What do you guys think of CPKC’s new paint scheme? I have heard a lot of griping about it, but personally, by unpopular opinion, I think it looks nice. I would have preferred one that was closer to KCS’s Southern Belle, but that didn’t happen, unfortunately. The history behind Southern Belle, with the passenger trains, was cool and I think it would have been awesome to continue that legacy, that heritage, even with a slightly modified or heavily modified version.
Meh
After paying $31 billion for KCS, Canadian Pacific was never going to go for a KCS-based post merger image. Frankly, I would have preferred CP retaining the CP name and paint scheme, like CN did with the Illinois Central.
But the CPKC scheme isn’t bad. Its colorful. It “pops” nicely in bright sunshine, and there have been a lot of new locos coming online in the new scheme and a decent number of repaints. All of that translates into net positives in the current PSR world. And CPKC probably won’t be that aggressive repainting the newer KCS units. We probably have 15-20 years (or more) of KCS Belles and CP Beavers roaming North America.
Recently NRE rebuilt CP SD40-3 in Silvis, IL. Photo by Erik Rasmussen
The scheme looks really nice on standard cabs wow
It would appear that the locomotives are being numbered as either CP or KCS in the new paint scheme. Would have thought that everything would be initialed and numbered in CPKC.
CP, KCS, and KCS de Mexico are all still separate corporate entities operating under the banner of CPKC. Kind of similar to the early CSX era. I suspect there’s a need for separate entities due to the fact that CPKC operates in three sovereign nations. Not sure what if anything happened to the Soo Line, D&H, etc. Pre-merger, technically, CP’s operations in the US were still under the Soo Line.
Me like. Me like a LOT. The color combo is great, IMHO
It’s interesting they are using the paint on hand instead of ordering new colors of paint. I think I would have stuck with the CP name myself. Not sure why they needed to add KC or even acknowledged the KCS. Though it looks like from the design they can drop KC in the future without much of an expense.
I like the new Paint Scheme. The beaver logo is definitely a nice touch. The combination pays homage to the CP with the KCS colors on the rear, The railroad needs to keep the units clean. I have seen some really dirty faded units when I have been trackside.
Up until the merger with KCS, CN’s tracks in the US were under Soo Line Corporation, in the old Soo Line HQ building in downtown Minneapolis. With the merger, they apparently kept the Soo Line name but moved their offices to Kansas City.
The modern “Soo Line” railroad was created by the 1961 merger of the Mpls, St.Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, Wisconsin Central, and the Duluth South Shore & Atlantic. However, into at least the late 1980s Wisconsin Central engines had a separate numbering scheme (four digits instead of three, IIRC) and had a small “WC” marking indicating they were Wisconsin Central engines.
I have a suspicion that the ‘modern Soo line railroad’ involved here is a legal fiction akin to the ‘PRR’ and ‘NYC’ created in the Conrail division.
I believe CN has retained ‘IC’ as a similar entity for some aspect of its Stateside operations.
Incorrect. The IC still exists on paper (along with a host of other CN-purchased railroads), but all of CN’s operations are under Grand Trunk Corporation and report as such to the STB. CN spun GTC up decades ago as the holder of all its original set of disparate US properties (i.e., GTW, DW&P, CV).
Soo Line Corporation, was CP’s US analog, pre-merger. Now, officially, CPKC’s US operations are under Soo Line Corporation and Kansas City Southern Railway.
List of CPKC-owned properties from Schedule C of their 2024 STB R-1 report:
Soo Line Corporation
Soo Line Railroad Company (SLRR)
Soo System Radio Communications Corporation
Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation (DME)
Wyoming Dakota Railroad Properties, Inc.
Soo Line Holding Company
Delaware and Hudson Railway Company, Inc. (DH)
Wilkes Barre Connecting Railroad Company
Northern Coal and Iron Company
Albany & Vermont Railroad Company
Saratoga & Schenectady Railroad Company
CPR Locomotive Equity Company
Soo Green Holding LLC
Canadian Pacific PTC LLC
CPR US Inc.
Railroad Acquisition Holdings LLC
CMQ Canada LLC
Central Maine & Quebec Railway U.S. Inc. (CMQ U.S.)
The Kansas City Southern Railway Company
Gateway Eastern Railway
Mexrail, Inc.
The Texas Mexican Railway Company
Meridian Speedway, LLC
Trans-Serve, INC., D/B/A Superior Tie & Timber
I call it the Canadian Mountie scheme.
Give them credit at least they waited for the merger to get approval unlike the SPSF in the 80s that literally before they had approval was slapping the merged colors on everything.
For heaven’s sake, they knew the merger was a ‘done deal’ in advance; approval came after the very public destruction of the CN-KCS merger attempt (which was the analogue to ‘shouldn’t paint so fast’…
If you live in former KCS country, the CPKC scheme is a disrespect to the railroad history of our region.
There’s no comparison. The Southern Belle and its hallmark colors recede further into the forgotten past. There are no beavers in at least the southern half of the former KCS region, maybe more. Except maybe the beaver at Buc-ee’s.
I lived in KCS country when the locomotives were ghost-white, and the Belle scheme was only honored history. Sure, I’m sad to see the revived Belles ultimately go… probably years longer than I see IC full Death Star paint… but frankly I respect them highly for keeping the Belle colors in stripes, even to the red. I can guarantee UP won’t give NS or any predecessor roads the same respect or consideration… and let’s face it: KCS was bought by CP; it was never a merger of equals.
I don’t know what idiot thought of painting the KCS locomotives white, but white is never a good color for anything on a Railroad, I thought everyone knew that. Changing the white to gray while leaving the yellow striping was a pretty good improvement, but the Belle scheme was beautiful, historic, and regionally relevant.
It won’t be the first time that a beautiful paint scheme fell victim to merger.
True…
“Soo Line Railroad Corporation” (I think that’s the correct name?) still was listed in official state of Minnesota tax and MN Secretary of State literature as a going concern at least last time I looked a year or two back. I believe the move to KC won’t affect the Soo Line name(?) A Canadian company can’t own a US rail line, or vice versa. They have to use separate but affiliated companies.
