I found that KCS too had a bicentennial loco. This has got to be the worst special paint job of all time. KCS SD40-2 #642 makes BNSF 9647 “vomit bonnet” look like a work of genius. From looking at the photo, KCS’s bicentennial paint job looked very amateurish. I doubt this is on anyone’s list of best looking locos, and apparantly KCS had 2 of these. Even KCS’s then-normal white scheme looked better than this. Other railroads took good care in their bicentennial schemes, but not KCS IMO.
This is a joke, right?
Where are the reporting marks? Aren’t all road units supposed to carry them? Maybe on the not seen side?
In an earlier post, I believe it was stated that grade school kids came-up with this scheme. I wonder if the KCS management who approved this scheme may have flunked grade school?
Yep this was an actual paint scheme. This engine was painted in the mid 1970s, and I doubt anybody at KCS would get away with this with the current leadership. According to one link, the paint scheme has something to do with a drawing contest, and one of the contestants drawings was chosen.
I vote to allow the graffiti vandals to have their way with this one. Anything’s better that that. Something tells me, though, that even they wouldn’t want anything to do with this ugly beast.
Maybe someone lost a bet?
At least KCS didn’t hold a grade school contest to select the paint scheme for their executive F-units.
Locomotive paint designers, here is your brain on drugs. See?
Right when I read the thread subject, that is the EXACT loco that I thought of. Gosh it’s ugly, but you have to love it!
Phil
That KCS locomotive reminds me of those cars that get wrecked and the owner goes to the wrecking yard to get “new” body panels to replace the damaged ones.
Did anyone nickname these locomotives Frankenstein?
i like it… its so differnt it stands out…
csx engineer
You gotta admit - there’s no mistaking it for anything else.
I wonder if the kid who drew it used all of the crayons in the box…
That is not a special scheme.
That is the shop using up all the left-over cans of paint before they buy new paint.
[(-D]
As noted above, KCS just before the bicentennial in 1976 had a contest open to children of their employees to “design” their bicentennial paint scheme and THIS was the winner! The kid who won likely is now a reporter for CNN as he/she now believes anything they do is really, really good when in reality, IT IS NOT!
No, this was a test of bar codes for remote equipment technology, 1976 scanner technology was undergoing some serious development.
David Gunn, SEPTA General Manager in the late 1970’s early 1980’s spoke at one of my railfan clubs. He had told management that he wanted to reduce the number of different paint schemes, so no new schemes without his approval. He said one day he was upset because he saw a Broad St subway car in what he thought was a new scheme with clashing colors. It turns out it had been washed, and the washer had scrubbed off some of the new paint, revealing old colors underneath.
Actually I think its one of the coolest bicentennial schemes because it was designed by CHILDREN not some big PR firm someplace. You really have to give the KCS credit for going to the trouble to let kids design a paint scheme. It shows real creativity. Its probably more representative of the spirit of America than all the other bicentennial schemes put together.
Dave H.
…Wonder if the engineer wore a false face when running that unit…?
He said railfans would be very proud to shake the hands of any crew lucky enough to be on this locomotive!
Sadly no. I have been verbally abused by railfans before because I was doing something inside the cab of an engine they wanted to get pictures of, and for leaving the cab door open. Iw as refering to the fact that there would be no reason for a crew member to wear a mask, rails dont care about locomotive paint schemes, although I would assume he might get some good natured ribbing… and if any foamers decided to take a shot of this unit, they would probably get mad if the engineer was in the pic, much less wearing a mask, which would add to their anger.