Does anyone know or has anyone seen the last heritage unit? Is it still at Horicon or has it been moved. I am hoping we can keep tabs on it as it makes its way to Roseville. There are too many places for it to hide there that aren’t easily accessable.
Dave
It’s about time that someone brought back even a modified version of the Black Widow paint scheme. Everybody thought I was nuts when I took a model of a Dash 8-40C that way. I think its cooland can’t to see it[^][swg]
I just hope once it put in service it makes its way up to seattle or tacoma
I hope it stays away from here. I do not care to see the butchering of SP schemes that it will be.
Remember, these are HERITAGE units. They celebrate the lineage of the parent, UP. They are not SP locomotives. They are not C&NW locomotives. They do not belong to MKT, MoPac, WP, D&RGW or anyone else but UP. While I also lament the loss of the SP, at least I can know that UP isn’t forgetting its roots.
It hasn’t even reached Horicon yet. UP 008523 BUTLER WI 07 18 0054 U Arrive In-Transit MPRVP1 UP
I know in an earlier thread I said I’d like to see a Black Widow scheme - well I’d maybe like to see a Daylight scheme too - perhaps there can be some combination.
The fact that the 8523 is in Butler now means that they’ve at least taken it off the Janesville runs, where it’s been hiding for the last couple of weeks or longer.
I wonder–if we had an exaggerated lightning stripe on the CNW unit, exaggerated mountains on the D&RGW unit, etc., could we expect to see a fully-bloodied cab (instead of just the nose), followed by some combination of black and gray.
Point to consider (though it’s probably too late): SSW was a separate railroad for almost as long as the SP was. Maybe a nod in that direction would be considered.
I’m guessing the unit will be in the Daylight scheme, based on these photos from www.drgw.ws http://www.drgw.ws/data/heritage/details.asp?u=1996 The ones for 1989 and 1995 look almost exactly like the locomotives do.
Well if they want to be true to SPs units I remember it should be grimy grey mixed with oil and dirt, highlighted with rusted panels, mismatched and loose or missing access door colors and topped off with a lacey tracery of vile graffiti over every square inch of it!
While Black Widow scheme would be nice, Daylight would be more likely, but dont count out Bloody Nose sceme yet…!
Anyone know when its to debute?
You sure got that right. Instead of calling them heritage units they should be cald the copyright units.
Its probably of no consolation but the ac4400s that are pretty much peranently assigned to Donner duty are so smoked out that they look like SP units. It stinks that they don’t even keep the SP painted ACs out of the Roseville yard, they end up with coad duty. Are there still a couple ACs in SP colors?
Dave
There are probably more AC4400s still in SP colors then any other model, but I think they are mostly in coal service back east.
UP’s first 3 Heritages (MoPac, WP, MKT) wern’t really as good as they could have been, if you ask me. But the D&RGW and CNW engines look okay; they are more based on the original freight paint schemes. So, the SP SD70ACe should be gray with white lettering and a bright red nose. That’s the paint scheme I think of when I think of Southern Pacific.
Of course, it’s not going to be exactly like the original…although it could be.
I would be curious if the idea for the SP unit is set in stone or if they are watching the various RR forums to garner a little more input. I would be curious if they might adopt a daylight scheme from 4999 (more orange). It seem like all schemes were open to use on the previous units.
I think all the schemes were designed by an outside firm last year.
Lets just pray that the designers never saw picture of the Sulzer powered units (7030-7033) with the popsicle paint scheme and try to merge that in somehow. Where there any other units that color?
Dave
NO, thank God. Those were awful.
Exactly, it is not an SP unit, nor will it be in an SP scheme. Even if they were to paint it in the Halloween or Popsicle schemes, at least it would have been painted in an SP scheme.
Since it appears they are numbering the locomotives for the last year of that railroad’s existance, it would make sense to paint the locomotives in the last paint scheme of each the railroads.
If UP wants to remember its roots, I have a suggestion on how to do that, for a while, and save some money. Don’t renumber the locomotives from railroads UP took over until it is time to completely repaint the locomotive. Once all of the CNW, DRGW, SSW, and SP locomotives have been repainted or retired, then do sometime of heritage unit. Of course probably by that time all of the heritage units will be back in usual UP paint.
I am still trying to figure out why you wrote the particular reply in response to what I wrote. I never wrote it was an SP unit. By the way, they probably actually belong to some financial institution.
Chris was already ahead of me, but 8523 in primer was at Proviso on Saturday.
Also, did anyone notice the lack of “UP” lettering on the front of 1995…? (Link removed… No longer current…) … [}:)] Be sure to read all of the caption below the picture… [8D]