Amtrak 40th Anniversary returns Phase III

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/...ad.php?t=34853

Amtrak P40 822 is wearing a retro Phase III paint scheme for Amtrak's 40th anniversary.

Should be interesting to see it whenever it makes its way out into road service, if it hasn't already.

[troy12n]

I would rather see the bloody nose. Bet a P42 would look pretty neat with that...

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by troy12n

I would rather see the bloody nose. Bet a P42 would look pretty neat with that...

I read through the forum link that Ian provided and saw "bloody nose" mentioned a few times. I feel like I'm out of the loop when it comes to that term as I've never heard before referring to any past Amtrak paint scheme.

It would be completely awesome if Amtrak resurrected an E or F unit and painted it in an anniversary scheme.

[troy12n]

Bloody nose or what gets referred to as "phase 1" sometimes. The paint scheme all the SDP40F's were delivered in and what all the E8/9's were painted in originally.
This:

PhotoID: 350453 Photograph © John Wiesmann

Originally Posted by JimThias

I read through the forum link that Ian provided and saw "bloody nose" mentioned a few times. I feel like I'm out of the loop when it comes to that term as I've never heard before referring to any past Amtrak paint scheme.

It would be completely awesome if Amtrak resurrected an E or F unit and painted it in an anniversary scheme.

Hell yeah Jim, that or a SDP40F!

Originally Posted by troy12n

Bloody nose or what gets referred to as "phase 1" sometimes. The paint scheme all the SDP40F's were delivered in and what all the E8/9's were painted in originally.
This:

Yea the SDP40F's had a very impressive paint scheme for their looks I always thought. Would be interesting, though what we can see I'm liking so far.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by troy12n

Bloody nose or what gets referred to as "phase 1" sometimes. The paint scheme all the SDP40F's were delivered in and what all the E8/9's were painted in originally.
This:

Ah, ok. But it seems "Rudolph" would be more appropriate for a nickname.

[Freericks]

I have been railfanning for forty years and have never, ever heard that scheme called a bloody nose... That has always been Amtrak's Pointless Arrow, or later, Amtrak Phase 1.

Bloody nose is a very specific term used for the SP's scarlet and grey units.

PhotoID: 210521 Photograph © Charles Freericks

[Chase55671]

Originally Posted by JimThias

Ah, ok. But it seems "Rudolph" would be more appropriate for a nickname.

Rudolph is not as cool as Bloody Nose.

Chase

[milwman]

Originally Posted by Chase55671

Rudolph is not as cool as Bloody Nose.

Chase

I can remember it not lasting so well, Red gets washed out and looks like crap. I have to say there never been a good paint job yet! For AMTRAK. Not in the classic scents of rail paint jobs.

[stlgevo51]

I agree with Charles. The "bloody nose" nickname automatically makes me think of SP. Also, what is Amtrak's Phase II scheme?

[Freericks]

Here is Phase 2

PhotoID: 336400 Photograph © Charles J Freericks

PhotoID: 330355 Photograph © Charles J Freericks

Here is Phase 3 (very similar - but outer white bands are gone)

PhotoID: 240621 Photograph © Charles Knox Freericks estate

PhotoID: 240867 Photograph © Charles Freericks

Phase 4

PhotoID: 259325 Photograph © Charles J Freericks

Phase 5

PhotoID: 260142 Photograph © Charles J Freericks

Other schemes of note were/are Pepsi Can, Surfliner, Cascade (leaving out the state owned paint schemes).

[stlgevo51]

Thanks Charles. I thought the photo listed under "Phase 4" was the same scheme as phase 3, and the "phase 4B" shot was just "phase 4". Thanks for clearing that up!

[Freericks]

Actually Jake... I had a brain fart. You are correct.

I'm going to go edit it.

[PLEzero]

From http://members.trainorders.com/geoff...tes/index.html

Paint Scheme
Amtrak standard paint schemes are generally refered to as Phases. There are also special paint schemes for certain services (Acela, Cascades, Pacific Surfliner, California) and there are/were some local variants to the standard schemes (Northeast, Downeaster)

R - Rainbow Era [extinct], a modification of paint schemes inherited from other railroads at the time of the formation of Amtrak in 1971. These soon disappeared and now no active locomotive carries any of these schemes.

I - Phase I [extinct] (red nosed and/or reverse arrow symbol), introduced in 1972. No active locomotive remains in this scheme.

II - Phase II [extinct] (red, thin white, and blue), introduced in 1976. No active locomotive remains in this scheme.

III - Phase III (red, white, and blue stripes equal height), introduced in 1980 and continued to be applied to most new locomotives outside of the Northeast until mid-1997. Overhauled locomotives continued to be repainted in this scheme until early 1999. No active locomotives remain in this scheme, P42DC 32 was the last, running in Phase III until June 2005. Some NPCUs and passenger cars still carry this scheme. Some Midwest NPCUs have retained Phase III following repainting in 2005/6.

