Do you think they ever will?
probably not…but would be cool to see a modern wide cab in Southern tuxedo or in Chessie livery…
Why?
What business purpose does it serve?
Does it make the railroad more profitable?
Does it increase productivity?
Does it increase the fuel efficiency and uptime of the locomotive?
Does it help the paying customers of the railroad?
Since the answer is a big NO to all these questions, why waste the money on special paint for a piece of industrial machinery.
So, tell us why UP did it.
UP did it because they wanted to keep royalty rights to the paint schemes on all of those fallen flags they reprieved with their heritage units.
It wasn’t because their brass is sentimental.
Southern is an NS predecessor…not CSX… [;)]
Besides licensing rights, special schemes are a powerful marketing tool when used correctly - and not just for railfans.
Oh yes, of course… but CSX also has a rich history to draw from…L&N, Atlantic Coastine…Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line…the Chessie family…
If you are correct, then BNSF and all the other railroads might just as well paint ALL of their equipment flat black like Penn Central did…and it sure worked well for them, didn’t it?
LOL
So how did the PC paint scheme in any way determine their financial problems? It’s not like if they decided to paint their locomotives gold, the out come would have been any different.
The only reason UP decided to do it was for trademark rights. CSX has approached the trademark issue in other ways. Either way, both UP and CSX management have no sentimental attachment to their predecessor railroads.
Unless you polled every manager, I wouldn’t make that statement.
I hope not. Painting a locomotive is not going to generate any revenue. The time and cost spent would be a waste and certainly would not sit well with 1000’s of workers on OIFR.
But engines need painting anyhow (esp. new ones) so is it really that much of a lost?
Well, in retrospect (and perhaps at the time - I wasn’t there), PC is the epitome of a failure that most people hate…other railroads that went bankrupt but had nice looking paint schemes are thought of fondly, take the NYO&W for example. And you can’t seriously believe that the paint doesn’t make a huge difference with public relations! Does it create revenue? No. Does it help the railroad’s image? Yes. If you’re still going to want to see a monetary gain, I guess it might help in lawsuits if the jury had a somewhat positive image of the railroad…
Also, the 2006 (?) article about shortline railroads mentioned that a railroad’s paint scheme helps attract customers. Apparently the Morristown & Erie gained a refinery in part because the owner drove past the M&E’s bright red Alcos every morning on his way to work.
Just some food for thought…
UP and CSX aren’t struggling shortlines. They don’t produce consumer products like Sony or Apple. Their customers really don’t care what color their locomotives are painted. All they care about is that UP or CSX gets their freight to the right place at the right time at a fair price.
If you order something that is shipped via UPS, do you really care if their trucks are brown or black or white? A few years ago, Fed Ex purchased a company called Roadway Package System (RPS) and renamed it FedEx Ground. Should FedEx have “heritage” trucks painted with the former RPS scheme? Do you really care? Or, are you more concerned that they just deliver your package on time?
UPS has spent large sums advertising about “Brown”, even had ads where the UPS truck had hot rod type flames. I would say image is a fairly big thing with UPS. UPS even spent a large sum of money recreating its logo from the one with the package above the shield to the current “comb-over” logo. The package was removed because logistics is such a large part of what they do now.(The book “Uncommon Carriers” gives some great examples of their logistics focus).
I may not care what color the UPS truck is, but UPS sure does. It’s all about corporate culture be it a railroad, delivery/logistics company, law firm, etc.
Jay
BTW–UP has always had a strong sense for their heritage, i.e. the heritage fleet and steam program. UP is the only North American railroad which has never fully dieselized considering that 844 has never been retired.
IIRC, CSX was asked by the L&N Historical Society to paint one of their wide cab diesels in an L&N type paint scheme for the L&N’s 150th anniversary. They wouldn’t do it.
NS does have a diesel in Southern green and gold. GP59 4610 was painted in a Southern paint scheme to commemorate Southern’s 100th anniversary. As of May of last year, it is still wearing that paint scheme.
I did read in Trains that UP will be repaining all of their heritage diesels back into Armour Yellow the next time they need repainting.
While UPS does go to great lengths, and spend a lot of money, promoting their services and creating an identity for UPS, the market they compete in is different than the market that BNSF or any Class 1 carriers compete in.
Every day, probably hundreds of thousands of individuals make a choice between using UPS or another alternative as a shipper. When was the last time you had a choice to make between using UPS, FedEx, or USPS? Almost everyone in the United States is faced with this choice on occasion, and the vendors of those services are attempting to influence that decision. On the other hand, very few people are ever faced with the choice of which Class 1 railroad to use when shipping a specific product from point A to point B.
I’m sure there are sound reasons for the advertising that is done by Class 1’s, but I think directly influencing individuals to ship with a specific railroad as opposed to a different railroad is well down that list.
Jim
My response is to GP40-2’s first question in the quote I highlighted.
Believe me, I am well aware of the different marketing objectives between a RR and UPS or any other company promoting their services to the masses. At the same time, there is such a thing as corporate pride, whether one’s market is the public or other businesses. Sometimes special paint schemes are done for the employees with the railfans being an indirect beneficiary.
Using the reasoning of some, why not send the new locos–and freight cars–out in primer with the FRA mandated markings for interchange service? In today’s society we can let the taggers put the finishing coat on. Might be a sound strategy to improve the balance sheet.
Jay
And CSX cares what color its locomotives are too. That’s why they spend millions of dollars painting their locomotives in the exact same CSX paint scheme. The CSX scheme promotes CSX, not some former component railroad that no longer exists.
At least the CSX is the same size on the majority of their locos[:D]–still a little work on the common paint scheme.
Jay