Not all the diesels were blue & yellow...

[friscobob]

Here's a blast from the past:

http://www.railimages.com/album/Bob%20Thompson/hpa0006.jpg

This SD45 was part of the power consist of a southbound UP freight rolling on the former Katy through Eufala, OK in mid-May 1990. Still looks pretty nice.....

[Alan]

I am really pleased that merger did not happen! That is one paint scheme that is too gaudy for me :(

Still got excited when we saw this one on Cajon in 1998, though smile.gif Looks a bit sudued here, though :rolleyes:

http://www.trainweb.org/alansamericangallery/3730.jpg

[friscobob]

The difference between the two is that my shot was of a Santa Fe diesel, while yours was of an SP engine. Santa Fe was into washing diesels, while SP's stuff generally looked like they ran- which is to say, they didn't run very well. For a time in the 1980s, SP motive power reliability was not very good- I could remember shooting UP and SP freights in Topeka, KS in the mid-1980s, and on every eastbound SP train, at least two locomotives were dead- and not necessarily dead-in-transit dead, but died in service. They were beginning to be caled Penn Central West.

I may tick off some diehard SP fans, but hey, that's what I've seen back then. That railroad deserved better.

SPSF- Shouldn't Paint So Fast :D

[Alan]

I agree with your feelings about the way SP treated their equipment Bob, but in all fairness, when we saw the one above, it was obviously owned by a leasing company.

But somehow, dirty SP diesels just look right! :rolleyes: :cool: