Bill Anderson
Well-Known Member
Looking at recent photos posted up of the UP, I have to ask if the railroad is washing or repainting its diesels anymore? I have seen a lot of photos of faded and dirty diesels that seem out of place on the UP.
I might extend that question to cover the BNSF as well. When I worked in Chicago from 1987-91, the only time I recall seeing dirty or faded diesels on the old Santa Fe as I commuted on the Stevenson Freeway between the Loop and my home in Naperville was in the winter when temps hovering around 0* F probably precluded washing. I have lived in Edmonds, WA. in 1991 and see lots of dirty and faded BNSF diesels passing through town on the old Great Northern Seattle-Minneapolis mainline regardless of the season.
I think the cleanest diesels I now see are the KCS Southern Belle and NS units passing through town in BNSF freights. I realize that a diesel engine will perform the same whether it is clean or dirty, but I feel there is a certain PR value for a railroad to have clean, shiny units. If washing and repainting is being skipped, is other routine maintenance being skipped or delayed as well?
Someone here has commented that the BNSF does not do their own repainting, it is contracted out. Do the UP and other class I roads do that as well?
I might extend that question to cover the BNSF as well. When I worked in Chicago from 1987-91, the only time I recall seeing dirty or faded diesels on the old Santa Fe as I commuted on the Stevenson Freeway between the Loop and my home in Naperville was in the winter when temps hovering around 0* F probably precluded washing. I have lived in Edmonds, WA. in 1991 and see lots of dirty and faded BNSF diesels passing through town on the old Great Northern Seattle-Minneapolis mainline regardless of the season.
I think the cleanest diesels I now see are the KCS Southern Belle and NS units passing through town in BNSF freights. I realize that a diesel engine will perform the same whether it is clean or dirty, but I feel there is a certain PR value for a railroad to have clean, shiny units. If washing and repainting is being skipped, is other routine maintenance being skipped or delayed as well?
Someone here has commented that the BNSF does not do their own repainting, it is contracted out. Do the UP and other class I roads do that as well?
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