I bet you've never seen a chartreuse train before.

[JonMyrlennBailey]

Here is a fantasy railroad I cooked up along with fantasy rolling stock in a fantasy livery.



If I could own and operate my own railroad, the railroad would be called BARROW GOODWILL (aka BARROW GEE DOUBLE-YOO). My railroad would be somewhere on American soil. It’s not often an American railroad has a man’s personal name in its title. My legal last name is Barrow. GOODWILL means COMPASSION or BENEVOLENCE. Here is where the GOODWILL part would come in:

• Safety would always be number one. Deaths, serious injuries, careless property damage and derailments would never be tolerated. Period.
• Railroad personnel would be always required to be professional, courteous and helpful to patrons. I would want to establish a positive image with the general public. Waving at children out the cab windows of locomotives would be the norm.
• Tracks, buildings, tunnels, bridges, trestles, rolling stock and other railroad equipment or assets would be always kept neat, presentable and in ship shape.
• My railroad would be dog-friendly offering provisions for passengers to safely keep their animals on board.
• Railroad employees would be allowed to keep personal dogs at their workplaces while on duty in areas where personal security would be a concern. This includes night time section maintenance workers, yard workers and train personnel who must detrain in unsecure, dark, remote or scary locations as to throw switch levers at night in yards and other remote areas.
• Each and every switch lever would be well-lit at night.
• Railroad employees and patrons would always be allowed to carry concealed handguns on duty IAW the local laws. Self-defense and ready access to its practical means in emergency situations is inalienable human right.
• Unauthorized trespassers on railroad property would be dealt with strictly IAW the law and with as little violent force as necessary. Beating up somebody for mere freight train jumping would never be tolerated by me. The term YARD BULL would never be in my vocabulary.
• My railroad would consist of vintage American rolling stock for the most part and even a steam locomotive or two. Railroad personnel would be in traditional railroad uniforms on duty. Engineers would don traditional overalls. The public would be offered entertainment joy in nostalgia.

My locomotives would be steam (Baldwin or custom engines based upon early 20th century Baldwins) and vintage GM/EMD diesel-electric models. They would all be powered by renewable biofuels. The F7 A units would have portable exhaust hose a/c units inside the cabs. The SD40 series and GP38 series would have the correct cab-top a/c units. Steam locomotives (having no cab a/c) would only be operated during cooler seasons on excursion trains for crew comfort inside the cab. Steam locomotives would be fired by 100% renewable biodiesel or some suitable 100% renewable liquid biofuel.

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

PS - Please feel free to chime in on my wacky notions in rail transportation!

I love the sound of GM 576's with gear-drive Roots! It excites my soul to hear them. I have heard them since knee-high to a flea. I lived two or three blocks from the SP line in Novato, CA in late 1960's, 1970's and 1980's. GP 7's/9's and SW-1500's would roll by making that awesome sound. It is the "devil's very own pipe organ" to my ears. Only a Harley-Davidson sans mufflers, a classic GM "fishbowl" bus or a big diesel truck with jake-brake and turbo sounds as awesome.

I just discovered these GP15's (baby tunnel motor) on YouTube with the same two-stroke sound. These models are new to me. They (with a longer wheelbase) look more attractive than GP 7/9's but sound just as awesome.

<iframe width="898" height="505" src="

" title="GP15s Smoking on The Union Pacific&#39;s -Roots Blown EMDs, Job 75, and rough track-" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[JCitron]

People won't see the chartreuse locomotives even with their bright color. If something is too dominant, they'll get used to it and ignore it. It's the same as having people read instructions. You can tell people how to do something, and they'll still ask how to do it even though the instructions spell everything out right in front of their eyes.

The idea isn't original. The old Illinois Central used a bright green with yellow paint scheme.