UP Disgusts Me

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Kris94

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Got stopped by a freight train on Bond Road and saw an Ex-SP GE AC4400CW but to my displeasure had an Armour yellow patch with the number being #6223. UP disgusts me in how they treat their locos including ours. The engine is weathered heavily and they changed their horns from the beautiful Nathan P3R1 and at least the SP kept their SD70Ms, AC44s, and Dash 9s clean or were looking decent as well as their GP60s although their older engines weren't so clean. So yeah this is how you pay homage to your predecessors. They are a disgrace to railroading and have no respect for our heritage, could at least save a few engines from each model we had prior to the merger from the patch shop? Is that too much to ask for?! I think so.
 
Gee, it's going on 16 years this Sept. since the merger. There's still SP Paint around.

It took less than 4 years to snuff out every active WP unit.

Yet, both roads have heritage units. Bad UP!!! They can't run a business right.

I still hate SP for wiping out my Central Pacific; Texas & New Orleans; and the great El Paso South Western.
 
hey, at least you still got SP engines around...it took the B*****ds all of two years to wipe out all but one of the MKT's engines.
 
It's a business plain and simple.

If they want to cater to railfans and the heritage of the roads they have absorbed over the years, they will....

If not they still deserve to be respected. The reason why some of these railroads repaint their acquisitions is brand identity. You have to understand where the railroad itself is coming from when they are doing what they do. What do people see when they keep seeing SP? They see a railroad that techically is no longer around, thus the reasoning why if your a business you want your BRAND to be out there in the public.

Plain and simple....
 
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.
 
Kris94 said:
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.
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Why? (Ten characters)
 
Rugrat said:
Why? (Ten characters)
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Exactly.

Why should they have to? If the locomotive is emissions compliant and is in good functional order then by all means use it I would say. For instance NS has been so power short the past year or so they actually leased quite a bit of locomotives from Helm and others, and actually purchased some later too, all second hand.

Stop thinking like a railfan with this and you'll completely understand the mindset. For instance were down to almost 15 or so Conrail locomotives still in blue. Thats IT.... Am i annoyed about that? No. NS's brand is their black/white locos with the horsehead on the side and I dont blame them for repainting all the Ex CR stuff. I'd be bitter if i sat here and complained about it all day long. All in all in the end its a business and they should do what they see fit with their equipment. Any preservation efforts are appreciated when they happen and thats something I've dealt with firsthand, acquiring an Ex CR Campcar from the NS Foundation ( NS's donations arm) last year.
 
That was exactly what was bugging me about this thread... Couldn't have said it better myself.
yutzk said:
Exactly.

Why should they have to? If the locomotive is emissions compliant and is in good functional order then by all means use it I would say. For instance NS has been so power short the past year or so they actually leased quite a bit of locomotives from Helm and others, and actually purchased some later too, all second hand.

Stop thinking like a railfan with this and you'll completely understand the mindset. For instance were down to almost 15 or so Conrail locomotives still in blue. Thats IT.... Am i annoyed about that? No. NS's brand is their black/white locos with the horsehead on the side and I dont blame them for repainting all the Ex CR stuff. I'd be bitter if i sat here and complained about it all day long. All in all in the end its a business and they should do what they see fit with their equipment. Any preservation efforts are appreciated when they happen and thats something I've dealt with firsthand, acquiring an Ex CR Campcar from the NS Foundation ( NS's donations arm) last year.
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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?
 
This is like being upset when your old house that you sold 20 years ago gets new vinyl siding from the current owners...
 
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Get over it.
 
Please learn to use proper capitalization and punctuation. The button you are looking for is right below the caps lock button and is called shift.


That being said, I would like to further elaborate.

Railroads are not here for your entertainment. They are not here for you to take pictures of. They are not here to show you pretty paint schemes of previous railroads. They exist to move cargo, and make money. They are a business. You don't see people whining that a former Carolina Fruhauf trailer is now painted in a different scheme, or that it is impossible to find a Pan AM painted jet at an airport.

So what if UP has some SP equipment with a patch, and looking weathered. They look normal for a unit that hasn't gotten fresh paint since the late 90s. That was over 10 years ago. I have a solution for you. UP should just grab all of the units and give them a new paint job. I mean, they are due for it. Just slap the Armor yellow, and harbor grey on them and send them back out into circulation. What? You thought they were going to waste money buying SP paint colors?
 
I personally don't care for Union Pacific or any western US railroad company, i just respect his right to express his opinion, and you know what they say when in doubt make fun of someones grammar, because in all of my posts i obviously do not pay attention to grammar, oh wait this is my first post were i didn't use proper grammar? oh never mind. hahahaha
 
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As a construction manager I would love to know what the paint schedule is for the UP. I know the buildings we maintain have very long intervals between repainting, and they receive heavy use since they are hospital buildings and office space. I imagine the locomotives are so numerous that the interval for them is even longer. Some units where I work are repainted only every five years, some longer.
 
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