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

JonMyrlennBailey

Well-known member
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.
 
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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>
 
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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.
 
But my idea for my own shade of CHARTREUSE came from the 1970's: CW McCall, Convoy; "chartreuse micro-bus", Porsche and Volkswagen back then.

Here is 1973 Volkswagen:

 
People won't see the chartreuse locomotives even with their bright color.

When I see one of these (all too often: someone at Trenitalia also likes chartreuse) my optic nerve needs a few minutes to readjust... :)

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That is a modern train. Imagine such chartreuse on old-fashioned trains such as Pullman Heavyweights, GP38's, Budd cars, F7's, SD40's and even as trim for 1910 Baldwin American steam locomotives! Please see my pic in OP for details. Chartreuse is a high visibility color for safety and even the liveries of some fire engines sport it.
 
That is a modern train. Imagine such chartreuse on old-fashioned trains such as Pullman Heavyweights, GP38's, Budd cars, F7's, SD40's and even as trim for 1910 Baldwin American steam locomotives! Please see my pic in OP for details. Chartreuse is a high visibility color for safety and even the liveries of some fire engines sport it.
I meant the Illinois Terminal. Here's your modern diesel in chartreuse.

 
I meant the Illinois Terminal. Here's your modern diesel in chartreuse.

SD40, that is more of a CLASSIC diesel. That is a green-bias shade of chartreuse. My 1973 vee-dubb Beetle picture is more of a yellow-bias chartreuse. My train liveries in theory would use that exact paint code. Chartreuse Volkswagens and Porches were a 1970's fad. Just remember C.W. McCall's "eleven long haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse micro-bus".
 
SD40, that is more of a CLASSIC diesel. That is a green-bias shade of chartreuse. My 1973 vee-dubb Beetle picture is more of a yellow-bias chartreuse. My train liveries in theory would use that exact paint code. Chartreuse Volkswagens and Porches were a 1970's fad. Just remember C.W. McCall's "eleven long haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse micro-bus".
My dad had a Dodge Dart from the same era in the same greenish color. The colors were wild back then.
 
I think VMD had some GP7/GP9 units in Illinois Terminal color. Maybe it was another site, just thinking out loud.
 
I like the livery on Illinois Terminal #1506. It has the fancy cursive style lettering but the initial letters are block serif style. Who is the author and what is the source of that content? It is not listed in the CM for DLS in TS22.
 
I like the livery on Illinois Terminal #1506. It has the fancy cursive style lettering but the initial letters are block serif style. Who is the author and what is the source of that content? It is not listed in the CM for DLS in TS22.
bottom right on that image says Jointed Rail.

the following link says Model and textures by Alex Kulik

 
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