Here's a blast from the past: 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.....
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 Looks a bit sudued here, though
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
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!
