught my eye.

20

The best time to paint engines in these types of special schemes was probably immediately after 9/11. Unfortunately, the less than stellar occupation of Iraq has soured many of the population’s enthusiasm. Most railroads, aside from UP, are apolitical as far as their engines are concerned.