Steam & Excursion > 4449 in AFT colors

I am looking at an absolutely stunning photo by David Lange of 4449 at Hillsboro, Oregon in 2002. She was in the American Freedom Train scheme. I won't post the photo here because it is not mine, but whadda ya say to painting 4449 in the American Freedom Train scheme for the 2018 season? I think it's time for another year in the wonderful Red White and Blue!

RRBadTrack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am looking at an absolutely stunning photo by
> David Lange of 4449 at Hillsboro, Oregon in 2002.
> She was in the American Freedom Train scheme. I
> won't post the photo here because it is not mine,
> but whadda ya say to painting 4449 in the American
> Freedom Train scheme for the 2018 season? I think
> it's time for another year in the wonderful Red
> White and Blue!

Start a GoFundMe and get some donations coming in. That paint isn't cheap!

RRBadTrack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am looking at an absolutely stunning photo by
> David Lange of 4449 at Hillsboro, Oregon in 2002.
> She was in the American Freedom Train scheme. I
> won't post the photo here because it is not mine,
> but whadda ya say to painting 4449 in the American
> Freedom Train scheme for the 2018 season?

That would be a LOT of work, and expense, to repaint her, especially after her new/current paint job upon completion of the FRA mandated 15 year inspection, in 2016.

I think
> it's time for another year in the wonderful Red
> White and Blue!

Just my opinion but, I believe that ship has sailed.

I like her in the Daylight colors. So much more classy.

If you want to do something different you could go with deskirted and black. The GS class looked buff without the skirts.

But realisticly, don't waster money on different paint schemes. Leave her in Daylight the way SP designed her to be.

When the 4449 first rolled out with her Bicentennial paint scheme I was very disappointed. She really wasn't in the red, white and blue of our country's flag, but rather red, white and Pepsi blue.
The ugly side of commercialism had struck again. Now in all fairness Pepsi had picked up the tab for the paint job so they were entitled to apply their version of Old Glory's colors, but it did seem to me that advertising had trumped patriotism.

Cheers,
Jack



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/18 15:24 by africansteam.

Just goes to show you the truth of the old adage..." no good deed goes unpunished". Here's a company that donated big money to rescue this derelict machine from obscurity, pay to have it restored to service and someone has the stupidity to carp about the shade of a particular color.

No wonder the term "railfan" has a negative connotation in many professional circles.

Thank you Pepsi for being the 1st. committed sponsor and for leading the effort to get GM, Kraft Foods, Prudential and Atlantic Richfield to join you so that the American Freedom Train became a reality and became the only national bicentennial project that worked. I'm absolutely sure that the 7.6 million Americans who bought a ticket to tour its 10 display cars and the estimated 40 million more who came to trackside to see it travel between the 138 display towns thought that the red,white & blue were absolutely done in fine taste.

IMHO-Ross Rowland, Founder & Chairman
American Freedom Train Foundation, Inc.

jbwest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I always did think the blue was "off"....didn't
> realize the Pepsi connection. I always thought of
> it as red, white, and kinda purplish.


I believe the AFT "blue" showed up as purplish when Kodachrome film was used. I didn't care for the results at all, so I quickly switched to Ektachrome Professional, and those slides were not purplish, nor overloaded in the black areas either.

Color
> scheme preference probably has a lot to do with
> how she was dressed when you first saw her. I
> grew up riding the Daylights in the 40's, and
> somehow thought it was not quite right when the
> 4400's started showing up in lowly commute service
> sans skirts (or with pieces of skirt). So I would
> vote for red and orange. But the Freedom Train
> scheme was handsome, and if that was the way she
> was when you first saw her I can understand a
> preference for that.
>
> JBWX

Thank you Ross for the comments.

Realistically, how much would it cost to paint a locomotive as large as the 4449?

(Now I wonder how much UP will pay for 4014 paint job.....

“I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any car, any color for $19.95. No ups, no extras."

