I don’t know how many of you make it a point to get a Union Pacific calendar each year, but for me they have been as necessary as Trains magazine since I got my first one in about 1977.
It just materialized in the office where I then worked, in Wichita, Kansas, and everybody knew I was the resident railfan so I got it. I would have preferred a Santa Fe, but even then I knew that the railroad calendar was part of a great tradition. There has been a UP calendar hanging over my desk ever since, whether that desk was in Florida, Philadelphia, Denver or New York City.
UP has been issuing them since the 1940s. By the time I got my first, the City streamliners were long gone, and there weren’t so many pictures of Zion National Park. If I remember, in those days the rule of thumb was that every other month’s photo included a train; the others were “beauty shots” of on-line scenery.
There was a period when railroads seemed to want to disguise their identities and called themselves CSX or IC Industries or such, and the UP calendar was almost train-free for a couple of years. But these days there is a train on every page. This January has a beautiful shot of #3985 steaming through snow in Missouri.
A lot of what I enjoyed about railroading in the 1970s - cabooses, the Rio Grande Zephyr, David P. Morgan - are gone, not to mention the Missouri Pacific,. the Katy, the WP. I realize that the UP is not popular in every quarter, but thanks are due that the calendars keep coming.
I always managed to snag a free one one way or another, but this year my usual sources went dry and I had to send them 10 bucks. It arrived yesterday, and it looks like it is going to be a good year.
Hmmm…has anyone else noticed the (touch-up) on the UP calendar this year? I dont want to pop anyones bubble or anything but there are a few photos that have been altered with a paint program. If you look for flaws, you will see the touch-ups. Needless to say, the calendar is great and I dont mind the touch-ups. Just why did they do that though?
I guess I’m not surprised; all the pictures are just too perfect. Whaqt do I look for? Can you point me to an example?
I’m thinking one is the front cover with the three SD70M’s. If you look at the consist on the side of the loco’s, you should be albe to see the touch-ups. It almost looks like someone used watercolor on them. I will go home tonight and find out all the photos that have been touched up.
With its many faults, UP does have a good side.They put out a kick A… calendar every year.Alsso they are the only railroad with a steam program, and they have enough passenger cars ,along with the E9s, to run excursion trains[:)]!