4610 is black, but 18 heritage units is better

[ShortlinesUSA]

NS has announced they will paint 18 locomotives in the following predecessor paint schemes:

• Central of Georgia
• Conrail
• Erie
• Erie Lackawanna
• Lehigh Valley (red)
• New Haven (not definite yet)
• New York Central
• Nickel Plate Road
• Norfolk & Western (blue)
• Penn Central
• Pennsylvania (Tuscan Red)
• Pittsburgh & West Virginia
• Reading
• Savannah & Atlanta
• Southern
• Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia
• Virginian
• Wabash

[troy12n]

Kind of Lame they are doing all the Conrail predecessors. Include Erie but not Lackawanna? No original NS? No Interstate RR?

[WMHeilman]

Originally Posted by troy12n

Kind of Lame they are doing all the Conrail predecessors. Include Erie but not Lackawanna? No original NS? No Interstate RR?

Of course, somebody has to complain. Deal with it, and be thankful they're doing it!

[JRMDC]

Originally Posted by troy12n

Kind of Lame they are doing all the Conrail predecessors. Include Erie but not Lackawanna? No original NS? No Interstate RR?

I'm with Troy, they completely ignore all the components that went into PRR also: Northern Central Railway, United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, ... I could go on and on.

Oh, wait, those were so long ago that all the power was painted black anyway! So they have been honored all along. But, for some reason NS slapped some white striping on the historic paint scheme. And added horses - at least those serve as references to the power that sometimes pulled trains when rails were first laid. But those were mostly not albinos, so one has to really wonder about NS' motivation in the white horse logo. Frustrating that our large corporations don't get it exactly right.

Thankfully we have RP screeners ...

[troy12n]

If they are doing a penn central unit, it has to NEVER be washed.

And one has to wonder if they are gonna do "colored" worms, and if so, the P or the C? lol...

[troy12n]

Originally Posted by JRMDC

I'm with Troy, they completely ignore all the components that went into PRR also: Northern Central Railway, United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, ... I could go on and on.

Oh, wait, those were so long ago that all the power was painted black anyway! So they have been honored all along. But, for some reason NS slapped some white striping on the historic paint scheme. And added horses - at least those serve as references to the power that sometimes pulled trains when rails were first laid. But those were mostly not albinos, so one has to really wonder about NS' motivation in the white horse logo. Frustrating that our large corporations don't get it exactly right.

Thankfully we have RP screeners ...

I think I am pretty accurate in saying that the original NS and Interstate RR contributed A LOT more to the current NS system than New Haven. I dont think they even spin a wheel on former NH trackage, so why bother painting a unit?

Something that has not been mentioned, I hope NS actually keeps true to the actual paint schemes of these predecessor RR's and does not go and make some wild off the wall, never used paint scheme like what UP did with their heritage units... some of those are a debacle, especially the SP and WP ones.

[Joe the Photog]

The original story from Trains says they will be as close to the original scheme as they can get, no UP style

[ARandall70]

I agree with Troy on this, but there is hope. It appears someone realized that nothing from NH is in use under NS, and that the NH unit may change to a Gray old NS unit. Not as good as red, but i'm not gonna discriminate.

I'm not familiar with that area, but isn't P&WV trackage all under W&LE now? Don't see much point in that one either.

And can anyone provide a picture of a Savannah & Atlanta Diesel, if they had their own scheme? All I can find is a tuxedo unit with S&A lettering, but since the Southern unit will be green, one tuxedo would be nice.

Also felt Interstate and Illinois Terminal needed representation.

[troy12n]

Originally Posted by ARandall70

And can anyone provide a picture of a Savannah & Atlanta Diesel, if they had their own scheme? All I can find is a tuxedo unit with S&A lettering, but since the Southern unit will be green, one tuxedo would be nice.

Also felt Interstate and Illinois Terminal needed representation.

To my knowledge, Savannah and Atlanta never had diesels in their own scheme. I thought the same exact thing and went in search of pictures, all I could find was Southern Style late 60's paint job with "Savannah and Atlanta" markings, like Southern was doing for all their acquired road at the time...

I think an Interstate RR scheme would look pretty slick on one of the big AC units.

I kind of wish they would have painted them on older units like SD40-2's or even GP38-2's, dont know how some of these will look on a widecab. Would have been great to see a Southern or N&W SD40 or GP38 high hood again.

[ARandall70]

Originally Posted by troy12n

I kind of wish they would have painted them on older units like SD40-2's or even GP38-2's, dont know how some of these will look on a wide cab. Would have been great to see a Southern or N&W SD40 or GP38 high hood again.