Posted from iPhone

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just goes to show you the truth of the old
> adage..." no good deed goes unpunished". Here's a
> company that donated big money to rescue this
> derelict machine from obscurity, pay to have it
> restored to service and someone has the stupidity
> to carp about the shade of a particular color.
>
> No wonder the term "railfan" has a negative
> connotation in many professional circles.
>
> Thank you Pepsi for being the 1st. committed
> sponsor and for leading the effort to get GM,
> Kraft Foods, Prudential and Atlantic Richfield to
> join you so that the American Freedom Train became
> a reality and became the only national
> bicentennial project that worked. I'm absolutely
> sure that the 7.6 million Americans who bought a
> ticket to tour its 10 display cars and the
> estimated 40 million more who came to trackside to
> see it travel between the 138 display towns
> thought that the red,white & blue were absolutely
> done in fine taste.
>
> IMHO-Ross Rowland, Founder & Chairman
> American Freedom Train
> Foundation, Inc.

THANK YOU Mr. Rowland for this note!!! Agree with you 100%

BTW the 7.6 million visitors were not all American. I visited it in Burlington VT, during one of the trains earliest stops. There were 5 Canadians in the car that day that enjoyed the visit immensely! Being so close to the border I'm sure there were many more!

Again thank you for all that you did!

Is it even true that AFT blue was designed to match Pepsi? If true then we thank them for their contribution to that incredible undertaking. If false then lets not let that go unchallenged. Ross?

another IMHO.....there are a whole lot of painting needs at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center and the 4449 is not one of them. all the locomotive and rail car folk at ORHC are volunteers and you can only stretch them so far............and by the way, in todays environment the shade of blue for the AFT4449 is not on my radar. Arlen

As this 13 year old railfan walked around the corner at the Fort Lewis display site and saw the AFT in color for the first time, the last thing I would've thought about was a can of pepsi. To me it looked like Our Flag.

Cheers, Dave

Two of the AFT cars actually got painted a much darker blue on one side. It was decided the train was beginning to look a bit shabby after a year on the road and to repaint it, 2 or 3 cars per site. The goal was to finish before reaching Washington DC. The first 2 cars (support cars 20 & 33) got their new paint in NYC- but somehow the wrong color had been ordered! (I suspect the “T-1 Blue” paint code instead of “Pepsi Blue”). We thought it actually looked pretty good, but Powers That Be said no, and new paint was ordered. But the 2 cars with the darker blue were never corrected and carried that color for the remainder of the tour.
SR

BTW: The AFT staff always called the shade “Pepsi Blue”. It was not a description dubbed by railfans, as so often happens. So I doubt Ross would dispute the name.

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
"Just goes to show you the truth of the old adage..." no good deed goes unpunished". Here's a company that donated big money to rescue this derelict machine from obscurity, pay to have it restored to service and someone has the stupidity to carp about the shade of a particular color. No wonder the term "railfan" has a negative connotation in many professional circles."

I couldn't agree more Ross. These are the same boors who bitch about not having matching passenger cars and a diesel in the consist.

I have so many awesome memories of the AFT. In fact, the first real conflict I had as a teenager with my mother occurred over my insistence to watch 4449 leave Crystal Lake, Illinois in the wee small hours of the morning. Mom told me to come home. I told her I would be home after we watched the train leave. When I finally got home around 3 in the morning, Mom was still up and waiting for me. Instead of a big shouting match, we reached an understanding of trust. My relationship with my Mom only got better after that experience.

Thank you Ross, and all those who have worked hard and contributed, and every "evil" corporation who made this amazing journey across the United States possible. It was a magnificent job, well done, and nothing has even come close to it since then.

