Nostalgia & History > "Warbonnet" C44-9W at Summit

I had this posted on my website at one time a while back. Interesting to note how todays huge BNSF fleet of Dash9's started with these.

(Summit,CA. Oct.1994)

Kevin

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Sad thing is that they don't look anything like this anymore.

Adam

If you go back even further, they don't look like this anymore either!

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Whether on an F-7A, FP45, C44-9W, or, a personal favorite, the EMD SD75M, you can't beat the Santa Fe Warbonnet scheme. For the life of me, while Robert Krebs still held the reins, I find it hard to imagine that he went the "CSX" route, and came out with "BNSF", pumpkins, and what have you. Still a classy railroad, but what a classy image they could have had/retained. There was no brand identity or great loyalty to BN, the "Big Nasty". Big railroad, but they just never quite carved out a historic identity. They could have dropped the "Atchison" and the "Topeka", and just called it SANTA FE (for those who crave SIMPLICITY, and cutting to the chase), and kept that wonderful, historic name with all it's solid brand identity and PR appeal. Railroading still has...and will always have the UNION PACIFIC, the railroad Abraham Lincoln granted a "Manifest Destiny" to, but, railroading is missing something when there is not a Santa Fe in it.

If it comes down to two transcons, you know one will be Union Pacific, with armour yellow, wings, and flags. Perhaps...if they're smart, the "other guys" will say "Hey...let's keep it simple...let's just call it "SANTA FE". Not BNSFCSX or BNSFNS, or hocus pocus mumbo jumbo. Sad thing...they might try to keep it simple if BNSF gets NS, and say, "Hey...we've already got ALL FOUR initials in BNSF! Bingo!".

I know some of you guys out there that will be making these decisions some day read this stuff (yes, folks, they're out there, and they read this stuff). DO THE CLASSY THING!!!

Remember it was Mike Haverty that brought back the warbonnet when he was at the helm of the ATSF. I imagine Krebs got rid of it to help erase that administrations last hurrah.

Regards
Q-GP30

wait a second bnsf is merging with NS? is that why weve been seeing all those catfish 440's down in the city of industry and the bnsf servicing facility?

Q-GP30 Wrote:
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> Remember it was Mike Haverty that brought back the
> warbonnet when he was at the helm of the ATSF. I
> imagine Krebs got rid of it to help erase that
> administrations last hurrah.
>
> Regards
> Q-GP30

That's the only logical (illogical) reason I can think of that Krebs got rid of the warbonnet, and went with the new. It was a concurrent administration, not a preceding administration. Krebs was Havert's boss...Krebs was Chairman and CEO, while Haverty was President...and...the railroad was not big enough for the two of them.

The other sad part is that you can't shoot trains at summit like you used to since 1995 when Santa Fe put the fence up after that mainfest lost it and crashed killing 2 railroaders at Stiens Hill!