Oh boy! More forum fun!
Well they should have at least a little mercy and keep a few locomotives from every different type of model the railroad owned that were in active service up until the merger unpatched and on their original paint scheme and keep them in good condition and wash them then when their time is up retire them and donate the locomotives to private owners or museums.
Have mercy? Is the railroad a charity?
Wash them? Ever heard that every minute a locomotive is out of service is a minute it could be making money? Museums? You should have picked up one of the 2007 editions of Trains Magazine, museums are getting RID of equipment because there is too much and no funds to restore it.
We all know but I want to see some of the SP remainders saved. I know the mindset of the railroad but some railroads are more generous than others. I still see a lot of Soo Line and Illinois Central locos that haven't been repainted although they're subsidiaries but went out right after the SP in 1998. Like I said just a few locos would be great. Maybe if I could find some old SP power in use or convince UP to retire some and I can get some money maybe I could do it. Who knows?
Oh boy, let's talk about the IC! Why is there still IC stuff around? Not because CN is "generous" as you would say, rather CN is power strapped and can't afford to take the units O/S often to paint them. Notice...most of IC's fleet has been repainted or off the roster completely. Also, hate to burst your bubble, but CP is re-building most of the Soo Line power or retiring it in the next few years. There has already been several SD60's and SD60M's done just since December.
Well I resent the fact that I can't get any unpatched SP power in California. So I guess the Midwest will be calling because in all the YouTube videos, most of the unpatched power is out there.
Uh huh...because most of the non-repainted SP stuff is AC4400CW's which UP uses on coal trains from the Powder River to Chicago. Again, UP doesn't feel "generous", they don't have time to take O/S.
The GP60's are still in SP or SSW paint because they're local and yard crap that nobody sees nor cares about.
I understand that. What part of I want to see some unpatched SP units and maybe get a chance to ride in one do you NOT UNDERSTAND?
We understand just fine, we also understand that its a immature and un-realistic point of view. Haven't seen one? Oh well! Ride in one? Yeah right! That's against the law unless you work for UP. Don't even say "I'm gonna work for UP", I don't want to get into that discussion.
That's funny! Yeah how does a nice clean new paint job increase your profit margins?
Its not about margins, its about business relations. You don't hand a customer a business card from a company you took over 8 years ago do you?
At the expense of others money I might add.
Expense of others?
The only reason why they were better because of all the companies it devoured in the 1980s and CNW in 1995 plus they were not in a financial slump like we were though they were forced into bankruptcy twice one time following the gov't ordered divorce of the two companies. But had SP been successful in the merger department and gotten their act together sooner SP MIGHT still be around.
Please research your facts a little better. UP didn't devour companies. FYI, in all honesty, Union Pacific is Missouri Pacific. Like the DRGW buy-out of SP, they kept the UP name for sake of tradition. Guess they were feeling "generous".
Cheers,
Woody