R.R. Conway

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just goes to show you the truth of the old
> adage..." no good deed goes unpunished". Here's a
> company that donated big money to rescue this
> derelict machine from obscurity, pay to have it
> restored to service and someone has the stupidity
> to carp about the shade of a particular color.
>
> No wonder the term "railfan" has a negative
> connotation in many professional circles.
>
> Thank you Pepsi for being the 1st. committed
> sponsor and for leading the effort to get GM,
> Kraft Foods, Prudential and Atlantic Richfield to
> join you so that the American Freedom Train became
> a reality and became the only national
> bicentennial project that worked. I'm absolutely
> sure that the 7.6 million Americans who bought a
> ticket to tour its 10 display cars and the
> estimated 40 million more who came to trackside to
> see it travel between the 138 display towns
> thought that the red,white & blue were absolutely
> done in fine taste.
>
> IMHO-Ross Rowland, Founder & Chairman
> American Freedom Train
> Foundation, Inc.

RRBadTrack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> co614 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> "Just goes to show you the truth of the old
> adage..." no good deed goes unpunished". Here's a
> company that donated big money to rescue this
> derelict machine from obscurity, pay to have it
> restored to service and someone has the stupidity
> to carp about the shade of a particular color. No
> wonder the term "railfan" has a negative
> connotation in many professional circles."
>
> I couldn't agree more Ross. These are the same
> boors who bitch about not having matching
> passenger cars and a diesel in the consist.
>
> I have so many awesome memories of the AFT. In
> fact, the first real conflict I had as a teenager
> with my mother occurred over my insistence to
> watch 4449 leave Crystal Lake, Illinois in the wee
> small hours of the morning. Mom told me to come
> home. I told her I would be home after we watched
> the train leave. When I finally got home around 3
> in the morning, Mom was still up and waiting for
> me. Instead of a big shouting match, we reached an
> understanding of trust. My relationship with my
> Mom only got better after that experience.
>
> Thank you Ross, and all those who have worked hard
> and contributed, and every "evil" corporation who
> made this amazing journey across the United States
> possible. It was a magnificent job, well done, and
> nothing has even come close to it since then.
>
> R.R. Conway




First off, I am a graphic designer. I notice things like color. Second, I gave credit to Pepsi for their generosity, even though I did not agree with the use of the company colors. Remember this sentence? "Now in all fairness Pepsi had picked up the tab for the paint job so they were entitled to apply their version of Old Glory's colors, but it did seem to me that advertising had trumped patriotism." Third, I would have thought that gentlemen of your age and stature would be above name calling.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/18 11:18 by africansteam.

africansteam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> First off, I am a graphic designer. I notice
> things like color. Second, I gave credit to Pepsi
> for their generosity, even though I did not agree
> with the use of the company colors. Remember this
> sentence? "Now in all fairness Pepsi had picked up
> the tab for the paint job so they were entitled to
> apply their version of Old Glory's colors, but it
> did seem to me that advertising had trumped
> patriotism." Third, I would have thought that
> gentlemen of your age and status would be above
> name calling.


To thread drift slightly, concerning the "corporate sponsors", it should always be pointed out, but rarely ever is, that General Motors Corporation FLATLY DEMANDED that the American Freedom Train be pulled by a steam locomotive, or else they would withdraw their first million dollar stake! The very top executives of GM wanted the Freedom Train to stand on it's own, for the American People, and not have every single member of the media in each town visited, claim that the "only reason that GM was a corporate sponsor was to obtain lots of advertising/exposure of their GM locomotives". Very few railfans, nor rail enthusiasts, were ever aware of the total commitment to the AFT made by GM, and the Electro-Motive Division.

Well, speaking for myself, I get a bit irritated by comments like yours.

The blood, sweat and tears involved with projects like this leaves little respect for critics. Really, complaining about the shade of blue?!?!? Come on man.

Guess we need to cut him a little slack now that he's admitted to being a graphic designer. Now I understand.

Ross Rowland

Diplomacy is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way they look forward to the trip

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Guess we need to cut him a little slack now that
> he's admitted to being a graphic designer. Now I
> understand.
>
> Ross Rowland


I'll wager that if you had asked 100 people in line
to see the train what, if anything, was extraordinary
about the color used, not one would say the blue
was "wrong" or would mention Pepsi.

Unless they were all graphic designers.