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Greg & Denise Anderson wrote: > It reminds me of the pictures of Amtrak's early days > with a passenger cars and engines from every Class One's ex-passenger > sets. I don't think they'll get serious about settling on one scheme > until they merge with an eastern carrier. > > Greg Anderson > The novelist...St. Louis > Now, now...lest we show our seniority by recalling the early days of the BN itself. I can recall hitting the BN yards around St. Louis ca. 1973 and seeing CB&Q GP20s, NP U25Cs, GN Big Sky Blue SD45s and black CB&Q "Everywhere West" SD's...all on the same train. We bitched then, got all excited when we first started seeing cascade green repaints of U25Bs and said "...won't it be nice to see solid sets of these..." Hint: do you know where the yards were in 1973? The "Q" had roundhouses in both St. Louis and East St. Louis and both were friendly places whenever visiting fans showed up. E. St. LOuis was the first place I ever saw NP yellow and brown...and they spotted the unit for me! Suddenly the BN sublettered "Q" units got rare and, almost overnight, BN Cascade green was everywhere and we lamented the sameness and how the colorful consists were actually pretty neat. Same thing when the Frisco merger happened. Frisco orange and white SD45s showed up on Marias Pass and everyone went bonkers. Green and white F45s were spotted at Lindenwood and Memphis and Springfield and Thayer and it was all a big deal. Then the green and white took hold once again and everyone bitched. Same thing this time around. Finally, if anyone thinks ANYBODY will merge to form a transcon in our lifetimes, you've been eating too many Chili Three Ways or Ted Drewes concretes... ..I think the UP+SP debacle has set the big merger movement back 20 years, at least. I can see it now: NS tries to merge with KCS for that Birmingham-Dallas e-w line. Some NS lawyer will stand before the Texas Railroad Commission and expound on how service will improve by merging a small railroad into a mega-railroad. Not sure whether they'll be met with laughter, scowls or comissioners who will throw their chairs at the guy...but it ain't gonna be pretty. Bottom line: enjoy this rainbow of liveries while it lasts, because when Krebs and the boys finally decide on some kind of image, the scene's gonna change real fast. David R. Busse Diamond Bar, Calif. ======================================================= -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects' -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/ -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved =======================================================
