Western Railroad Discussion > UP1982 and UP1983 heritage units - My photos

1 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

2 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

3 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

4 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

5 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

6 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

Nice shots Tom. I trust you found the hardware worth the relatively short drive north.
Ed

7 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

8 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

9 of 9 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

papio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice shots Tom. I trust you found the hardware
> worth the relatively short drive north.
> Ed

I sure did!!

Great units if I do say so mayself.

Tom

Tom,

In your photos the white (Scotchlite?) eagle on the 1982 shows up fine, but there was another photo posted here somewhere of the unit in bright sun, and there wasn't much contrast between the light blue and white.

Also, the feather on 1983 looks like it is suffering from some sort of avian mange! I'd like this scheme better if the feather were closer to what WP used on their boxcars way back when -- less scraggly looking.

I'm also a bit surprised that the UP didn't use their own proprietary typeface on the cab numbers, electing instead to use a version of highway gothic (or Blue Highway, or whichever typeface was selected -- someone here mentioned it earlier, but I'm too lazy to look up that thread now).

Overall, however, I like that these are not just the same old MP and WP schemes. As commemorative units, something a bit bright and daring was called for, and I think the UP did a pretty good job overall. I'd give UP 1982 an A, and UP 1983 a B- (because orange and silver would have been more attractive and brighter).

Supposedly, according to another thread that I can't be bothered to look up, the MKT unit will be primarily red (based upon the art on a T-shirt UP was selling at the Omaha shindig). What can we expect for the others? SP in some sort of Black Widow scheme? Or Daylight colors? Rio Grande in a version of Aspen Gold and silver? C&NW's old F-unit scheme adapted to its SD70ACe?

Carl

Or, as a friend e-mailed me a few minutes ago:

"What, no P.E.?

"Heck, just do a #119 and a "Jupiter" and get it over with!"

Carl -- stealing lines from Mr. Pitzer (not the college) again...

10 of 10 photos I took today.

Tom Stolte

---

Are the decals available yet?

Dave Pfeiffer

dpfeiffr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are the decals available yet?
>
> Dave Pfeiffer

No, sorry.

I'm not going to make them as Overland Models has them on their Tower 55 models.

Tom Stolte

IMHO they both look sharp and interesting. Overall I probably would have preferred the actual pre-merger schemes to have been applied rather than brand new ones, but hey, Vanilla or Strawberry, its all good.

To nitpick, the concept of laying the white eagle over the baby blue replication of the wing pattern might have been great on paper, but didn't come out well in 1:1 scale. White on a too light blue gets lost easily, really needed more contrast with a darker shade, and as a result that area is too busy. Probably could have achieved a similar artistic effect by instead bringing the dark blue forward for the transition to baby blue. Have the dark blue wrap around the white eagle using an equidistant border, i.e. lay the white eagle pattern inside a larger blue one, but no wing streaks for the blue. However I do like the 2-tone blue concept, and the dark blue used is perfect, very sharp and crisp with the white step striping.

But what is up with the font of those engine numbers on the side of the cab? Straight off of a '70's album cover, someone a fan of the Bay City Rollers? Or perhaps Woody Allen's 'Sleeper', got that groovy BART look...

Also on the WP unit, the very light gray-green is too large an area for such a dull color. Would have been better to have simply kept the whole unit dark green, with the same orange striping, feather, and emblem. Again, very little contrast makes the lettering at the back nearly unreadable, though it probably looked great on the designer's computer. Plus a darker back would give the unit more balance and bulk (a good thing, in this case.) Right now it has that odd out of proportion look, kinda like a pooch wearing a doggie half-sweater! However the big emblem and feather are great, and makes this in some ways superior to the original WP paint scheme.

But that's just my nitpicky opinion, all in all these are sharp units, a nice change of pace, and a good move on UP's part. They deserve credit for a good gesture and willingness to break from total standardization to provide some interest and PR opportunities.

I'm with Diddly, I love the concept of the heritage units, but the designers didn't know how to do a locomotive. The one-half-light, one-half-dark just doesn't cut it, and that feather does look kinda mangy.

Good looking RR liverys have a certain touch of class, these don't really have it. How about 8 thinner stripes on the nose of the WP unit to make that nose look *really* big, if you're going to have 2 colors have the cab one color and the long hood another, don't make the cut halfway down the long hood.

They look fine for an interesting rendition of the color schemes and logos of the companies represented, but they're not all that great looking as a locomotive.

It will be interesteing to see what the DRGW, CNW and SP units look like. Since they're going with a "passenger unit" style scheme, the Rio Grande will probably be aspen gold, rather than black. And the SP? Daylight? Or Black Widow?

My thoughts,

Ted in Davis

gobbl3gook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm with Diddly, I love the concept of the
> heritage units, but the designers didn't know how
> to do a locomotive.

Diddly up another vote for originals.
Love the concept, happy it happened, wish'n it was the original paint schemes.

Someone mentioned "who's to say they wouldn't look like this had they been around today..." I'd say Western Pacific probably wouldn't base it's motto on being on the "freight scenic" Feather River Route....

My 2¢ (which won't buy any coffee either)

If we can go back far enough, please give me some Rock Island crimson, maroon and silver of the 1950's like the 652. Doesn't sound like we'll be that fortunate.