Yes, and they were scrubbed and maintained regularly (pretty much daily, or even twice a day). They were also in "captive service" between terminals where that was possible. Today's locomotives roam their systems, sometimes going off-line, and may not see a wash rack for months, years, or--ever. They also get parked in the worst parts of town and get tagged or vandalized. A single four letter word spray-painted in front of or next to the name of any president's name on a locomotive would then send a very strong negative statement for as long as it was there. And if it was there as long as some graffiti I've seen, it would be an ongoing black eye for a very long time. I don't know if 4141 has been "tagged" or not. If it has, I haven't seen it, but it would only be a matter of time if there were a whole fleet of presidential locos running around.
I think the best policy on naming locomotives after presidents to avoid politics would be to only use historical names, no serving or still living presidents, I'm not sure if this was the approach B&O took.
Definitely, the US Postal Service has the same policy regarding presidents on stamps. I'm sure the B&O took this approach; trains didn't even exist yet when John Adams was alive!
I think there's a difference between a discussion of Presidents **riding** trains (of which there have been many-- even in recent memory and trains **named** after Presidents. I'm in agreement with the opinion that naming a loco after a President that is living or only fairly recently dead is almost inviting graffiti. Thus as much as I think the Air Force One concept of the Bush 4141 loco is pretty cool, I stand behind the principle. I don't think it's a wise idea. No matter what president, no matter what party. The railroad is inviting trouble.
