ATSF to return to the rails

[SD80MAC]

The horn placement only applies to new or rebuilt units. Older units are grandfathered in.

To my knowledge these were never advertised as authentic ATSF F units. The museum likely saw the Warbonnet as an attractive and historical scheme and chose to paint their engines as such. It's certainly the most recognizable engine/paint scheme combo to the non-railfan public, by far, much more so than Southern Pacific. Seems like a logical choice.

I know that if I owned a locomotive, I'd paint it however I darn well pleased. If my choice happened to be historical with the unit's history, then great. If not, then how about you put your money where your mouth is?

[GreatLakesRailfan]

...But to probably 90% of the people who visit this museum in Galveston, they will be close enough to the real thing to be the real thing. And without a photo of "real" ATSF F units for side-by-side comparison on the spot, many people wouldn't notice some of the generally minor differences.

Nathan makes a good point, you need to get a side by side photo of the real thing close to the "fake" units. James, you're pretty good at organizing things. Perhaps you should organize the various people truly upset by these units and rent a billboard just outside the museum. Put together a billboard-size comparison of the two sets of units, with a derogatory word of your choosing (by derogatory, I mean "fake", "counterfeit", etc., not a racial, sexual or similar slur), for people heading in to ride the train to see. Make sure it's in a location where people will see it before they pay for their tickets and board the train. You may want to build a webpage about the offending units as well, the address of which should also be on the billboard.

It might be interesting to see what kind of reaction you get from people who see your billboard.

[amtrak1007]

I'm utterly amused at the amount of electrons wasted to discuss this. WHO CARES if they painted the units for the planet mars let alone for a railroad... I for one am happy as a clam to know that they are being preserved and looked after.

We now return you to your foamer chatter.

[sd70accsxt700]

WHO CARES if they painted the units for the planet mars....

Is that what the big supprise is for the photo shoot?

[CharlieX90]

James...Would you rather have them painted or turned into scrap?

[sd70accsxt700]

James...Would you rather have them painted or turned into scrap?

RAZOR BLADES all the way. LOL

[amtrak1007]

WHO CARES if they painted the units for the planet mars....

Is that what the big supprise is for the photo shoot?

Well shiz the cat's outta the bag now!

[Y@]

I say they should be painted in PC poop green.

[MagnumForce]

James...Would you rather have them painted or turned into scrap?

RAZOR BLADES all the way. LOL

See page 1, I wanted Razor Blades and Gevos.

[Ypsi]

I say they should be painted in PC poop green.

[Typhoon]

James...Would you rather have them painted or turned into scrap?

Funny, I never saw where it said that if it wasn't painted war bonnet it would be scrapped...

[sd70accsxt700]

I say they should be painted in PC poop green.

I had that loco.

[CharlieX90]

James...Would you rather have them painted or turned into scrap?

Funny, I never saw where it said that if it wasn't painted war bonnet it would be scrapped...

He is throwing a fit like that is what he wants done to them if they are not done HIS way.

[Jochs]

Maybe they should have used this paint scheme:



That way it would look like this:


(Sorry, had to get my 2 cents in as well. )

[TrainWatcher]

MY Point was: They look bad. And for those railfans (and actually read not just my Facebook posting but a lot of other forums and message lists) it has quite a few people upset as well as some Santa Fe Historical and Technical Society members, and former employees. They should have again been slapped in Black Widow and they would be pretty darn close to their as delivered scheme without all the uproar. PC Green is a very unnoticed change in railroading. Only 1 E Unit and a few other oddballs were painted like that.

Like I said go slap Santa Fe 3450 onto the side of NYC 3001 in Elkhart and watch the uproar. The Santa Fe had the most recognizable scheme on their diesels. Every kid has some clue even to this day of what a Santa Fe Warbonnet looks like as its in books and its one of the most reproduced schemes for model trains as well. UP can't really even claim that they have that kind of following.

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Like I said go slap Santa Fe 3450 onto the side of NYC 3001 in Elkhart and watch the uproar. The Santa Fe had the most recognizable scheme on their diesels. Every kid has some clue even to this day of what a Santa Fe Warbonnet looks like as its in books and its one of the most reproduced schemes for model trains as well. UP can't really even claim that they have that kind of following.

Considering the 3001 spent several years on display as a T&P unit, before she wound up in Elkhart, I can't see much reason for anyone outside of a few rivet counters really caring too much if it did receive some nice black paint and some Santa Fe lettering. 3450 sounds like a good number, lets use that one! Even better, it'll be more authentic than those F's because both roads painted their steamers black!! Gee whiz, what a concept!

[SD80MAC]

I'm surprised everyone is making a big stink about these Fs but not the LS&I 2-8-0 that has been masquerading for years as WM 734 over at Western Maryland Scenic. Same concept.

[Standard Railfan]

On the bright side, or is it the shiny side, two full cowl bodied antique locomotives did NOT get scrapped.

[Ypsi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWhdhD9t ... ture=g-u-u

They have hit the rails!

[legostudios34]

I wish I would have known when they were going and I would have run down to Villa Rica and caught them.