Ya know, I think the SD70MACs would look better in a slightly modified "racehorse" scheme. They would look a darn sight better than the green & cream monstrosities BN (and BNSF) has. Realistically, I woulda loved to have seen GP20s and GP30s in B/Y with the full-blown end striping a la' the GP7s.
Hmmmmmm, this is a tuffy! I would have to say, first, I would like to see the BNSF change it's name to FRISCO and then leave it alone. It would be neat to see the entire Argentine Yard crammed full of O/W livery. BUt since that won't happen unless this group can play and win the lottery enough times to buy a railroad, er uh, that railroad. But I think it woulda been neat to see the big AC4400's in O/W with a bit of a creative design, and the SD90MAC's done up in Racehorse Red & Gold. That woulda given atleaste some class to a nasty old coal train! Plus, for God sakes they need to Bring back the Cabooses. It would create more jobs, and help the economy. Had to take that dig there! Will
Dja hear how they chose the name of the new railroad when the Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific merged? They took the "Pacific" from Missouri Pacific and the "Union" from Union Pacific and came up with UNION PACIFIC! Brilliant! Tom
I have given this a lot of thought and I can't help but wonder what a Krauss-Maffei cowl unit would have looked in the race horse colors or the Krauss-Maffei hood unit in orange / white color Darren
I'd just like to see Frisco hi-hood U-25B's in the "as delivered" scheme. Any maufacturer, any scale! Evidently that's a "what if fantasy scheme??" I'd buy a four unit set if they'd do them in "N" scale! Tom
An adjunct question that has stemmed from which locomotive(s) should the Frisco have used is the one regarding the application of the red, white, and gold of the Redbird E-units to modern units. I am afraid that I must take a contrarian view with regard to the “fit” of the livery worn by the Frisco Redbirds on locomotives other than bulldog-nosed E-units. It seems that I will be the lone dissenter as well. In my view, this livery is suited only to the restyled E-7’s or E-8’s. To apply this scheme to any other unit would be akin to putting lipstick on the proverbial pig. In the first place, the stripe on the Redbird's flank is anchored by the portholes. To have this stripe just floating on the side of let’s say a PA or even worse, on some modern full-width-cab hood unit just doesn’t work. Secondly, the graceful curving contours of the nose “whiskers” are designed to accent the bulldog snout of the later E-units. Any other nose profile would distort the symbiotic relationship between the paint scheme and the nose contours to the point of caricature. While my view is contrary to the majority, I am open to opposing arguments. I am from Missouri, so "show me". I'd love to see a model or drawing that would prove me wrong. As far as a fantasy diesel locomotive, I’d go with an early E unit. A shovel-nosed E-3/E-6 purchased to pull the newly-built Firefly would be my choice. Of course that would pre-date the Redbird livery, and the unit would be Zephyr Blue, Dove Gray, and Silver (White). The whole affair would be accented with gold striping and lettering. At this time the 2000 series numbers would be available. Zephyr blue, 2000 and 2001 would handle the Firefly. Future E-7 unit purchases would slide by two, and start at 2002. There’d be two fewer E-8’s. The inappropriately named Jet Pilot and Flying Ebony would not be on the roster.
A problem with a possible high-hood U25b model is that only the UP and the Frisco rostered them. That makes it a bit dicey for the manufacturer knowing that only two roads had this particular model. Maybe Bachmann would do it - could also offer it in Santa Fe, Conrail, BNSF and Amtrak colors! I wonder if it would be possible for some specialty manufacturer to offer a retro-fit kit with parts to turn a Stewart U25b into a respectable hi-hood? Ken
Karl has a good point. The red was designed for the E units and if it was on anything else it just wouldn't look right in my opinion..but it's just an opinion. Maybe we need a poll?????
Ironically, I just purchased a Spectrum 45 ton center cab that has a "painted but unlettered" scheme that is reminiscent of the racehorse scheme. Actually it looks pretty good. Gonna decal and number it Frisco 11, and send it to Blakely Island.
I wonder how the original Firefly diesel scheme would look on an EMD F59PHI or its Motive Power counter-part, the MP36? Here's some more food for thought: we've been talkin' about old diesel schemes on new locomotives, but how 'bout the 4-8-4 Meteor scheme on a P42? I think that would look pretty neat.
Come to think about it, at least the road DOES go from St. Louis to San Francisco now, so FRISCO would make a better name........ SD70MACes and ES44ACs in O/W..............nice concept.