IV - Phase IV (two small red and white stripes over large navy band), introduced in 1994. A modified version was applied to new Northeast based locomotives in 1997. 13 new P42DC's and 8 new P32ACDM's were delivered in Phase IV. Overhauled P40s and P32-8s and NPCU conversions were repainted in this scheme from January 1998 to end of 2000. P42DCs were repainted in this scheme during overhauls from early 1999 to the end of 2000. The last P42DC in Phase IV, 82, continued to carry this until April 2005, and the last P32DM, 713 carried this until November 2004. It continues to be carried by some P32-8s and one NPCU. Most of the stored P40s remain in this scheme. Most passenger cars are in this scheme or the Phase IVb variant.

IVb - Phase IVb, a modified version of Phase IV (different shade of blue, a low down red stripe), introduced in 2002. This has only been applied to passenger and baggage cars.

V - Phase V, based in the Acela livery of teal and blue, was introduced in 2000. Amfleet-I car Capstone refurbishments were painted in a variation of Phase V but now are being repainted in Phase IVb. All recent switcher repaints, as well as new switchers, are in a variant of this scheme. Overhauled P32-8s and some NPCUs have been repainted in this scheme from early 2006. From November 2006 a variant of Phase V with Downeaster markings has been applied to overhauled Downeaster NPCUs.

Va - Phase Va [extinct amongst those running in service]. An early version of Phase V on P42DC locomotives, known as Phase Va, was applied to new P42DCs from September 2000 to May 2001 (a total of 46). Some overhauled P42DCs (a total of 13) were repainted to Phase Va between January and June 2001. The remains of two wrecked P42s at Beech Grove retain original Phase Va. All other Phase Va P42DC's have become due for overhaul and have been repainted in Phase Vb. #162 was the last Phase Va to remain in service (until July 2006). #151 was the last Phase Va to be repainted to Phase Vb (in 2007, after being out of service in Phase Va from September 2001).

Vb - Phase Vb. A later modification of Phase V appeared from mid-2001, known as Phase Vb; this reduced the height and width of the lower red band and omitted cab side logos. This was applied to new P42DCs from June 2001 and on repaints of P42DCs, P40s and P32ACDMs from July 2001.
Photos of current paint schemes can be found at: Guide to Paint Schemes (separate site maintained by it's own owner).

[Craig Walker]

Originally Posted by Freericks

I have been railfanning for forty years and have never, ever heard that scheme called a bloody nose... That has always been Amtrak's Pointless Arrow, or later, Amtrak Phase 1.

Bloody nose is a very specific term used for the SP's scarlet and grey units.

That's about as bad as calling an SP "Bloody Nose" unit a "Black Widow"!

It also drives me nuts when guys refer to SP TMs, and I find out they are writing about Tunnel Motors. TM's are FM Trainmasters, and Tunnel Motors are T-2s.

Sheesh! Kids today...

[Mgoldman]

Red, white and blue back in the US?!?!

The Euro Shmu is not the "in" thing?

Proud to be an American again?

Looking forward to it!

/Mitch

[troy12n]

Man, some of you SP people are as bad as the conrail people.

[Joe the Photog]

I wish they'd phase out Phase 5.

[Freericks]

My moniker on most boards is "Erie Lackawanna."

Truth is, however, that this has nothing to do with SP, AMTK, or EL... it's the lack of respect for the meaning of words and language that drives me nuts, even when we are simply takling about an obscure railfan nickname.

If we don't protect the meaning of words, then we lose our ability to communicate.

[Mgoldman]

It would be nice to see some Sweedish Meatballs with some semblance of a paint scheme again - though, Bloody Nose would be more of a "Heritage" look, the stripes were not bad. Do we get the arrow back? (Yes, I've heard the red nose Amtrak livery referred to "bloody nose" quite often.)

The Meatballs:

PhotoID: 187047 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

An old bloody nose:

PhotoID: 142216 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

The bloodiest nose of them all:

PhotoID: 133442 Photograph © John Dziobko

/Mitch

[Freericks]

Google "Bloody Nose" and search the images. One Amtrak unit shows up... less than the CSXs, NSs, ATSF Warbonnets, and other misc.

Still, with all that mixed in, 80 or 90% of the images are SP units.

[Mgoldman]

I Googled "Bloody Nose" - it was nasty. I don't recommend it!

On the other hand, many Amtrak "Bloody Noses" show up when you Google "Amtrak Bloody Nose".

/Mitch

[Freericks]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

I Googled "Bloody Nose" - it was nasty. I don't recommend it!

On the other hand, many Amtrak "Bloody Noses" show up when you Google "Amtrak Bloody Nose".

/Mitch

I should have said "Bloody Nose Locomotive" LOL... sorry.

Anyway... click on images (or start the search as image).

In the end, I stand by my position, and if there is a group of thirty somethings out there (like Troy and Mitch) who call it that, I believe they are using a misnomer. Those of us who actually saw these things in fresh paint get to make the rules.

http://www.google.com/images?q=blood...w=1419&bih=694

[Mgoldman]

And I should've said "Shamu"!

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q...w=1294&bih=784

/Mitch

[Freericks]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

And I should've said "Shamu"!

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q...w=1294&bih=784

/Mitch

Ah... makes much more sense.