I’m curious to see if someone has seen older fallen flags recently while trainwatching. Is it still possible to find freight cars (or locos) still lettered for long gone roads such as GN, NP, RI, B&O, PRR, etc. that were gobbled up in the earlier rounds of mergers? Any candidates for oldest fallen flag?[:p]
I saw a Frisco box car (still in original paint and markings) in the BNSF yard in Galesburg, IL in late June. It’s not uncommon to see them floating around the system. You’d think by now someone would have stenciled over the original reporting marks at the very least.
Erik
Around here you can often find fallen flags on hopper cars that now have other owners. Recently I’ve seen hopper cars for Erie Lackawanna, Rock Island and C.&N.W. numerous times that sometimes have had their logos painted over. The paint has faded and worn off so the old names are now clearly visible. CP still has plenty of Milwaukee Road hoppers in use. I also recently saw a bulkhead flatcar in GN sky blue still lettered “GNR” on CN. I also saw a Ma & Pa boxcar a while back on CN as well. I always get a thrill out of seeing fallen flags. It’s just one of the many interesting aspects of railfanning.
I recently seen an old Rock Island hopper on BNSF. The grain train had other fallen flags, but can’t remember what they were. It is refreshing to see them in their original lettering. Nowadays that seems to be the only reason to sit at trackside.
Take care[:)].
Just today, 8-25-03, I saw an old B&O coal hopper that still had the capital dome insignia on it. I saw it on the Short Line of the old L&N (CSX) in Walton, KY. One side of it was pretty clear but the other had faded quite a bit and you could see where they had stenciled in a number that hd faded pretty good. Foolish me left my camera home today.
Last week on a siding I saw an old L&N hopper on the same line. The only thing with this one was that someone took spray paint and tried to outline the L&N on one side of it where it had faded so bad. The other side was stenciled in with L&N. Beside it was a B&O hopper with the Chessie Cat on it.I did get a shot of that. It was getting pretty rusty though.
Brian (KY)
There is one very old rusty gondola with GN marks parked in Eugene, OR; and I have seen NP and GN chip gondolas on BNSF in eastern Oregon in recent years. (Some with paint in pretty good shape.) And there are lots of CNW boxcars around in pretty good original colors; along with SP/Cotton Belt. (Many of the latter more or less graffiti victims.) And there are still a lot of DRGW coal hoppers (plus some boxcars; but the paint on those has weathered so the lettering is practically the same color as the rest of the car.)
I don’t believe the GNR bulkhead flatcar mentioned above had anything to do with Great Northern. There’s a bunch of blue GNR boxcars on UP trains through Eugene OR and they look far too new.
one thing about fallen flags, you don’t have to visit a r-o-w to see them…
r.r. stories usually include references to a ‘fallen flag’… it helps to identify the area discussed and it brings back good memories…
i miss reading about the new haven, the monon, the gulf, mobile & ohio, the nickel plate, c&ei, cotton belt, lehigh valley…
the problem with change is, it changes too much…
would someone mind telling me what a FALLEN flag IS?
a FALLEN FLAG is a Railroad that no longer operates due to takeover, mergers, bankruotcy, etc…
Just yesterday I saw 2 locomotives with SOO line painting on a CP line.
There’s a soo line car parked not that far from me… been there for god know how long… really unusual since i live in eastern PA
I have seen a Frisco hopper and several Mo-Pac boxcars on the U.P. in Northern Orange County in recent weeks. Also, on my last trip to Arizona I saw at least a dozen SP locomotives at the West Colton Yards. It’s good to know that a few units have still managed to escape from the ubiquitous yellow paint…
There is an old trestle crossing US 50 in Clarksburgh Wv that still sports it B&O capital domes.Don’t know who takes care ot but it still looks great!!!
there is a bridge in Napoleon with N&W markings and a gp38 ac in ns paint but had cnotp stenciled under the windows
stay safe
joe
Just this last weekend we saw a Reading boxcar on a CP train going through Milwaukee. It was restenciled D&H.
Dave Nelson
Down here is a treasure trove of UP predecessors cars. I have seen CE&!, Mopac, CNW, MILW, and it looked like a freshly painted 40’ covered hopper on CNW. There are quite a few hoppers in CE&I and MOPAC at a gravel plant in Ferriday, LA.
Down in North Carolina I see a good many old coal and covered hoppers in L&N, C&O, and Western Maryland roll through on CSX.
Derrick
thanks for telling me what a FALLEN FLAG is.
Yesterday in Gallitzin, PA I saw a Cotton Belt one and another old looking one. I took pictures of them because they looked old and I hadn’t seen ones like them before, then I got home and saw this thread! Here are the pictures I took: http://horsfall.departmentofmysteries.com/trains.html
Also, just a couple minutes walk from where I get the car’s oil changed, there is a bridge with a very clear and bright Pennsylvania RR logo on it.
–Nora