That would have been cool, as there are units from most of the railroads in NS, or close to models those roads owned, still running, but someone brought up a good point when we were discussing ideas for heritage units that I think has some weight. If they use these new big units, chances are they will lead a lot more than if they were standard cab or high hood units. Many crew members could care less about the heritage paint, and given the choice, would not try to run the older unit in the lead if they didn't have to, especially if it had a high hood.

I'm just thankful they aren't doing what UP did and giving some graphic designer the chance to ruin a perfectly good paint scheme.

[WMHeilman]

Originally Posted by ARandall70

I'm not familiar with that area, but isn't P&WV trackage all under W&LE now? Don't see much point in that one either.

That one doesn't bother me at all, considering how badass the P&WV scheme is.

The only ones that really bother me are Penn Central and New Haven.

[JRMDC]

I agree on the New Haven. But as I was raised on PC (and B&O/Chessie), I am looking forward to that! Much more than the Amtrak, although I would like to see the broken arrow again. It doesn't look the same, though, with the ugly "1971" and "2011" put on.

[jnohallman]

Everyone is missing the most important question here. Which Conrail paint scheme will they use? Conrail Quality? Plain old Conrail blue? Or even plainer black with the simple CR logo?

Jon

[JRMDC]

PWV is currently WLE but certainly was NW in the past. Sadly, this is the best I have from those days:

PhotoID: 198462 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

[WMHeilman]

Originally Posted by jnohallman

Everyone is missing the most important question here. Which Conrail paint scheme will they use? Conrail Quality? Plain old Conrail blue? Or even plainer black with the simple CR logo?

Jon

HOPEFULLY they use this one.

PhotoID: 361358 Photograph © BurghMan

[crazytiger]

Of course when NS announces 18 heritage units, people find plenty of things to moan and complain about. I applaud NS for doing this (and their steam program and their F units). I personally look forward to the race to shoot these.

[JRMDC]

Originally Posted by crazytiger

Of course when NS announces 18 heritage units, people find plenty of things to moan and complain about. I applaud NS for doing this (and their steam program and their F units). I personally look forward to the race to shoot these.

Yup, I will even go shoot on NS, I basically never go shoot it now, because of the BW engines. I just like color. And the few times I have shot it, I haven't gotten an RP-suitable image. Well, also because CSX is a lot closer to home. I might even start tracking the units online, which I have never bothered to do for the Amtraks.

[troy12n]

Originally Posted by jnohallman

Everyone is missing the most important question here. Which Conrail paint scheme will they use? Conrail Quality? Plain old Conrail blue? Or even plainer black with the simple CR logo?

I think they should omit conrail, but if they have to, they should use this:

PhotoID: 14872 Photograph © Don Oltmann

[nikos1]

If anything should be omitted it should be Penn Central, it was a railroad to be remembered, for all the wrong reasons, there's no need to celebrate its short and pathetic existence. Conrail was essentially a government solution to a government created problem, but it did have a positive impact on the rail industry and I think is worth a nice blue heritage unit.

Savannah & Atlanta had several Baldwins before being bought by the southern, if I remember right they were red and yellow, good luck finding a color, or any sort of picture though.
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPic...spx?id=1843583

[JRMDC]

Originally Posted by nikos1

Savannah & Atlanta had several Baldwins before being bought by the southern, if I remember right they were red and yellow

Remember? So, how old are you now, 20, maybe?

[CN Railfan]

Have the locomotives being painted been identified? I for one would love to see Conrail Quality fresh on a SD70ACe.

[nikos1]

Originally Posted by JRMDC

Remember? So, how old are you now, 20, maybe?

Damn, I guess the secret's out about my time machine.....
I know the guy who took the above photo, I think he had said red and yellow like the old NS ones.

This is the current list from what ive heard
SD70ACe : Savannah & Atlanta , Pittsburgh & West Virginia , Penn Central , Reading , Erie , Erie Lackawanna , Virginian , New Haven or 1960`s Norfolk Southern , New York Central , Wabash.

ES44AC : Conrail , N&W , Pennsy , Lehigh Valley , Nickle Plate Road , Southern Green : E8 style , Tennessee Alabama & Georgia , Central of Georgia.

[crazytiger]

I hope you're wrong, Nikos, about which ones get painted as which, but I wouldn't be surprised. Seems to me the more important paint schemes will get in house jobs, thus being GEVOs. Darn it.

[nikos1]

ACe's are way overrated. Southern will actually look alot better I think on a ES44 than on a ACe, has cleaner lines which works better for a unit based on a E8. The Conrail I wouldve liked on a SD70ACe though, would be close enough to a 80MAC for me.

[crazytiger]

Originally Posted by nikos1

ACe's are way overrated. Southern will actually look alot better I think on a ES44 than on a ACe, has cleaner lines which works better for a unit based on a E8. The Conrail I wouldve liked on a SD70ACe though, would be close enough to a 80MAC for me.

You're entitled to your opinion.