A friend of mine sent me an email with a photo of a BNSF covered hopper tonight. The car has a red Frisco coonskin on it. Is this real and if so has anyone witnessed it?
Well, according to Trainorders.com, they're real. Three cars each with the Frisco herald, and three each with the Great Northern mountain goat. As someone on a different forum said, "They should be a lot fun for the taggers". Pat Moreland, Union Mo.
I suspect that this has nothing to do with a heritage program. It may be the BNSF's attempt to keep the antecedent road logos active and therefor protected by copyright law.
As Karl aptly pointed out, according to a local BNSF management-type, it is solely to protect the trademark copyrights on the predecessor lines.
Wether it is just to protect the logo rights. or a random heritage idea(Sorry NS is still wining) I like it. Can't wait to see these in person.
Within three days of my first post on this thread, three of the Frisco-herald cars were spotted here in Kansas City at the former CB&Q Murray Yard.
Any time the Frisco herald is seen on the rails, it is a good thing. But, this is a pathetic response vs what NS recently did, and yes, what UP has done. It must be for logo rights protection. Surprised we haven't seen the "Frisco Lines" logo as well! Come on BNSF - you can do better. Ken
About a week ago, the three Frisco hoppers and two of the three GN hoppers were added to the Alliance-Temple train, so they may well still be in Texas at this point.